Isa 62 Prayer letter
July 2015

Dear prayer partner,

The language of the family of God is the language of faith! As His child you were born again to be surrounded with and dipped into this language. The language of faith is your ‘mother tongue’! It comes effortlessly from your heart where the rivers of living waters from Heaven are flowing - and prayer is a perfect demonstration of it.

Prayer of faith
Our Father says: “Faith is the substance [realization] of things hoped for, the evidence [confidence] of things not seen”, and “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebr. 11:1,6). In other words, when we pray we speak to our invisible and eternal Father of the things we hope for, in full confidence that He will hear us. And when we pray, we are looking at things which one cannot see with physical eyes and which do not yet exist, but trusting that these very things God will call forth as a result of us praying according to His will and purpose (Rom. 4:17). Only a prayer of faith – whether in gladness and great joy or in agony and despair as a cry for help –our Father will hear. This is why it is so crucial to find the promises of God in His Word, and then overshadow and encompass our requests with them. We are to pray His will into existence, not ours. Prayer is cooperating with God for His plans to unfold and manifest on earth. We pray to be His fellow workers in His worldwide building business, that is, in building His Kingdom on earth for His eternal purposes. And He builds only according to His own ‘master builder plan’ revealed in His manual, the Bible.

Glory released
Jesus commanded us, when you pray, pray in this manner: “Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matt. 6:10). When His will is being done on earth, His Kingdom glory on earth is being released. The glory of the Lord will eventually cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea, however, until that happens in all its fullness, we are to seek for the first drops of that glory to fall now on earth.

 

When the generation that had left Egypt refused to follow God’s promises and move forward, refused to face the enemies in the land of their promised inheritance, and refused to establish godly order in the land instead of the existing pagan system, God Himself got angry. He confirmed His glory would definitely fill the earth in the future, but because of their disobedience as a nation to release His glory then by conquering the land of Canaan, they had to go into the desert for forty years (Numbers 13-14). It was God’s will for His Kingdom to come and be established on earth in the midst of the Israelites, but they said ‘no’. They lacked the determination to align their lives to the revealed will of their God and to take hold of His promises by faith. They were not pleasing Him, and thus that generation died in the desert without ever seeing the manifestation of the glory of the Lord in the Promised Land. God waited for the Joshua generation to rise up and to fulfill His will, which was to see His glory manifested in the midst of His people.  

Pray forcefully
Jesus said: “the violent take [the Kingdom of Heaven] by force” (Matt. 11:12). He means us, forceful men and women, who take hold of the Kingdom and see its manifestations on earth. So today, leave behind the nonchalant and oblivious attitude towards prayer, forcefully and enthusiastically take hold of the promises of God, and pray in faith accordingly! God will hear us and bless us as we pray in this godly manner!

Please see the prayer points for this month below.

With blessings from Jerusalem!

Rev. Juha Ketola
International Director

 

1. Pray for the northern and southern boarders of Israel for peace and calm to be maintained. May God’s glory protect the IDF and the citizens of Israel from the murderous and evil will of Hezbollah terrorists in the north and Hamas terrorists in the south.
Ps. 121:1-8

2. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, particularly since this is clearly commanded in the Word of God. Pray for the Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government along with other Knesset members to receive wisdom from God to govern and rule the nation righteously from Jerusalem.
Ps. 122:1-9, Prov. 21:1-2, 1 Tim. 2:1-2

3. Pray for the body of believers in the Land as well as their leaders, and for the Lord to pour out His Spirit upon them. Pray for the salvation of Israel, as promised in the Word.
Hebr. 13:20-21, Acts 4:29-30, Zech. 12:10, Rom. 11:26-27

4. Pray that the lies of the BDS movement would be exposed in the nations, and that our efforts would be effective when we stand against it.
Prov. 23:23, 1 Cor. 13:6

5. Pray continuously for the upcoming Feast of Tabernacles, which will take place from Sep 27–Oct 2 in Jerusalem. Pray for the glory of the Lord to be upon all of us and for His tangible presence to be manifested. Pray for open doors for the delegates to travel from all the continents, and for the Israelis to receive our love and encouragement through this international gathering. Pray also for the volunteers to come in full numbers and in good health.
Ps. 24:7-10, Zech. 8:20-23, 14:16, Ps. 84:5-12, Matt. 6:8

6. Pray for the staff of ICEJ in Jerusalem – for grace, wisdom, strength and guidance in every matter concerning the ministry and their personal, individual lives.
Ps. 23:1-6, Eph. 6:10-18, Col. 1:9-12