ISAIAH 62 PRAYER INITIATIVE
July 2016 Prayer Letter

“For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom. 11:36)
“I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning” (Isa. 46:9-10)

Dear Prayer Partner,

Two very powerful scriptures in the Bible declare God’s sovereign rule and authority in His dealings with and over humanity, especially concerning Israel. The Word of the Lord says: “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” and “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning” (Rom. 11:36, Isa. 46:9-10). God has everything under His control and it is His plan which will succeed; when we understand and believe this, it releases us to pray in good faith.

God is in charge of His world
Our Redeemer God is the Creator of all life, and He performs sovereignly all His plans for His creation. He possesses the earth and all its fullness. It is not the devil, nor man’s lust nor his corruption. God always has been, and always will be, in charge. He upholds all things by His word and His Spirit actively hovers upon all the earth. He lives inside the hearts of His believing family members. Those men, women and children of faith were purchased by the blood of His beloved Son, Jesus, to be His people forever. And this family of believers will eventually judge the fallen world and angels.

Whatever purpose God has planned and initiated in His own world, He sees it as done, declaring the end already in the beginning. His plans shall be accomplished and whatever He is building shall be finished! The New Heaven, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem have already been established and revealed to His followers (Hebr. 11:10, Rev. 21).

Declaring the end from the beginning
Paul’s majestic, hymn-like statement in Romans 11 was his conclusion on his teaching about God’s dealings with Israel. In that teaching, he led his believing readers through the fall of mankind, its current darkness, sadness and sufferings even until their present stress and pressures (Rom. 5-8). But he made sure they understood this journey was victorious for them! Nothing in them nor surrounding them could overcome them nor stop them, condemn them nor separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

He affirmed how the Holy Spirit was their traveling companion – not condemning them because of their flesh or any weaknesses, but interceding as their divine Helper. Apostle Paul viewed everything from an eternal perspective, and boldly declared the final victory, thus comforting his beloved fellow believers with full assurance of faith. God was in full control of the events in their life, and not the dark corruptive powers or manipulative men. Apostle Paul boldly declared their final destiny, depicting how the children of God will be revealed in all their glory, declaring it while he and his readers were still on the journey, constantly facing and battling against those hostile powers. And he wrote to them: “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37)!

Praying in full confidence, with the end in mind
Both of the statements “For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” and “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning,” are made in connection with God’s revealed plans for Israel as a nation. The first one in Romans finishes Paul’s insights into the awesome plan of salvation and restoration of Israel, which God has for them (Rom. chapters 9-11). All Israel shall be saved and nothing can stop this. The latter statement is from the prophet Isaiah, declared prior to the return of the Jews from Babylon under the protection of King Cyrus, which relates also to the present ingathering of the Jewish people to their ancient homeland. Who could be against such a God who declares His plans beforehand, and then does it? His plans and purposes for all humanity and especially concerning Israel will definitely be fulfilled.

Our response then is to agree to His plans, confess His plans with our mouths and believe them with our hearts – and pray according to His revealed Word for all these things to happen. By keeping the end in mind, we can see the future and in faith can call those things which yet do not exist as though they were already reality. And surely one day we shall see His revealed purposes in the Word now finally unfolding before our very eyes.

May the Holy Spirit fill you with His divine expectancy!

In His powerful grace,

Rev. Juha Ketola
International Director, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

PRAYER POINTS
For July 2016
The next day of prayer and fasting in our Isaiah 62 Global Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, July 6st 2016. Please join us!

Pray with us according to the following guidelines:

1. Pray for Aliyah – the return of the Jews from the nations, especially from Ethiopia. Israel decided to bring a total of 9,000 of Ethiopian Jews back to Israel over the period of a few years. The government asked the ICEJ to help bring the first several hundred Jews home already this summer

Use Isaiah 43:1-7, Ezekiel 36:24, Jeremiah 31:10 in your prayers.

2. Pray for the salvation of Israel – it is a God-given prayer burden for every generation, until it is fulfilled. Carry this subject in your prayers every day.


Use Ezekiel 36:25-28, Romans 11:25-28 in your prayers.

3. Pray for the restoration, peace and well being of Jerusalem with its inhabitants. 


Use Zachariah 8:3, Isaiah 62:1-7, Psalm 122:6 in your prayers.

4. Pray for the leadership of the nation of Israel and their position with: 

(A) Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, USA, EU, Russia and Iran

(B) Hizbollah, Hamas and Syria - especially as summer begins and the threats of onslaughts and attacks are increasingly verbalised. 


Use Psalm 121, Isaiah 40:15-17,Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 54:17 in your prayers.
5. Pray that the Lord would raise up people in high positions and on public platforms in the nations, who would think in a manner of King Cyrus regarding their relationship with Israel.


Use Isaiah 44:28–45:7,13 in your prayers.

6. Pray for the Feast of Tabernacles which will be celebrated on October 16 - 21, 2016. Pray that the Lord would send the right volunteers as in the previous years, and that He would prepare their hearts. Pray for the speakers and what God wants to speak through them. Additionally, pray for safety at the celebrations.

Use 2Corinthians 8:5, Ephesians 6:19, Zachariah 2:5 in your prayers.

7. Pray for the finances of the ICEJ, so we can have all sufficiency in all things.

Use 2Corithians 9:8 in your prayers.

8. Please pray for the ICEJ Branch leaders worldwide, that they would complete their good work according to God’s will.

Use Hebrews 13:20-21 in your prayers.