The Jerusalem Prayer List - December 3 2009

by Joseph Shulam

Marcia, my wife, has arrived home safe after being for five weeks in the United States and enjoying Thanksgiving with her family in East Tennessee.  In Israel things are always moving fast.  There seems to be not even an hour to relax and think.  The whole country is hoping to see Gilead Shalit our captive soldier released soon from the captivity of the Hamas in Gaza.  Israel has essentially agreed to release 980 terrorists with "blood on their hands" for one Israeli soldier.  Many people in Israel believe that this is not a wise move because from our past experience many of these terrorists who are going to be released will return immediately to plan and execute more acts of murder and terror and the killing of innocent women and children.  On the other hand we do have one Israeli soldier who is alive and in captivity.  He is held in some hole under the ground and without seeing daylight for more than three years. Our values are different than those of a fundamental radical extreme Islamic terrorist movement like the Hamas.  As a people we value the life of one soldier so much that we are forced to release near one thousand murdering, blood thirsty, terrorists, for one of our children.  Israel needs your prayers and the United States needs your prayers and the world needs your prayers, because it seems to me that fundamentalist Islam has raised its head and only God can bring put it back into place.   

I pray that Western Civilization has not come into the situation that the Apostle Paul describes in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12,  "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

Personally I don't think that we have come to this point yet, but I think that the danger is there and that the church worldwide has to muster every ounce of strength, energy, power, and divine might, to mobilize every possible resource and face with love and with Good News the darkness of terrorism.  We must all take the challenge that radical Islam is putting before us very seriously if we want Biblical faith to survive.  All I know how to do now is just pray and prepare the younger generation of our congregation in Jerusalem to face those conditions that the future might be holding for them.

Please keep praying for my family and especially for Noaam my grand-daughter and Danah, but also for Marcia's mother, and for Lonnie and Barbara Smith, Ruby, Paulo, Kemi, and Mr. Ishiida, Ahuva, Leah, Ilana, Sarit, Marcia, and even for my health since there are some problems with my feet that also need a touch of God's healing hand.

Keep praying for the situation of the legal issues that Jewish Disciples of Yeshua face here in Israel.  There are several brothers and sisters who are suffering and your help.

Netivyah has begun the fund raising campaign for the construction of our building.  We need to have 1000 people give 1000 dollars each to be able to raise the money that we need to build.  Of course if some of you can give more than 1000 dollars it would make things faster and easier for us to start.

Thank God for all of you who pray for the salvation of Israel and of the World, and support Netivyah in the important work that you are doing.

God willing, I fly out to Amsterdam, Holland, on the 18th of December to teach in the Lamdeni Midrasha.  I shall be teaching a four day very intensive course on the subject of: The Old Testament Sacrificial system and the Cross.  It is an interesting study of the whole concept of sacrifice in world religions and especially in the Ancient Near East.  I need your prayers for strength and clarity of mind to be able to do a good job in this teaching.

Pray for the New Hebrew Magazine "Davar Acher" = "Something Else."  It is a unique magazine with all original locally written material to enrich the Hebrew reader with both intellectual and spiritually challenging material.  There are only two Hebrew magazines that the local body of the Messiah publish in our ancient tongue that have original Hebrew material written by local Israeli Jewish believers, Kivun and our Davar Acher.  Davar Acher is a much bigger magazine with more material and may be more in depth studies than Kivun, but both of these magazines are so important for the local body because they are Jewish and Messianic and reflect a local Biblical faith and not imported Christian denominational material.  Please pray that the local Jewish Disciples of Yeshua embrace and enjoy Davar Acher and deepen their faith and their walk with the Lord.

Don't forget to pray for Kol HaYeshua Radio broadcasts.  We need your prayers for the Lord to bless every hearer and every listener in Israel and in Jordan and in Lebanon and Syria and even up in Ukraine.

The Soup-Kitchen is still very much a challenge because every day there are people knocking on our door and wanting to receive food.  We are being challenged by the Lord and our faith is being stretched daily.  Keep praying for all those working and supporting and receiving food from this purely humanitarian  service. 

God be with you and bless you one and all,

Joseph Shulam

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