Isa 62 Prayer letter
November 2016

Dear partner in prayer,

True prayer proceeds from the Throne of God in Heaven and is carried on by the promptings of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of His children on earth. Prayer is cooperation with God for His divine will to happen on earth. When Scripture reveals God’s purpose and will to us, we then participate with Him through our prayers in the Spirit to accomplish His good pleasure. Thus, we need to draw upon both His Word and His Spirit when we pray, as well as we need the power of the name of His Son Jesus.

The powerful name of Jesus
The name of Jesus carries all authority and power needed to pray effectively. This is crucial, since not only do we need wisdom and knowledge to guide us in what we pray for, but also authority and power to activate those requests! Jesus said: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth,” and “I chose you and appointed you. . . that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you.” (Mat. 28:17, John 15:16) When we pray, we ask His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth first – not our will, but His. Apostle John assures us that when we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and we shall have what we asked for. (1 John 5:14)

In other words, prayer is God’s delegated authority manifested on earth! It is a powerful and holy weapon from Heaven which is at the disposal of those who have surrendered to the Lord Jesus, to be used by those who have yielded their will to the Holy Spirit. May I also remind you that after you have sought first the Kingdom of God and His righteous ways, and have chosen His pleasures, He will choose yours – to fulfill your godly desires. (Matthew 6:33, Ps. 37:3-4, Ps. 145:19) Remember that God is also a Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebr. 11:6)

Rule on earth
God cut the covenant with King David and promised his seed would eventually exercise authority over all the nations on earth. (Ps. 89, 2 Samuel 7, Ps. 2) This seed is Jesus and He has come! He conquered death, hell, sin and Satan, rules over all humanity and is the Judge both of the living and the dead! With confidence in His absolute rule over the seen and unseen world – at this very moment and always – we pray over the nations, their leaders, over Israel and the Middle East.

All the evil in this world, the enormous suffering and pain due to terrorism, wars and famine, the countless deaths of innocent babies and young children does not go unnoticed by our Creator! He has given us full assurance in our hearts that King Jesus was resurrected from the dead, is glorified and now sits on the throne in heaven. In spite of what we may see around us, no one has usurped His throne nor taken God’s place in His absolute position of power, with all the holy angels under His rule. The King shall return back to His planet earth with glory and power and the wrongs shall be made right! Humanity will eventually be saved from destroying itself utterly, and the downhill sliding of corruption and violence of the fallen nature of mankind will come to a full stop!

Pray faithfully and to the very end
With this in mind, we then pray according to His revealed will in His Word. We know that He who is Faithful and True will save Israel, will bring peace to the Middle East and eventually the whole world. He will judge evil, sin and lust; vengeance is His and He will repay. We know He will reward His own who are living holy in this present age, and have assurance He will reward those being ridiculed, despised and pushed aside, even persecuted and killed. We know the last word is His, we will receive our resurrected bodies and rule together with Him eternally. We are seeking His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth – to the very end of our lives.

Praying faithfully with you,

Rev. Juha Ketola
ICEJ International Director

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The next day of prayer and fasting in our Isaiah 62 Global Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016. Please join us!

Pray with us according to the following guidelines:

Pray for Israel:

1. Pray for Israel’s salvation as promised in the Scriptures and for the Israeli people of today to repent and come to know their Savior.
Pray according to Zech. 12:10 and Acts 5:31.

2. Pray for Israel’s affairs with African nations, which recently saw great progress and continue to improve. Much of the African continent is influenced by Islam, thus positive developments in these relations are considered significant.
Pray according to Isaiah 40:15-17, Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 54:17.

3. As a result of UNESCO approving a resolution that strips the Temple Mount of all its Jewish history and considers it an exclusively Muslim site, we call for Christians to send Bibles to UNESCO headquarters. Pray that these Bibles would touch lives, bring awareness of the Truth and humble the individuals at this institution.
Pray according to Ps 2; Isa 11:9.

Pray for the Middle East:

1. Please pray for the people of Syria and their leadership, as well as the leadership of the rebels, ISIS and other nations involved in the conflict, to submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in establishing righteousness and peace.
Pray according to Jer. 18:7-8, 2 Chron. 7:14.

2. Pray that the Gospel would be preached among nations and change lives, so that the people would recognize that Jesus is the only solution to the fallen and broken humanity.
Pray according to Matthew 24:14, Acts 4:23-31.

Pray for ICEJ Ministry:

1. Thank God for His faithfulness and provision to the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem over these many years, and pray we can have sufficiency in all things.
Pray according to Psalm 105:1-4, 2 Corinthians 9:8.

2. Praise God for the Feast of Tabernacles 2016 which gathered thousands of believers to Jerusalem. Pray that the Holy Spirit would use the powerful testimony of the pilgrims as they return to their nations and share their experiences with their countrymen for God’s glory!
Pray according to Zech 8:20-23; Zech 14:16-19.

3. Pray for the Envision Conference for Pastors and Christian Leaders which will take place in January 2017. Pray for the right leaders to come to Jerusalem, so they can receive encouragement and wise counsel in God’s Holy City. Pray that God would give wisdom to the ICEJ in preparations for this important conference.
Pray according to Prov 4:7; James 3:17-18.