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Prayer and Intercession December 20, 2019

12/20/2019

Every Wednesday evening we gather for intercession for the restoration of Israel.
The following is shared with you to help you in your own praying and interceding.

These are prayer directions rather than prayer points.
We want to leave room for the Holy Spirit to lead you and your group to pray as you are led.

If you would like to receive these Prayer Directions regularly, or
If at any time you want to be removed from the list, please write us at:
[email protected]

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Rampant Idolatry in any nation leads to great loss both physically and spiritually. In Israel, it was more so, for they were God's people, they had the Word of God, which is light and truth, they had the true worship of the true and only God. This leads not only to a loss in the material and physical, such as lack of rain, but also the scattering of the people, confusion, etc.

Yet, Zechariah 10 describes a great victory over the enemies of Judah, a great in-gathering, and great blessing. How so?

It all hangs on the Lord.
Zech. 10:4 From him comes the cornerstone, From him the tent peg, From him the battle bow, From him every ruler together."

The cornerstone - Messiah, the ultimate Shepherd of Israel. He will not leave Israel in the hands of the he-goat shepherd, who only abused the people and led them astray.
The tent peg - "was a large peg inside an oriental tent, won, which hung most of its valuable furniture. On Messiah hang all the glory and hope of His people״ (JFB)
The battle bow -He will lead the battle and be its guarantee of success

Now Zechariah 10, was a prophecy (given around 520 BC) pointing to Judah's victory over the Greeks (Antiochus) at the time of the Maccabean revolt 167-160 BC). But it also speaks of the times ahead, as you can read for yourself in the rest of the chapters of Zechariah.

God does not bring these victories by Himself without human agency; rather it is by using His people as His Royal battle horse (Zech 10:3)

Four times does the text use the word 'gabar' in the Hebrew (Zech 10:5, 6, 7, 12). The root 'gabar' in Hebrew means: prevailing, overcoming. It is used here in the Piel stem, which indicates a causative action, i.e., God makes us overcomers.

We overcome because He is with us (Zech 10:5). We overcome because he will have mercy upon us (Zech 10:6). We will overcome because He will answer our prayers (Zech 10:6). This victory will be spiritual as well as physical. God will use Israel to fulfill His own purposes in the earth. Israel's survival, Israel's wars are not only her own but stem from the call of God and His purposes.

What should our response be? Prayer, of course.
We are called to it: Zech. 10:1 Ask the LORD for rain In the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone.

Two kinds of rain are indicated here: a physical rain, and a spiritual rain of the Holy Spirit.

"Though at Pentecost there was a former rain on the Jewish Church, a latter rain is still to be looked for, when the full harvest of the nation's conversion shall be gathered in to God." (JFB)

Most Christians tend to think of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost as a mere demonstration of power and miracles. Still, the first Pentecost was characterized by a massive conversion of thousands of people to faith in Messiah. The conviction of the Holy Spirit at the preaching of Peter was so strong and penetrating that 3000 people were 'cut to the heart' and turned to Messiah. (Acts 2:37)

This is our heart's desire; to see the move of God among our people, in the powerful conviction of the Holy Spirit, unto repentance and salvation by faith in Yeshua.

Praying into and from Zechariah 10
Rather than give you specific prayers, we will conclude this Prayer Directions bulletin, with a suggestion of topics. As we often say, our goal is not to put words in your mouth, but to stimulate you to look at the Word and find inspiration to pray according to it.

Pray for the visitation of the Lord in the Land
Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon this 'dry' Land
Pray for the revelation of Messiah to His people
Pray that the Lord will intervene in the leadership of the Land, especially as, for the third time in a year, we are heading into elections (in March.)
Pray for the Lord to gather His own scattered people. Zech 10:8 indicates it is the work of the Holy Spirit that will gather the people to the Land.
Pray for physical rain
Pray for a deep visitation of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Messiah, to purify it, to bring it back to the Word, to bring deep conviction unto consecration and separation from the world spirit
Pray that the outcome of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Body will be a total fascination and preoccupation with Yeshua Himself. Psa. 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.

May the Lord give you the grace to take time and ponder these things, find inspiration, and may you be given the strength to pour out your heart in prayer for these, His kingdom purposes.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Prayer and Intercession December 13, 2019

12/13/2019

I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy
Zech. 1:11 So they answered the Angel of the LORD, who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly."

Zech. 1:12 Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?"

Zech. 1:14 So the Angel who spoke with me said to me, "Proclaim, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I am zealous for Jerusalem And for Zion with great zeal.

Zech. 1:16 "Therefore thus says the LORD: 'I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it," says the LORD of hosts, "And a surveyor's line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem."'

Zech. 1:17 "Again proclaim, saying, "Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The LORD will again comfort Zion, And will again choose Jerusalem."'"

Jer. 33:8 I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me.

Jer. 33:9 Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.'

Ezek. 36:22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.

The scriptures quoted above make several things crystal clear:

Israel's restoration is pure mercy
It is interesting to note that the Angel of the Lord is sore displeased when he hears the report that all the earth is quiet and at ease. Why? It is because the nations are at ease while the work of God languishes. It is because the nations are happy when God's people and his work are defeated. They have no intention of ever coming under the sovereign God, nor care for His kingdom.

But God is zealous and Jealous for His Work on the earth, and Israel is a big and central part of it. That is why we pray, that is why we stand before Him for His will to be done. It is for His name sake, for His glory, It is for our King that we fight in prayer; it is for His glory and Honor. We cannot ourselves be at ease while the World spirit flourishes and devastates the earth with its foulness

Mercy, in God, is not just a little favor done in momentary laps. Mercy is God's covenant love in action. Mercy means the whole work of redemption on the cross. Mercy means we are totally unworthy of this Grace. Mercy means that we have nothing. Mercy means that Israel's restoration is not based on her worthiness; she has not all of a sudden become righteous on her own. Mercy means that God has determined Israel's restoration in His sovereignty; God is working his sovereign will on the earth.

Mercy is not some passive force, it is the very Power of God, who is moved by compassion to accomplish redemption and salvation. The cross of Messiah is His mercy to us. O' what great mercy! Mercy means - all from God, none from ourselves. He will even supply the repentance (Zech 12:10)

We prayed in this vein for our nation

Lord, we thank you for your covenant love
We thank you that although we have turned from you, you have not turned from us
We thank you that you are keeping your covenant promises although we broke your covenants
We cry to you for mercy, we cry to you for Grace
Turn us, and we shall be turned
Wash us, and we shall be clean
Give us your righteousness, and we shall then be righteous before you
Sanctify us unto yourself dear Lord
Break the Power of sin in this Land
Open the blind eyes to see our need for you
Remove from us the terrible darkness of religion
Shine your light into our hearts, dear Lord,
Arise O' Lord, in thy great majesty and holiness — that we might fall at your feet
Lord.
Cleanse us, pardon us, sanctify us for your self. Do it for your great name sake dear Lord.
We thanked the Lord for His move among the Jews of the Diaspora — it seems that 10's of thousands have gotten saved in the last few decades.
We prayed for many more to be saved.
We prayed for the Diaspora Jews to awaken to their calling to come to their homeland.

We prayed for the nations (Jeremiah 33:9)

Lord make Israel a showcase — a place of a Great Display of who you are
Lord the nations are stirred up against your plan, against your purposes - Show them thy great Power, the Power of Salvation, of pardon, right here in this Land
Lord display the great Power and efficacy of your blood, its cleansing power, its power to redeem the vilest sinner
Father, the nations laugh at goodness, at mercy; they see it as a weakness. Morality is far from their hearts. Reveal thy might to them through the salvation of Israel.
Lord, it seems that though the nations will first greatly fear the display of your awesome and great goodness to Israel, they will, in the end, be attracted by it — they will come to Jerusalem to hear the Word of the Lord.
O' Lord save the nations from their folly and hatred of you!
Send your light into the nations that surround us, dear Lord. Reveal thy son, even in the strictest of regimes.
Lord, you have set your Son as King on Mt. Zion (Psalm 2) We plead for His rule over all the earth.

We prayed for the Body of Messiah
Hag. 1:12 Then Zerubbabel the Son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the Son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him; and the people feared the presence of the LORD.

Hag. 1:14 So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,

What a relief it is to read: "the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God." How rare is that! There is an amazing combination here: The preaching of Haggai, the move of God to stir the spirit of the people, and most amazing: His Presence!

How we long for the presence of God, for the stirring of God in our midst. Yet, take note that Haggai's preaching was part of this. We must preach, and we must believe and hope in God, that He would stir up the hearts of the people to build His Body, to be His house.

We prayed into those verses that the Lord might stir up our hearts as a Body
We prayed for the Lord's Word to be preached mightily from the pulpits of the Land
We prayed for His presence in our midst.
We asked for a mighty stirring of God's people in the Land. To awaken out of slumber, to awaken out of self purposes, to awaken from pursuing their own comforts and ease, to awaken to the need of building the House of God, of which we are living stones.

We prayed for Israel's 3rd elections (in less than one year)

We pleaded with God for mercy in the matter of leadership (we are a bit envious of the decisive outcome of the elections in the U.K.)
God's whole heart for His ancient people is revealed in Jeremiah 31 — the Land is meant to prosper, and the people are meant to be happy and secure, rejoicing in the goodness of God. This, of course, will not be realized fully till we fully esteem and look to our Savior-King, but nevertheless, God has meant our return to the Land to be a blessed, happy thing.
We prayed for leaders that will be part of the means of fulfilling His promise. Both internally and externally).
We acknowledged God's sovereignty in the earth and in Israel. We asked for Him to accomplish His purposes even though it may seem to us a chaotic situation.

Thank you for reading this prayer blog, thank you for praying. May you be encouraged as you comprehend the Grace of God upon you in Yeshua, your Savior and King.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Prayer and Intercession December 6, 2019

12/6/2019

Recently, I found an American Bible Society bookmark, from 1959, in one of the used books I bought some years ago. It is a Bible reading plan to be read between Thanksgiving and the end of the year; November 26 to December 31.
Looking closely at it, I saw that the readings for December 1-3 were from the book of Romans as follows: December 1 - Rom 8:1-17, December 2 - Rom 8:18-39, December 3 - Romans 12:1-21.

Romans 9 to 11 is skipped entirely; Israel’s restoration is skipped entirely, and its place in world redemption ignored, this by the Bible Society. How tragic!

This kind of thing is also true of the Jewish yearly cycle of daily readings, which include readings from the Torah, and from the prophets (and other portions.) Isaiah 53 is skipped over! One of the greatest prophecies that describes the Savior, is ignored!

Skip over Yeshua? Can’t be done, it will do no good. Skip over Israel’s restoration, the same thing; it will do no good.

Without Yeshua, there is no salvation, and God’s plan regarding Israel’s place in world redemption cannot be changed by man. Romans 9-11 describes some of the most profound things regarding the fullness of God’s eternal plan.

We read: Romans 9:1-8, Romans 10:1-4, Romans 11: 11-12, 15

Rom. 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh,
Rom. 9:4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;

Paul’s wish to be accursed for his own people if it could help in their salvation does not stem from some sentimental emotion. Rather from a profound recognition that those things that belong to Israel’s restoration are absolutely central to the fullness of God’s plan. Think of it; he was willing to be separated from Messiah forever if it would further God’s global and eternal plan.

O’ may we at least have a zeal to live for Him and give our lives in His service! How few of us actually have a revelation of God’s purposes on the earth and then give ourselves to intercede for its fulfillment!

Adoption speaks of sonship, and of a full and complete inheritance—the fullness of salvation, body soul and spirit! It is the fullness of God in His saved ones. Of this, Paul declares, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1Corinthians 2:9)

We prayed into the eternal purpose of God and cried for its completion

We thanked God for the cross of Yeshua, for the salvation we have in Him
We thanked God for Yeshua who became accursed for us and for His eternal plan that God may fulfill His will on the earth
We prayed for the fullness of salvation to be fulfilled in the earth and for Israel to be restored that those things may come to pass.
We were moved by the realization that God is moving with a purpose to fulfill His purpose. “You have a purpose, Lord, you have a plan. We thank you for it and ask for it to come to pass, as you have spoken.”
Lord, you put in Abraham’s heart hope for a son, for an heir, and he did not give up believing and hoping and waiting upon your Word to be done. Birth within us the same expectant faith and desire for the fullness of your Son’s reign in our lives

We prayed for Israel’s restoration
Rom. 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

O’ Lord, what vanity! How futile is the pursuit of establishing our own righteousness! How horrific it is that we, as a nation, have not submitted to the righteousness of God
We cry for our people, secular and religious, we are always correcting each other, teaching each other, always trying to be the ‘right one.’
Lord, Israel is so full of self-righteousness, how odious this must be to you!
Open our eyes, Lord! Let us see that all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
Let a deep conviction come upon us as a nation, by the holy spirit, of our need, of our nakedness before you.
Lord, open the eyes of our nation to see the gift of God in Messiah as you have been offering it for two thousand years now.
Let a great humbling of ourselves come at the sight of you, the one who was crucified.
Thank you, Lord, that you have loved us with an everlasting love in spite of this folly.
Thank you, Lord, that you keep your covenants and are faithful to them
We thank you that your plan cannot fail! Because you will keep and fulfill all your promises. It cannot fail! Isaiah 49:13-16

We prayed for the Church

Lord, Paul wrote the gentiles because they have a role in the fulfillment of your end-time purposes.
Lord bring the Church to an understanding, light, godliness that she may fulfill the role you have called her to!
May the Church understand your Word and respond to the altar call of Romans 2:1-2
Thank you for those in the Church who know, who intercede, who teach without apology those things
Lord, remove the opinionated attitude of the Church that is informed more by the media than the Word of God
Lord let the Church do mercy as it is called to in Romans 11:30-31 (See the ESV for a very good translation of these verses)
Lord, the Church is so filled with false teachings, bring light dear Lord.
Let the Church come back to the Word, let the Word become central in it preaching
Let the Church desire, like Paul, to get a hold of your heart and lend itself for the fulfillment of your will in the same passion

We prayed for the formation of a government in Israel
We are just a few days before the time to form a government runs out, and new elections are declared. Avigdor Liberman has promised that his party will make some fateful decisions during this coming weekend, all to avoid the 3rd election.

The whole thing points to the rather awful condition in which our political system finds itself. It also points to the deep philosophical differences and visions regarding Israel's character and future.

We thanked God for His eternal plan, using Romans 9:4-5
We thanked God that His Word cannot be broken
We thanked God for His promises regarding this land and its role in the world
We prayed for God to move sovereignly to align Israel with that role
We prayed that God will give us a government that will even unwittingly carry out His will for this time
We prayed that He will provide us with a government that will fit His own prophetic time
We prayed for the Lord to move and give us governors after His own heart, and that will be aligned with Him.
Egos -Lord deflate egos, bring down the pride of man
Remove the impasse
Lord give us a government that will do much good for this country, according to your promises

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Prayer and Intercession December 20, 2019

Prayer and Intercession December 13, 2019

Prayer and Intercession December 6, 2019

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