Prayer and Intercession June 28, 2018

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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We had a short devotional to encourage the intercessors 

Small and Hidden
Matt. 6:5 “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. Matt. 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matt. 6:7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Sometimes we feel small, too small, at other times we feel we are hidden - wondering if God even hears our prayers. That is why we took a moment to take a devotional look at this subject.

Prayer meetings can be large, or small; they can be noisy or quiet, there is no set formula that God has set for successful intercession. Daniel was alone when He prayed towards Jerusalem, so was Abraham when he stood before the Lord for Sodom. Moses, Aaron, and Hur, were a threesome when they prayed during the battle against Amalek. Jehoshaphat stood before the Lord with the whole nation, when threatened with invasion. Jeremy Lanphier started a prayer meeting at lunchtime in NY on Sept. 23, 1857, with 6 people. Within six months the prayer meeting grew to 10,000 people. (read here). In 1949, Two old sisters (84 and 82, one of them blind) in the Hebrides got a burden to pray for their parish. Read here what happened. 

We may be hidden from man, feel small and perhaps doubt the significance of our small prayer group. Yes we may be hidden from man, but we are hidden not from God; he sees those who pray in secret. 

What is essential is for us to stand on the Word of God; His promises. These are an expression of His Will. We don't have to invent fancy prayers, nor do we have to change the subject every five minutes. If you followed the link to the story of the Hebrides, you would see that they stood before the Lord on one verse! I say this because we tend to be antsy, we get bored with standing on the same promise for long, or sitting before the Lord burdened with that one promise or verse or prayer. 

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Praying for Israel's restoration to God's ultimate goal: to dwell among us
Ezek. 37:21 “Then say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
Ezek. 37:22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
Ezek. 37:23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezek. 37:24 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
Ezek. 37:25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.
Ezek. 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
Ezek. 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Ezek. 37:28 The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”

When read devotionally, these verses astound in that they express the tender passion of God. He desires to create a people with whom He can dwell forever; this is what He wants -- to live with His people and be their God. He desires to be present in the midst. He desires to gather them to Himself, to cleanse and purify and sanctify a people for Himself. He is determined to gather His people, forgive His people, cleanse them, give them a new spirit, all so that they can be with Him. What do you call this? Holy Goodness, Holy Love, Abundant Grace. He loves us and wants us! I can't get over that. 

• We prayed into the I wills in these verses
• We prayed for God to gather His people (it is not up to them)
• We prayed for the turning of our people to God through Yeshua
• We prayed for the cleansing of our people in Yeshua
• We prayed for deliverances of God
• We prayed the reign of Messiah over our nation (its coming)
• We prayed for our people to be saved and given a new heart full of one love
• We prayed with longing for the Day God comes to dwell in the midst of His people.

Praying for the Body in the Land
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.

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown have this to comment on this verse:
The latter rain ripened the grain, as the former rain in October tended to fructify the seed. Including all temporal blessings; these again being types of spiritual ones. Though God has begun to bless us, we are not to relax our prayers. The former rain of conversion may have been given, but we must also ask for the latter rain of ripened sanctification.

• We asked God for "rain", for water from Heaven that the harvest might ripen
• We asked God to bless His Body with a true visitation of the real Holy Spirit; not for "show' but for sanctification.
• We asked God to sweep through the Body and remove all the offends Him (starting with us)
• We asked God to cleanse us (His Body) from anything that is not Himself. (see 2Cor 11:4)
• We asked God for the Word of God to rise within the Body with great power through preaching and teaching
• We asked Him to give discernment to His people, especially leaders that they might resist anything that is false and cling to what is of Him. 
• We asked the Lord to pour upon us the spirit of repentance (Zech 12:10), 
• We asked for a broken heart
• We asked the Lord to reveal Himself in the midst of the congregations

Thanks for praying with us. 

Blessings from Jerusalem,
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