Isa 62 Prayer letter
August 2015

Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebr. 11:6)
Our Creator God has fashioned man to be in a relationship with Him. Through His eternal Word He reveals His Will to us, and we respond to it through faith by prayer and fellowship. To understand this communion better we first need to turn to the very beginnings of that relationship, before we can focus on the prayer points for this month.

The Garden of Eden
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, filled it with life and planted a garden in Eden. There He put Adam and Eve to tend and keep it. Their purpose in this gorgeous and most wonderful home was to walk and work with their Creator. The same remains true for us today in our present environments.
God longs for a fellowship with us, for our companionship and our joyous response to His initiatives and plans. He has a purpose for our lives, His plans are for good works, divine pleasure and blessings in His beloved Son Jesus. It will all unfold in our lives through a cultivated, intimate relationship with Him and our habitual walk in His presence. In the same way that Adam and Eve walked in the beginning. This requires great faith on our part.

In the garden of Eden Adam gave names to all the animals and ruled over them as an extension of God’s royal authority. He had wisdom and power to cultivate the trees, all the plants and herbs under his care. He was capable not only to work alongside God, but more importantly, he was able to understand the words proceeding from the mouth of the Lord. He was able to communicate with his Creator. He could hear and talk back, he conversed with God in the garden.
It is God’s desire for us to praise Him, pray to Him, enjoy Him, to ask and receive answers to our requests made before His throne. All what was required of Adam and Eve was to maintain faith and trust in God’s words. That was all what was needed for them to enjoy the majestic presence and glory of the Lord, guiding their lives, enlightening the garden and everything in it, giving it meaning and filling it with purpose.

Doubt in the Garden
The doubt which entered Eve’s heart did not originate from God, nor was it part of her God-given home in Eden. It was not built into it, but came from outside of her fellowship with the Creator. The doubt came from Satan himself and was directed exactly against the Word of God.
Today the enemy still works in the same way. The devil sows doubts into our minds, in order to ruin our intimate relationship with God and to destroy everything God has put under our authority and care.  Doubts left unchecked destroy us, lead us to disobedience and rebellion against God’s will, and eventually strip us naked from all His glory and blessings. Doubts kill, steal and destroy; faith brings life, restores, redeems, builds and saves.

Return to the Garden
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus we have been brought back to fellowship with our Creator. Through faith in Jesus’ name and blood we have access to the heart of our Father. By faith, we are one with Him and have been given His Spirit. Once again we can have an intimate communion with our Creator, walk with Him closely and enjoy His majestic presence in our lives. With faith in Jesus’ name we can hear God’s word to us, respond to His revealed will through prayer and be His fellow workers.

With all that in mind, make a choice right now to radically turn away from all doubts, radically abandon all fear, and with no compromise renounce all unbelief. Then through faith in His Word, responding and committing yourself to His revealed will, start praying over the suggested prayer points. Pray in faith. Pray with His Word included in each prayer point. Be encouraged to walk and work with Him again. Remember, in Jesus you have been brought back to the original plan of God!
With every blessing from Israel where our faith is rooted!

Rev. Juha Ketola
International Director

Prayer points for the month of August:
1. Pray for God to manifest His presence very strongly among the ICEJ staff in the Head Office in Jerusalem, and among our National Directors and Representatives across the world along with their staff. His presence increases our strength to walk and work with Him in Jerusalem and in the nations, and we need it especially now, as we approach the 2015 Feast of Tabernacles, starting on September 27.
(John 20:19-23, Luke 24:30-32)

2. Pray for the pilgrims from all continents and nations who are planning to come to Jerusalem and join us at the Feast of Tabernacles on the days from Sep 27 to Oct 2. Pray for their health, finances and relationships, so they can leave their homes and workplaces to experience and meet God, together with thousands of others during the Feast celebrations.
(Ps. 84:5-7, 11-12, Zech. 8:20-22, 14:16)

3. Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, for His glory and fire to be released over the Feast speakers, musicians, artists and all the delegates coming from different cultures and backgrounds.
(Acts 2:1-4, 10:44-46, Eph. 5:18-21)

4. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
(Isa 62:6-7, Ps. 122:6)

5. Pray for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his government to have wisdom concerning Iran and the borders of Israel. Every government in Israel faces continuous and new challenges during their term, especially concerning security, social issues and finances.
(1 Tim.2:1-3, Prov. 4:7)

6. Pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the whole nation of Israel. In the future there will be a promised powerful and final outpouring of the Spirit upon all of Israel, nevertheless until then pray with us that already now the Lord would allow more individuals and communities to experience it.
(Joel 2:28-32, Zech. 12:10, Romans 11:26-27)