ISAIAH 62 PRAYER LETTER
OCTOBER 2015

The Lord goes before us and is our rear guard

The prophet Isaiah declares a wonderful divine promise: “For the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” (Isa 52:12) In the original context, this is a command from the Lord to the Israelites in the Babylonian captivity, to flee and go forth from the Chaldeans. It was given to them a good 100 years before they were even taken into captivity by King Nebuchadnezzar!

Prior to the destruction of the great empire of Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah also foretold its calamity and fall into ruin, thus opening the way for the Jewish people to return to their homeland during the rule of the new king, Cyrus, and the new empire of the Medes and Persians. In other words, the God of Israel had already prepared and planned the rescue of His chosen people, ahead of His disciplining and chastening actions – that is, even before carrying them into exile. God also promised to save them from all ramifications and consequences when they left their captors, and they were free to start a new life in Jerusalem and to rebuild the Temple. The God of Israel would be their rear guard!

Jesus’ promise to the apostle Peter
We can see a similar course of action in the life of Peter the Apostle. His return to fellowship with his Master was opened long before his fall would push him into the darkness of Satan’s accusations, his own self-doubt and self-condemnation. The Lord prepared him in advance for the moment when Peter would deny Jesus. He said beforehand to His key apostle: “I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:32). Surely in the midst of his bitter tears, after falling into sin, the light of the promise of Jesus slowly started to shed light into his darkened soul! Faith coming from the promise of his Master revived him, and by this faith he walked out of his despair and returned into the daylight of the life with His beloved Lord.

The joy to pray
The Bible strongly confirms that God has gone before His children and His chosen ones, and He has already prepared the escape path from each and every kind of temptation (1 Cor.10:13). Therefore, when we pray in the midst of trials or obstacles in our lives, with great expectation, joy, trust and hope, we wait in the Lord. We expect Him to answer us and intervene. He has not only gone before us and not only does He have everything under control, but He is also our rear guard against all of life’s setbacks and adversity. All the devil’s accusations, our own doubts and fears, and whatever the results of unfortunate or bad things that transpired in our lives – all of that has been covered by His redeeming wings. We can confess our sins, repent, make things right and continue walking and working with our Lord and Savior.

So again, let us lift our holy hands towards our Creator and Lord in Heaven, and bring to His throne this month’s prayer requests in full faith that He will answer!

 

Praying with you,

Rev. Juha Ketola
International Director

Prayer points:

1. Pray for the two Chief Rabbis in Israel: before the Feast a letter was issued by the Chief Rabbinate, falsely accusing the ICEJ of not respecting the laws concerning missionary activities in Israel.

Please pray that in spite of this, the Feast of Tabernacles this year will have a big, lasting and positive impact on Israel and that the unconditional love of the nations for Israel and the Jewish people will be seen clearly by all Israelis, including the religious Jews.

Pray according to Isaiah 52:12; 1 Timothy 5:25

2. Please pray that a big, lasting and positive impact will also go with the Feast delegates to their nations.  Pray that we would experience the same multiplication as when Jesus was feeding the five thousand, and still twelve baskets of bread were left over after everyone was fed.

Pray according to John 6:11-14

3. Please continue praying for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government to have wisdom concerning the borders of Israel.  Russian troops as well as Iranian troops are now inside of Syria.

Pray according to Proverbs 1:7; Ecclesiastes 9:18

4. Please pray for our plans to move ahead with our efforts to counter the BDS movement and its impact within the European Union.  Pray for a great, widespread influence of our work in this regard, as well as an impact on the heart of the European Union.

Pray according to Proverbs 23:23; Proverbs 18:8

5. Please pray for the full provision and abundance for all of our ministry needs in order for us to continue touching the heart of the nation of Israel and all her citizens, and to carry our mandate from the Lord.

Pray according to Isaiah 60:5; Philippians 4:19

6. Pray with us for the safe and successful return of the Jews from all around the world to Israel, especially the ones coming from Ukraine.

Pray according to Isaiah 49:12, 22; 52:11-12