“Then the Lord said, ‘Hear what the unjust judge said. And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?’”

Luke 18:6-8
Dear Prayer Partners,
Jesus said that we always ought to pray and not give up (not lose heart; not faint; not turn coward). He illustrated this vitally important aspect of our relationship with the Lord by telling a parable of the persistent widow and an unwilling and reluctant judge (Luke 18:1-8). Two highlights of this parable: Always pray, and never quit asking!

Always pray
Prayer focuses our attention on our eternal Creator more than His temporal creation, and directs us to the invisible Source for provision of our needs in this visible, tangible world. The Bible forever says: “Open your mouth wide and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10). When you call upon the name of the Lord instead of other so-called gods or lords, He will fulfill your necessities in life and satisfy you with good things (Psalm 103:5).
Through prayer, one may even briefly bypass the laws of nature and lead to an experience beyond our normal human existence. Help comes supernaturally. Joshua spoke to the Lord, and the sun stood still and the moon stopped (Joshua 10:12-13). The prophet Elijah ran faster than King Ahab could ride (1 Kings 18:45-46). As a result of prayer, Jesus walked on water, supernaturally multiplied food and called the dead back to life (Mark 6:46, 48; John 6:10-11; John 11:41-44). Always pray!

The danger of getting weary
Sometimes, however, we become discouraged and weak and feel tempted to quit praying. We waver in our faith and start to doubt whether our prayers are heard in Heaven. We grow weary. This is spiritually a dangerous place, since fatigue can create the desire to run away from the presence and purpose of the Lord for our lives – as did Jonah the prophet (Jonah 1:3). However, the very thought of abandoning prayer and running away from the Lord should make us tremble before Him for we also know how the Lord responded to Jonah.

To bring Jonah to a place where he was willing to obey, the Lord sent a storm which led Jonah to a place completely absent of light in the belly of a great fish (Jonah 1:4 - 2:10). It is much better to face our giants like David did than to run away from the God-given challenges in life (1 Samuel 17). Never quit asking and never retreat!

Stay clean
The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him: “I am Almighty God.  Walk before me and be blameless.” (Gen. 17:1) The Lord never expects us to be without error or sin, but by walking in His light we can be holy in His sight and stay clean. (I John 1:7,9) We will never be able to live completely without sin; but we can be completely forgiven! Walking in the light means confessing your sins as you become aware of them, not that you would never trespass or commit an offence. When you confess your sin the Holy Spirit gives you the power to get rid of it. Repentance is a gift (Acts 11:18; 5:31). It is “His salvation” that we proclaim day by day and results in turning away from ungodliness – anything short of that is not the Lord’s salvation (Rom. 11:26-27).

So as we prepare our hearts once again to pray on behalf of Israel, the region and our ministry, be assured that as we present our prayers in His Light who is the Eternal and the Invisible, by faith in His beloved and glorified Son Jesus, He will surely hear us!

Yours in His grace,
Rev. Juha Ketola
International Director
 
Isaiah 62 PRAYER POINTS
For March 2016
The next day of prayer and fasting in our Isaiah 62 Global Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, March 2nd 2015. Please join us!
Israel:
1.    Pray for the Salvation of Israel and the restoration of Jerusalem. The Lord commands these two prayer requests – for us to pray until they happen.

Pray according to:
Romans 11:26-27; Jeremiah 33:6-9; Acts 3:19-26; Isaiah 62:1-7

2.    Pray for a complete halt to the maniacal knife attacks and shootings against the Jewish people in the Land - that the perpetrators would fall under the conviction of sin.  Pray also that the Israeli leaders would have the wisdom of God to deal with this.

Pray according to:
John 16:8; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 

3.    Pray that there would be a platform for the Arab Christian voice to come forth loud and clear concerning God’s truth about Israel and the current situation in the Land.

Pray according to:
Proverbs 23:23; Matthew 10:27
The Region:
1.    The relationship between Egypt and Israel has warmed up, so please pray that this will continue and challenges will be overcome.

Pray according to:
Proverbs 16:7

2.    Please pray for the safety of the borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza.

Pray according to:
Isaiah 54:16-17; Psalm 121
The ICEJ:
1.    Pray for the International Leadership Conference for our National Directors and Representatives all across the world as we come together in South Africa in May. Pray that the Spirit of the Lord would rest upon us all.

Pray according to:
Isaiah 11:2

2.    Pray for the prestigious Herzliya conference taking place in June.  This conference attracts top Israeli government ministers, such as the Prime Minister and the President, and other key leaders.  Pray for us as we have been invited to host a plenary session and discussions at this conference.

Pray according to:
Joshua 1:9

3.    Pray for Dr. Jürgen Bühler’s speedy recovery to continue and that he would be quickly restored to full health.

Pray according to:
Philippians 1:19, 25-26