The Jerusalem Prayer List - Wednesday, May 13, 2009
By Joseph Shulam

This week driving in Jerusalem is a nightmare.  The Pope is visiting Jerusalem and many of the streets are closed, and all that is in addition to the fact that for several years the city of Jerusalem has been building a light-rail system and so many of the streets are blocked anyway.  Traffic was not good anyway in Jerusalem, but with the Pope here no one is blessing Christianity or the Catholic Church.  The Jerusalem public is a very difficult public it is very critical anyway but when a visitor like the Pope comes here and the traffic is so difficult the public does not exhibit too much favor for those who are the cause of the problem.  So, the public of Jerusalem does not show too much appreciation for the Roman Catholic Pontiff.  We have so many other things to worry about here in Israel and in fact even the media is not so enamored with this Pope.  There is both praise and very serious criticism for what this Pope is saying and the criticism is coming from both the Israeli said and the Palestinian side.  In comparison to Pope John Paul II, who was almost considered like a Rock Star, this Pope is a rather gray sort of figure and doing his best to be pleasing to everyone and to every side and succeeding to please none.   Pope Benedict XVI has not recognized Jerusalem as the eternal Capital of the Jewish people, he has not used the words "State of Israel" in his talks and in his visit to Yad VaShem (museum of the Holocaust in Jerusalem) he did not come out clearly and condemn the Natzi Germans who murdered six million Jews.  He did mention the suffering of the victims and the killing of Jews, but not with the word "murder."  You might think that this is a kind of Jewish nit-picking but I can say that we are well learned in the analysis of Papal language to know that his choice of words was well studied and premeditated.

The number of Christians in the Middle East has decreased seriously in the last decades and both the Jews and the Muslims in our part of the country don't have much use for the Catholic Church and although the Catholics still make a formidable influence on all of Christianity they are in decline in Europe and in North America. 

After visiting Portugal two weeks ago and witnessing with my own eyes the results of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition I can't help but pray for the Restoration Movement to pick up steam and to restore the orientation of the church back to Jerusalem and away from Rome.  I hope that you can join with me in this prayer and pray for the Lord's promises and return to be fulfilled quickly. 

In our home scene - we have not heard anything from the judge about our building situation.  We do need your prayers concerning this big issue because we are concerned to see justice and righteousness prevail in our country and we want our civil rights to be fully respected and made visible to all of Israel and the world.  Israel's reputation as a democracy, in fact as the only democracy in the Middle East will be well served by giving us the same rights as any other good will and eleemosynary organization in this country.  Please lift up Netivyah in your prayers.

The situation in the soup-kitchen continues to be stressful because almost every day we are getting requests for help.  Just a few minutes ago a dear old lady who has come from Russia several years ago called and asked for help with paying her electricity bill because she lives alone and she was cold in the winter and used her heater too much.  She was very grateful for receiving food from the Soup-Kitchen.   My stress level goes up when I have to say "no" to such cases, but sometimes it is inevitable and I just have to take more blood pressure medicine and pray more.  Please lift the social needs and humanitarian aid needs of Netivyah up before the Lord.  He and He alone can open the doors and the windows of heaven for us and for you too!

We have a deep burden on our hearts for the sick in Jerusalem and among all our friends and brothers the world over.  Please join us and pray for Tapio and Terttu in Sweden.  We have been praying for them privately because Tapio has fallen from very high and has really damaged his health, but this is now a request for all of you to lift Tapio before the Lord and ask for a full recovery of Tapio's health.
 
We pray for Paulo in Curitiba, Brazil.  We continue to pray for Ruby in Oklahoma.  We continue to pray for Lonnie and Barbara in N.C., and for Tim Tucker in Finland.  Danah and Noaam, our daughter and granddaughter are also in need of prayer for their health.
 
In Israel we continue to pray for Aggi a dear friend who is facing cancer, and for Dubi a dear old friend who is quite old and dealing with cancer.  We also lift up Miriam, Ahuva, Lea, Liora, Sarit, Sara and Zvi, and Marcia.
 
There are a whole lot of people and friends that need work both in Israel and in the United States and in fact in the whole world.  It is good for us all to pray for the financial situation in the world and ask for mercy and grace from God so that He can extend His goodness and not judge our generation more harshly.  Remember that nothing happens in this world without the will of the Good Lord who Created this Universe.  We, the saints washed in the blood of the Lamb and made Holy, have the power of prayer to change the plans and the desire of Heaven by prayer and supplication and fasting and begging for Heaven's mercy. 

Please lift up Yuda and Lydia in your prayers.  We are sending them to the Call2All conference in Hong Kong to represent the Netivyah Ministry and to present a Restoration view point to the thousands of leaders from the whole world that are going to gather in Hong Kong for this conference.  This is the first time that Yuda and Lydia are going as a team to represent Netivyah on their own.  They need travel mercies and Holy Spirit guidance in all that they do and say.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Joseph Shulam