Blessed Prayer Partners,

Three times a year, God obligated in His word that all Jewish men must make ‘aliyah’ and come up to Jerusalem where the Temple stood for the feasts of Passover (Pessach), Pentecost (Shavuot) and Tabernacles (Sukkot). Obviously their family members were with them, so during these festival times people were streaming up to Jerusalem from all over the nation and region, and the city of God was packed. The streets were busy and noisy, and it was hard to push your way through the crowds. It was time to celebrate and give praise to the Lord, present offerings to Him, and inquire of God and seek His face! Especially joyful was the Feast of Tabernacles each fall.

Today, many Jewish people are again coming up to Jerusalem every year to celebrate these festivals. But now, they come from all over the world.

We know that two of these feasts have been fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Jesus is our Passover Lamb (Pessach) and the One to baptise us with His Holy Spirit (Shavuot). That leaves only Sukkot still waiting for Him to fulfil. Since Sukkot is still pointing to the future days of Jesus’ return and not yet fulfilled, we believe that by celebrating this festival, it gives an excellent opportunity for every believer and church to make a glorious declaration about the promised return of our King Jesus back to earth. We do this as His witnesses and as witnesses of His clear plans for Israel and all humanity!

By celebrating Sukkot as Christians, we declare our faith and anticipation for the great future ahead of us and manifest our full hope for that coming peace promised on earth. And not only that, but by celebrating Sukkot, we also decree together with God’s word the level and extent to which God’s rule and authority will eventually reach all the nations of the world. This is all the way from top to bottom, from kings to beggars, from rich to poor, from north to south, even to Nature and the animal world! God’s rule of righteousness and peace in His Son will finally come and usher in a whole new era, where Jesus' character, mind and will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven! And Israel as “a light to the nations” will be finally restored! God’s Kingdom will surely be established gloriously and fully!

For this reason, our annual Jesus-centered celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles here in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, for over three decades now has been so vital and important. It is a great witness of our faith for the good, loving and redemptive thoughts of God concerning Israel!

This is why the Christian Embassy works so hard to inspire Christians from all over the world to come and join us during Sukkot – and yes, specifically during Sukkot! This is the right time to come to Jerusalem and Israel! During this week-long festival, when modern-day Israelis see Christians by their thousands in the streets of Jerusalem, joyfully showing their support for them, standing side-by-side with them, and filled with unconditional love – it is a wonderful and most welcome comfort for the whole nation! And it is a healing balm for the deep wounds in their hearts!

We are eagerly waiting again for this year’s Feast of Tabernacles at the Jerusalem Payis Arena, to speak with one voice of love and comfort from the nations into the lives of ordinary Israelis! Oh, that we would together fill this new Arena, which seats 11,000, and the streets of Jerusalem with our joy, laughter and love for the Lord and for this nation!

This vision is also taking us to the nations, to share God’s will and this great hope in all cultures and language groups. This is why today we have either a national branch office or a representative in over 140 different nations, and why we are constantly reaching out to new nations. Our mission is to raise worldwide prayer, build an effective global constituency, open ways for finances to come in, revive the hearts of believers and churches to bless Israel, and connect with politicians and decision-makers in order to make a difference and lasting impact on Israel’s behalf.  Our vision is to have a presence in every single nation of our planet, thus connecting all the world to Jerusalem and the Jewish people in Israel!

For us to follow Him, we have set apart this month of January to pray and fast, trusting that you will do it together with us as our prayer partners from 79 different countries at the moment! And we know you have done it – and will continue doing so! So here below you will see our joint prayer points for this coming Wednesday, the 21st of January.

And again for new prayer partners: Please join us by signing the Isaiah 62 pledge on-line and you will receive a new prayer letter each week of January, and every month thereafter. Sign up at: http://int.icej.org/Isaiah62_Pledge

Finally, we will be ending this special month of prayer with a 24/7 around-the-world prayer chain during the final week of January, from the 25th to the 31st. You can sign up for one-hour prayer slots at the on-line chart found here! https://isaiah62prayer.youcanbook.me/

And please remember to provide us with your email address for this prayer chain.

With every blessing in Jesus,
 
Rev. Juha Ketola
ICEJ International Director

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PRAYER POINTS FOR THIRD WEEK OF JANUARY 2015
The next day of prayer and fasting in our Isaiah 62 Global Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 21 January 2015. Please join us!

Please pray with us for the following areas of need:

1.  Pray for the Feast of Tabernacles from September 27 to October 2, 2015 at the Jerusalem Payis Arena. Pray for the presence and glory of the Holy Spirit to increase and grow upon us at this great international and multi-cultural gathering and celebration. Please pray for the finances and the resources to come in for pilgrims to attend and Feast costs to be fully covered. Pray for wisdom, power and health for all our staff and for the Feast volunteers who will be joining us. Pray for Christians to come from every nation and all the continents.

2.  Pray for our ICEJ national branches and representatives all across the world. Pray for them to be able to raise more prayer support on behalf of Israel, to find ways to build more effective constituencies in their respective countries, to have favour and wisdom from God in raising funds, to be effective in connecting with local churches, spiritual leaders, political leaders and decision-makers.

3.  Pray specifically for Chinese-speaking nations (China, Taiwan, etc.) and Spanish-speaking nations (20 of them), where the Lord is truly opening new doors for our ministry. Pray that we would be able to seize this opportunity with full strength and to the fullness of what God has entrusted us to do.

4.  Pray for new nations to open their doors for us, especially for Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea where we feel the Lord is leading us to go in.

You can use the following Scriptures to pray to God by reciting them out loud for added strength when you intercede. Declare their promises and guidance over the prayer requests above:

Zechariah 8:20-23, 14:16-19; Ephesians 1:3, 5:17-19; Titus 3:6; Revelation 3:7-8, Numbers 6:22-27; Philippians 4:19