1) God Save America - Miracle Headline in One of Australia’s Biggest Newspapers
The Daily Telegraph is Australia’s second largest daily newspaper, comparable to the New York Times, ran a headline before the US election result was announced, which said; God Save America. This anti-God secular newspaper had no idea that this was exactly the prayer of both Australian and American Christians who have been praying in unity in the lead up to the American Election. Australian Christians called for prayer from all over the world for the American elections at a ‘Sunrise Prayer Relay’ on Tuesday 8 November 2016. Australia is 18 hours ahead of the USA.
Warwick Marsh from the National Day of Prayer and Fasting in Australia said, “We congratulate Donald Trump on his win but America does not need Clinton or Trump. America needs God. That is why we are so excited about the headline ‘God Save America’ because that is still our prayer. We are praying for Revival and Transformation in America and a release of the Gospel in the USA. America needs Jesus.”
Pat Steele from the Sunrise Prayer Relay in Australia said; “I believe America is at the beginning of a great awakening. The verse I have for America is Isaiah 43:19, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” I feel that this election result will be the shock that people need to shake the dust off their eyes to know they need saving and reviving. It is only God who can lead them out of the wilderness and wash away the wasteland with His stream.”
Steele continued. “That is why Warwick and I are pretty excited about the headline of the paper today, "God save America". Yes, we might be reading this out of the context of the article, but it reminds me of Balaam in Numbers 23 who was paid by the Moabites to curse Israel but when he opened his mouth to speak he prophesied blessing over them and hope for the future instead. Our God is the God who saves, He is a miracle working God and He is alive, God save America, Amen!!!”
Pat Steele Phone and Warwick Marsh
www.sunriseprayerrelay.com
Thanks to our dear friends, the Aussies, for standing with us in prayer for the USA’s national election and let’s agree and pray that this word about revival which many others have also prophesied will indeed begin to happen!
Here is another prophetic word about radical change coming to America:
2) "The Uprising is Coming!"
by Chuck D. Pierce, Corinth, TX
Highlights from Chuck Pierce's prophetic video "The Uprising is Coming!" released on November 7, 2016:
- "This election is not about a person – it's about a structure just as if you were an old wineskin – where one day too long that wineskin routinizes around you and it's like cement and you can't get out of it.
- "This election is not about a person – it's about breaking out of a structure. If we stay in the structure we're in one more season, it will be so routinized and so ordered around us that we cannot as a nation come out of it.
- "Decree and vote for what will break you out of an old structure!
- "I say there is a new anointing rising in my people, and from the new anointing you will rise up and see the opportunities that I have for you. For right now opportunities seem blocked, but I say to you there is an uprising coming! There is an uprising coming! There is an uprising coming! It has been brewing underneath, but now you will see the uprising," sayeth the Lord!
- The Lord just said, "If you knew how close you were to the revolution of change that is coming, you would not be able to keep your mouth shut one moment!"
- The Lord said, "Do not hold your peace from this day forward – for the next five months you will hear, 'Peace! Peace!' but there is no peace.
- The Lord says, "The sword of Heaven is coming to liberate the ground and My people must have the sound that liberates the ground."
- I say to you I will come from the Islands and I will blow a wind. I will come from both sides of this land with a wind that will cause what couldn't stand to fall. I say to you the winds are now circling from Heaven and will now surround the lands of the earth. I say to you welcome the winds in for the change and the revolution of change is now at hand!
To watch Chuck Pierce's "Crucial Video" on the "Uprising Coming" click on image below or click here.
Chuck D. Pierce
Glory of Zion International Ministries
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.glory-of-zion.org
3) An admonition from a Romanian prayer leader:
A Word from the Lord
January 20 – The Second day for the Battle
November 8th was the Glorious Day, a Miracle from God. The People of God received the right to fight for their lives, families, communities, towns and cities and nations all over the world and especially in USA (the leading nation of nations, or Capital Susa following the parable of the book of Esther.
The adversary is regrouping, buy time with nice and politically correct discourses, but is preparing to fight back.
Friday, January 20, 2017, the Inauguration Day is the Second Day for the Battle. The Second Day for the Battle is to secure the victory of Nov 8 for the People of God in USA.
Friday January 20, 2017 is the Day for Battle. Prepare, be Ready, Unite and Fight for the future of you, your children and grandchildren, for the future of this great nation ad the entire world. The adversary has not legal right to return and harm again this nation.
I pray this message will receive the confirmation of the Body of Christ in USA. May you as the spiritual leaders adapt, share and act accordingly?
Ioan Peia <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
4) A thoughtful perspective on the situation after the American election
The Day After Election Day
by John Stonestreet
For most Americans, the results of Tuesday’s presidential elections came as a shock, even a surprise, and for many, a bit of a relief. That feeling of relief is understandable. While there’s no way to be sure what will happen over the next four years, Christians may very well have gained a reprieve in areas such as religious freedom and attempts to impose the new sexual orthodoxy and gender ideology on our schools.
So relief? Yes. But I’d caution against elation, because what happened on Tuesday was more of a reprieve than a vindication. A close read of Tuesday’s results, beyond the presidential race, shows that the cultural trends we’ve been talking about on BreakPoint for years continue unimpeded. The saddest example is Colorado voters’ approval of doctor-assisted suicide by a two-to-one margin. I warned on this broadcast that so-called “right to die” invariably becomes a duty to die. I reminded my fellow Coloradans that in a state currently in the midst of an epidemic of teen suicide, approving doctor-assisted suicide sends the wrong message.
But it didn’t matter. The siren song of unlimited personal autonomy and self-definition proved irresistible to a large majority of Coloradans.
And a similar dynamic was at work in the various ballot initiatives concerning marijuana. Voters in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada joined Colorado and Washington in legalizing marijuana outright. As of this writing, the result in Maine is too close to call, although supporters of legalization have already declared victory.
Meanwhile, voters in Florida, Arkansas and North Dakota approved so-called “medical marijuana” use. I say “so-called” because if history is any indication, these laws amount to legalization by just another name.
Only Arizona, thanks largely to the efforts of the Council for Arizona Policy, bucked the trend for legalized weed. So, all in all this was a bad night for the idea that human good involves something other than unlimited personal freedom and pleasure.
And no matter how much relief we feel over the defeat of what would certainly have been a radically pro-choice, anti-religious freedom Clinton administration, the serious moral concerns about the man who was just elected president remain, as do the serious moral concerns about the nation that elected him, and those evangelical leaders who went on record saying that character no longer matters in a leader.
So where does all this leave us today? How will we use this reprieve? Well first of all, we should, as the Bible instructs us, pray for those in authority. We should also pray for President-Elect Trump to surround himself with wise and godly counselors, and to act justly, wisely, and rightly.
Beyond that we should support any of his policies that promote the common good. We should urge him to protect the unborn, as well as those who believe in traditional marriage, and to safeguard religious freedom.
But what we can’t do is fall prey to the political illusion. As Chuck Colson liked to say, the Kingdom of God never arrives on Air Force One. Too often Christians lose sight of this basic truth and have allowed themselves to become court preachers instead of prophets.
But prophets we must be. The church’s duty is to speak truth to power, especially when the power doesn’t want to hear it. If Jesus is Lord, no one else is. Now today on BreakPoint.org, we’ve created a symposium on the Church and the election…to answer the question: “What has the 2016 election revealed about the state of the Church and its place in American culture, and how ought we (the American Church) move forward from here?" You’ll want to read what our contributors have to say. Again, visit BreakPoint.org to check out our symposium, “The Election and the Church.”
From Breakpoint.org
5) For those who want to intercede for America during this hopeful yet vulnerable time before the Inauguration, please join in with others praying around the clock.
24/7 National Strategic Prayer Call
Until January 19 has been launched! This is collaborative prayer initiative is quickly moving
towards 24/7 conf call during these 70 days of transition from Obama Administration to Trump Administration. * 24/7 Prayer, Worship, Scripture
* Under the direction of Holy Spirit
and seasoned facilitators.
For more details, contact Maureen Bravo, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Thank you!
Please connect using 712-770-4340, code 543555#.
Please pray for the new administration taking power in the USA on January 20 and this crucial time in between that efforts to destabilize and further divide the nation will be quashed. Pray that the wicked will be removed from government and all other sectors of society and replaced by upright, honest officials that the Lord can use to bring about a moral and spiritual reformation that will affect not only this nation but our world.
(from a Christian worker friend living in Kabul)
“Every city is different, Paris, New York, Berlin, etc, almost like the powers and principalities over it control it, and they must fall. Daniel talks about the Prince of Persia.
Anyway here is a short history of Kabul. For those who take the time to read it, it is interesting, and shows a lot of death, etc. Interestingly legends say Cain is the founder of the city, and is buried here.”
History
Legendarily founded by Cain and Abel, Kabul is an ancient city, repeatedly fought over by all the region’s great empires and religions. Known in antiquity as Kabura, it was an Achaemenid outpost 2500 years ago, later renamed Parapamisidae by the Bactrian Greeks who built a city here. In the centuries that followed, Kabul became a Buddhist city during the Kushan era, Hindu (interesting this Hindu temple is still active here, and the goddess they worship is Asmai and Kali, goddess of death) under the Indians and finally Muslims with the Arab expansion from the east. Kabul’s first Afghan rulers were the Ghorids in the 12th century.
The whirlwind of destruction wreaked by Genghis Khan had largely blown itself out by the time he reached Kabul, and the city escaped the worst of the Mongol destruction. Kabul prospered under Timur in the 14th century, who even married the sister of one of Kabul’s rulers, and used the city as the base for his conquest of India. In 1504 Kabul was captured by Babur, founder of the Mughal empire. Babur loved Kabul, and had rhapsodised about its many delights. Even as his ambition drove him eastward to India he dreamed of the city, writing, ‘I have a longing beyond expression to return to Kabul. How can its delights ever be erased from my heart?’. His body was returned to Kabul for burial.
Kabul was never a secure throne. When Dost Mohammed became Emir in the 1820s, he found himself squeezed not just by Afghan rivals, but by the British and Russian empires. Initially courted by both powers, the British eventually sent an army of occupation to Kabul in 1839, putting their own puppet on the throne. It was an early round of the Great Game that ended in disaster for the British – their resident hacked to pieces by a mob, and the Kabul garrison massacred as it tried to retreat from the city. The British sent an army of retribution to Kabul in 1842 and dynamited the medieval covered bazaar, but also allowed Dost Mohammed to slip back in to the country and quietly regain his throne.
Incredibly, the British failed to learn their lesson, and were back again in 1878 trying to impose their rule. There was another massacre of British residents and another punitive army sent to Kabul (this time it was the Bala Hissar to be destroyed). At the end of the war, Amir Abdur Rahman Khan was left master of his kingdom.
At the start of the 20th century Kabul was the focus of an ambitious modernising program under King Amanullah. Kabul boomed for the next 40 years. The USA and Soviet Union competed to provide vast amounts of aid, which helped pay for the paving of the city and the opening of Kabul University. The capital became a cosmopolitan place, and welcomed tourists from around the world.
Things started to change following the Soviet occupation in 1979. On the surface Kabul continued to prosper. Women made up nearly 40% of all governmental jobs, and the city’s shops were well stocked. The population largely sat out the war that raged across the country, although resistance groups increasingly infiltrated Kabul’s tight defences to carry out guerrilla attacks and bombings.
If a smooth change of power was expected following the withdrawal of the Red Army in 1989, events quickly proved otherwise. The victorious mujaheddin entered the capital in April 1992 and straight away fell into a murderous battle for control of the city.
Ahmad Shah Massoud’s Tajiks nominally controlled the presidency and most of Kabul, but they were immediately attacked by the forces of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whose preferred military tactic was the mass shelling of the city. Also jostling for power were General Dostum’s Uzbeks and the Hazara militias. At different times, all fought with or against each other.
The west and south of the city were flattened under continuous bombardment, and countless atrocities were committed against civilians. Around 50, 000 Kabulis lost their lives between 1992 and 1996, and a flood of refugees left the city. The puritan Taliban might have been welcomed as a group that could return the rule of law. Their first action on capturing Kabul in September 1996 was the public lynching of the former communist president Najibullah. The illiterate Taliban held a strong distrust of Kabul and its educated Persian-speaking population, and ruled the city with a harsh fist.
The Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Police quickly squeezed the life out of Kabul, beating women for wearing high heels under their burqas, and imprisoning men whose beards were too short. Under American bombardment, the Taliban fled Kabul in November 2001 and the Northern Alliance walked back in to power. Another army followed, this time of aid workers, contractors and returning refugees. Reconstruction continues, but it’s a slow and often very frustrating process.
2014 September - The two rivals for the Afghan presidency, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement, following a two-month audit of disputed election results. Ashraf Ghani was sworn in as president. This is not working.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/afghanistan/kabul/history#ixzz4QnQH93Rf.
Please pray for the healing of Afghanistan from decades of war and division. Pray that these two sides of the government will work together in real unity and deference to one another for the good of the land. Pray that the Taliban and ISIS rebels will be thrown into confusion and disunity and have to give up their armed struggle which is continuing the pattern of destruction and death that has stalked Afghanistan for many centuries. Let’s believe God that the future history of this longsuffering land can be different through persevering prayers of faith from inside and outside of the nation!
From the 27th to 30th of October this year we had a remarkable gathering in Geneva of the European 24-7 Prayer family. There were over 470 people gathered from about 26 different nations and many tribes and tongues from God’s church were represented. Highlights of the conference included praying together in unity for a move of God across Europe, worshipping together in different European languages and hearing testimonies of how God is at work across our continent.
As well as a stream of seminars, we experienced rich and challenging teaching from the main stage throughout the weekend from Dr Johannes Hertl (leader of the house of prayer in Augsberg, Germany, a Catholic house of non stop prayer), Miriam Swaffield (mission co-ordinator for Fusion, a student work movement in the UK), Adam Cox (leader Navah Church Kansas City and one of the leaders of 24-7 Prayer USA) and Pete Greig (founder and leader of the 24-7 Prayer movement).
Our gathering culminated in an evening of worship in the historic Cathédrale St Pierre (Calvin’s cathedral). This was a very significant moment for us as we worshipped together on the eve of the reformation, across many different denominations and traditions in order to worship, pray and seek God in unity. In one voice we prayed together a commitment, which included this promise:
‘We will co-operate together for the cause of Jesus Christ, across the boundaries of language, gender, culture, denomination and race.
We declare the supremacy of Jesus, the King of Kings, above all political, cultural and economic systems of control.
If our leaders build walls, we will build bridges. If others preach hate we will preach love. If our nations wage war, we will fight for peace.
As citizens of heaven we pledge our allegiance to the One who is reconciling all things together for his glory: Jesus Christ, Our Lord.’
After the worship event in the cathedral, we hosted a party with our annual ‘Generosity Auction.’ This year we auctioned off slippers which people donated and had a lot of fun bidding outrageously generous amounts to give to kingdom causes. Altogether we raised £12000 in the auction, which, amongst other things, bought a BUV for a micro finance project in Tanzania, a beautiful meal for sex workers we are connecting with in Ibiza and support for our missionaries working with Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
We are incredibly grateful to God for his presence amongst us throughout our time in Geneva and for the many lives, which were shaped and transformed from this gathering. Thank you so much for your prayers, we were humbled to be supported in prayer by so many around the globe.
Hannah Heather, IPC Leadership Team member from the UK
24-7 Movement, Director of Vision Course and Students
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 07890750158
Hebrews 12:25
“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent” (Rev. 3:2-3).
BELOVED BRETHREN,
God’s word is timeless, i.e. it is valid for all times. But some of HIS words receive special weight when they are spoken into specific, pre-ordained periods of time in order to encourage, warn, prepare and if necessary to turn around; such a word also indicates the consequences of neglecting it. The “wake-up” tour through all of Switzerland’s cantons is the conclusion of a trip through the 50 European countries and every continent on earth where the message and the trumpets were heard in the north, south, east and west. And time-wise it lies right between the wake-up in the Arctic region (Greenland in August) and the Antarctic (King George Island (in December). I find it noteworthy that this world-wide wake-up takes place in exactly seven years (beginning of 2010 to the end of 2016). Seven is the number of completeness or perfection. We hadn’t planned this, but God apparently did.
What have we experienced thus far and what have we learned?
First, we began the wake-up call here in Switzerland in 2010. We went to the four language regions to inform Jesus’ body, to sensitize and motivate them to join this wake-up call. Did this succeed? Yes and no. Yes, as far as individual brothers and sisters in various countries and regions of Europe and the world joined us.
Yes, certainly in the area of financial responsibility. God promised us in the beginning that we should not lay a financial burden on anyone anywhere in the world. HE promised that all the funds would come from Jesus’ body in Switzerland. We experienced this literally in every place. Halleluiah and THANKS to all of you who shared in this!
No, in the sense that we wished for far more prayer support from brothers and sisters, that they had inquired how people reacted to God’s call, and had joined us in the world’s countries and regions.
Switzerland was the first country on earth in which God “made the effort” to make the message and the trumpets heard in every canton! In the meantime we heard that HE has done the same in the USA and Asia. This once again gives us the realization and conviction that God truly gave a special calling to the members of HIS body in Switzerland, namely the ministry of watchmen! He did not give this world-wide wake-up call in America, China, India, Brazil, England or Germany, but in small, politically unimportant Switzerland! What do we conclude from this? That our little country should have a key role in God’s plans for Israel and the world.
There are few who hear God’s call and respond to it, including here in Switzerland. This can’t be otherwise when many of God’s people are sleeping, disobedient, have divided hearts, and are led astray or about to die (see verse above). Nevertheless, there were people everywhere who responded to God’s appeal with tears, sighing and repentance, both visibly and in the spiritual realm. There was also criticism, usually in written form. That’s O.K., one may have a different view of these things! And we all have to learn to be genuine before one another in truth. A good beginning!
We experienced God’s protection. Thousands of kilometers without accident or illness. We always arrived punctually at the meeting places. God provided for us in every way. The Spirit of the Lord was and is on us! How else would it have been possible to preach this message over 100 times (whether to three or to hundreds of persons) as if it had been the first and only time?!?! We experienced wonderful welcomes and acceptance, for example when the alliance president and several pastors officially welcomed us. Not only us as persons, but also the prophetic message we brought. What a blessing for this region or nation! But it was unfortunately an exception. In other regions and nations the pastors weren’t even willing to make the wake-up meetings known in their congregations. We do not write this bitterly but see it as an expression of God’s own diagnosis of the ill condition of HIS body. Not in vain did HE say, “My body is in an emergency situation. It has members who are mortally ill! It has members who are dead, blind, deaf, asleep, lukewarm, rebellious, disobedient; who love their lives more than ME!” He does not want this situation to continue! He wants to awaken, heal, restore. He wants HIS body to function properly, doing what HE as the head says!
The variety of landscapes, but especially of languages and cultures are not just beautiful for the eye and the ear. They can be sensed in the spirit as well. They contain a large spiritual potential for blessing. God has commanded HIS blessing where brethren are together in unity (in spite of variety), Ps. 133. But this is therefore also an entry for Satan to work. His most urgent goal is to prevent this unity. We have seen how different the strength respectively the weakness of the members of Jesus’ body is in the various region and nations. We urgently need one another! The stronger should care for the weaker, helping, supporting and encouraging them. But in order to do this we must all learn again to discern in the spirit. What is from the Lord – and where do we co-operate with the enemy? Where do we react on the basis of wounds or envy? Where walls between us must be torn down without fear of what could happen…There are things we can simply no longer tolerate!
This requires humility and good will on both sides. God will! Let us also will! Among ourselves in Switzerland (and any other nation) but also and above all together regarding our Jewish brethren (Rom. 11:8). There is MUCH to catch up on here! If we are not linked with the root, all “our” unity will be useless. In this area we often encountered lack of understanding, lack of knowledge, and blindness. But God speaks clearly for example in Eph. 2:15-19. When we return to the first love, get to know HIM better and deeper and return to HIS word, when we believe as the Scripture says, then we will also understand our roots!
We are not discouraged, frustrated or hopeless. On the contrary! As we know, God brings the dead to life! Just because of that we are on the way. Let us continue to pray, more intensively then ever, for ears which hear what the Spirit says and for the willingness to practice what we hear!
Werner and Regula Woiwode
1) November initiative for the development of a united prayer movement
Lisa Loden and Evan Thomas, two Messianic Jewish leaders with a heart for the unity of His Body sent this report about the gathering of ministry leaders in Netanya on Friday November 4th:
“Although the numbers were relatively small, this first initiative was very productive. The 12 local participants included both Messianic and Israeli Arab Christian leaders from Jerusalem, Galilee and central Israel. John Robb (USA) and Brian Mills (UK) provided us with an excellent foundation for "Transformative Prayer.” Numbers of highly relevant personal testimonies from their decades of field experience in conflict areas of the world, their wise input and encouragement was invaluable!
Their contribution led to a time of worship and prayer in small groups of three (triplets) where we sought the Lord for direction and a deeper understanding of the spiritual authority available to us through Messiah.
Lisa and Evan then provided basic facilitation to enable the group to identify primary spiritual strongholds that beset the nation and hold our peoples captive in our intractable conflict. We also identified some historical issues that have resulted in an endemic resistance to the Gospel. For your information, we are attaching a list (by no means exhaustive) of the points we raised, discussed and prayed about.
The time spent praying into these issues and identifying with our respective peoples was extremely valuable. Our prayer focus also helped provide insight into how much our own faith communities are impacted by religious strongholds and societal sins as well as by the ever-present Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Overall, the day provided an excellent beginning. Our strong sense is that we should continue in this call to prayer by gathering together every few months.
Notes from Prayer Day, November 4, 2016
These points were expressed by the attendees following joint prayer in small groups throughout the day.
Areas for Prayer
- Lack of peace. The land is bathed in conflict as are individual lives
- For the body of Messiah to unite in prayer.
- Pride, unbelief and hard heartedness.
- Distrust of order and authority.
- Systemic unrighteousness in government
- Freedom from religious influences in society – coercion, control
- A “spirit of death” (ex. high abortion rate)
- Spiritual apathy
- Lack of honor and respect (society and relationships)
- For moral integrity in the young generation (pre-adolescence)
- Culture of victimhood and offense on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- For the national Body of Messiah to have an understanding and revelation of the importance of prayer.
Thoughts on the way forward - Movement Towards Transformation
- We need to model this more than to teach it.
- Importance of starting with youth in prayer.
- Need to develop an effective prayer model.
- Network with others (small groups, etc.) who are already praying together.
- This group should meet again (continuation of this initiative)
- Identify key people who resonate with the concept of transformational prayer.
- Recognize the need for this to be a “grass roots” movement led by the Spirit, i.e. not designed and organized from the top or from outside sources.
Evan Thomas and Lisa Loden
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Please be in prayer according to the points that these ministry leaders identified that pertain to the development of a united, transformational prayer movement. This is utterly vital for this land that the Lord loves so much and that is so central to the His redemptive plans for our world.
2) Additional prayer concerns for Israel:
ISRAEL AFLAME. HER LORD WANTS TO RENEW HER DAYS. WILL SHE OPEN HER EYES?
I have no other country/Even if my Land is burning
Just a word in Hebrew/Penetrates my veins into my soul
Into a body that hurts/Into a hungry heart
Here is my Home
I won’t be silent/Because my country changed its appearance
I won’t give up on her/I will remind her
And sing here in her ears/Until she opens her eyes
Until she renews her days/Until she opens her eyes
This poem (Hebrew: Ein li Eretz Acheret) written by Ehud Manor in 1982 came to many of our minds here in Israel over the past week. It has been a deeply disturbing—at times alarming—week in Israel. Beginning last Tuesday, wildfires began raging across the nation in an unprecidented way. Except for a few smatterings of rain in a few locations a month ago, Israel hasn’t experienced any precipitation at all since last spring, and the land is like a tenderbox. The early fires were attributed to this dryness, having been ignited by natural means. Even so, it was strange the way they began leaping up in various places, keeping firefighting services scurrying through the first afternoon and evening. Then the winds were high, and a village west of Jerusalem had to be evacuated. By mid-week, major fires were burning west and east of Jerusalem, a settlement in the Territories, then to the north along the coast, and finally in a horrifying way, they sprung up on Mount Carmel headed for Israel’s third-largest city, Haifa. By this time, it began to be evident that they were no longer only being started by natural means, arsonists were definitely now involved. Soon there were literally scores of fires burning simultaneously across central and northern Israel. Israeli firefighters were exhausted—from Tuesday to Saturday some 2,000 firefighters were deployed, some working 24 hours shifts. Around 450 soldiers from Home Front Command were sent in to assist, then 69 firefighters from Cyprus, then around 40 volunteers arrived from the U.S. Israel’s 14-plane firefighting squadron was joined by 15 planes from other nations. Assistance arrived from Russia, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain, and Canada, the Palestinian Authority. During the five days, over 1.5 million tons of fire retardant materials and liquids were used, besides the water lifted in huge canisters by helicopter from the sea and dumped over the flames. As the fires roared into Haifa, the largest evacuation of its kind ever to take place in Israel occurred, with some 60,000 residents being ordered to vacate about a dozen threatened neighborhoods.
By Sunday, as the fires came under control, the scope of the devestation began to emerge. In Haifa, according to some reports, over 500 homes were completely destroyed, and and at least 1,700 residents were not able to return home Saturday night, because their homes were too damaged. Other communities heavily damaged were the Jewish village of Halamish in the West Bank, and Nataf in the Jerusalem hills. It is estimated that as many as 32,000 acres of natural forests and brush were destroyed. Already, the week’s fires are expected to be among the costliest in Israel’s history. Now things are quieter. The winds have died down. Rain is finally predicted for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Miraculously—in the turmoil and destruction caused by the firestorms, no one has died!
Yesterday morning we were visiting with a Messianic leader who lives in a corner of the Jerusalem Forest, and has been in Israel for 40 years. He remarked that he has never, ever witnessed anything like the fire phenomena which took place in Israel during those five days. It is strange and unusual. We are deeply grateful for all those nations which came to our aid. Yet, it is also true that, with all the help, for much of the time we were overwhelmed—were at the mercy of something bigger than us. It could have been so much worse—what a mercy that no one died! Is there something which God wants His people to see from this? Certainly, there is Biblical precedent for His witholding rain (Amos 4:7) and even threatening to release fires on Israel, that they might awaken and “Seek the LORD and Live” (Amos 5:6). Amos took this warning seriously, and cryed out to the Lord, ‘O Adonai YHVH, cease, I pray! Oh, that Jacob may stand, for he is small!’ So YHVH relented concerning this. ‘This also shall not be,’ said Adonai YHVH’” (Amos 7:4-6). Let us join in this prayer for Israel—and with the poet quoted at the beginning, pray for Israel’s awakening—that she open her eyes.
I won’t be silent/Because my country changed its appearance
I won’t give up on her/I will remind her
And sing here in her ears/Until she opens her eyes
Until she renews her days/Until she opens her eyes
PLEASE PRAY:
* For Rain. There may be many natural factors contributing to the drought conditions…but God’s word instructs us to call out to him when we are in need of water. Pray for citizens of Israel to be convicted so ask for this blessing from Heaven.
* That the tons of chemicals released into Israel’s atmosphere to try and stop the fires would dissipate…we are hearing of asthmatic attacks and other sickness around the country due to these chemicals. Pray that the first rains will quickly wash the air clean, and be followed by more.
* For Winds to abate and that the fires would not be able to re-ignite before the coming of the rain. “God makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame of fire” (Hebrews 1:7). Pray for angelic ministry over the wind and the fire.
* Supernatural strength, courage, protection and efficiency for the hundreds of firefighters who have been exhausted for days, but have had to continue going from place to place.
* That the work of the enemy against the people, land and trees of Israel be bound. For Israel’s law-enforcement officials. That workers of terrorism involved would be exposed.
* Mercy, comfort, provision for those who are now destitute from the destruction caused by the fires.
* That Israel will see what God would have her to see, and understand what God is saying in the midst what is taking place. That Israel will hear God’s warnings and take heed, turning her eyes to Him!
Martin and Norma Sarvis in Jerusalem
The time of prayer, November 10-12, with local people in Lebanon and four Syrian prayer group leaders from Damascus that ventured out to be with us was anointed and special. The great majority of them had never been exposed to transformational praying. Three generations- children, youth and adults- took part, most coming in from the surrounding area of Zahle, Lebanon and some from Beirut. Zahle is a short ways from the Syrian border and located in the Bekaa Valley where up to one million Syrian refugees are camped out. During part of the time in Zahle, we could hear the explosion of bombs and gunfire from just over the hills which dramatized the immense need, and so we prayed much for that land and also for Iraq and Lebanon.
Please do continue to pray with us in agreement for an end to the tragic civil war in Syria that has claimed the lives of 400,000, including 50,000 children. Let's fill up the bowls in heaven till they are poured out, bringing about His peace and healing for that deeply conflicted land. Pray that the Russians and Syrian government will stop their bombardment of the ancient city of Aleppo with over 200,000 civilians and their children huddled in hiding amidst the deafening and destructive bomb blasts. Pray also that the rebel groups will give up their fight and sue for peace. Finally, pray for the Lebanese and Syrian participants of the prayer initiative to act on the seeds sown into their prayer lives so that a real movement of transformational prayer will develop in both of their countries.
One of our team, Maher, came from his native Iraq to be part of our ministry team for this event. Let’s pray that the Iraqi forces will be able to quickly and effectively take back the city of Mosul (ancient Nineveh) from ISIS and that the remaining ISIS fighters would give up their resistance and surrender. Pray that further atrocities on both sides will be averted and that the civilians and their children will be able to escape to safer areas.
Thanks for keeping these nations in prayer for the coming days for His liberation from both spiritual and physical forces of darkness and that they will experience true restoration and renascence, recovering from so many years of war, death and devastation.
The Christ Day in Iraq, Friday November 18th, went very well, actually much better than expected. Though it is in Arabic, you can watch a small report here to get an idea of what a triumph it was to get so many from different Christian traditions together along with many refugees and others from non-Christian backgrounds. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CpVVJ6Dbkis. One of the organizers describes what happened:
“We had two types of meetings, a small one on Thursday for believers, and a big one on Friday for everyone. The second one was attended by very few believers and majority of nonbelievers.
Saying all that, the Lord did not leave us without a blessing/surprise! A Christian singer from another background, gave a very bold simple message about giving ourselves to the Will of God. He led all the audience to pray with him, surrendering their lives to the Will of God through Jesus Christ, and then sang a beautiful song about "the Lord is near to all those who call upon Him”.
It was just marvelous, seeing everyone bowing down and praying that prayer, including many nuns and a couple of priests together with all the audience, praise the Lord.
As we were planning, Christ Day is not just an event but a start of a new era of the Iraqi Church. The Lord showed us that there were many young people very much touched by what was going on. He showed us a need to start a youth ministry among them!
Prayer concerns:
- To keep the good results of reconciliation and make progress for the prayer movement.
- To pray against the bad accusations/slander some people are trying to accuse us and the media company.
- To start a new ministry among the youth who participated in this event, Christ Day. They are about 350 people.”
Maher Barbary
Life Agape - Iraq
The Lord Reigns Over All The Nations. “I am, that I am , the God of the Nations”
By Onassis Jeevaraj, IPC Leadership Team member from India
The awakening of the Church is not new but has been happening as a pre-cursor to every radical move of God. It has always come to wake up the Church - His body to the truth of the Kingdom and the move of God in that season. The message for each awakening has been strategic for each move and pivotal to the Kingdom of God manifesting on earth as it is in heaven.
The book of Revelation, so rightly starts with a message to the Churches to reveal the heart of God, to the body Of Christ.
Revelation 1:1 “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place.”
In submission to this word, the Spirit of God has impressed upon my (Bro Onassis’s) spirit, a message for the body of Christ for such a time as this.
Like all Awakenings are largely about an identity crisis. This one is too. God is moving in a very powerful way and ready to break forth a mighty outpouring. He never does anything without saying it to His prophets first, so,
“Wake up O Sleeper, Arise!! for the Lord Jesus Christ desires to shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14, Isaiah 60:1)
Wake Up To Happenings Worldwide
People are killed in masses in the Middle East and are being displaced from their lands. The people are therefore carrying the heart of a refugee.
Majority-ism is passing the rulings of the world. Shouldn’t it be the prayers of the humble people of God doing so?
Climatic changes are drastic and are causing unusual disasters and calamities. Jammu and Kashmir in India saw a disaster flood, North East US saw unusual snowstorms and Indonesia saw typhoons. The list is unending. These weaken economies and give rise to darkness rising in the hearts of man to manage survival.
Direct onslaughts against Churches in many nations with Witches and Corrupt leaders raising their heads against the knowledge of Christ.
Leadership of countries like in India, subtly penetrating the system of the country, trying to weave a impregnable cloud of deception by introducing many efforts to make the epic of religion a reality, masking truth with a lie spoken many times in many ways.
Amidst all of this, the Spirit of the Lord says, “Listen to what the Spirit says to the Church - Revelation 1:2-3”
Behold! The News of Heaven
God is going to showdown His glory like never before. No matter the things that are happening around, the Lord reigns over all the nations.
- God is raising up an army to awaken the Church - A rumbling.
- Do not judge the different parts of the body of Christ on how
they have invested in the Kingdom
- There is going to be a revival of expats in US
- God is going to re-ignite missions in Europe.
- Islam is not going to explode but is going to implode.
- Millions are going to reject Islam and shut doors to it in the West.
God is in the relentless process of plundering hell and populating heaven. You are invited to be a part of this magnificent move of God.
God’s Move - Many Roads To Damascus
In all spheres of influence, Media, Government, Education, Business, Religion, Arts, Entertainment, Family, etc. God is and has created many roads to Damascus experience for those Sauls who are currently on an assignment against the Churches. These roads are to be radical encounters with God and turn-arounds for these Sauls to become Pauls.
An Army of Pauls are going to overtake the Levites. The Church right now is asleep to this move and is going to be alarmed to see these radical Pauls take the world for Jesus.
God is looking for His sons and daughters to partner with Him in this move. So the question of His Spirit is, “Ananias - Where are you?”
Today the Lord is not thinking about the Damascus Road of Saul, as He on His own is revealing His mighty self and bringing the transformation of many numerous Sauls worldwide. But the Road of Ananias is the one that the Lord is looking at.
Saul will have all sorts of things to do in and for the Kingdom of God, but the man God relies upon in this hour is the child of God who has been trained for such a time as now - Ananias. How lovely that God would choose a man whose very name, in its derivative Hebrew form, means “the LORD is gracious” or “the LORD shows grace” to be such a lavish instrument of grace!
It was Ananias who revealed the abundant grace and love of God to embrace Saul into the fold of God - His body. Even today, God has not changed. He has created multiple Damascus roads in all spheres of influence and is orchestrating an encounter with all the Sauls on those roads. But where are the Ananiases of God? Are they ready?
Who are the Ananiases?
Ananias doesn’t need any help recognizing the LORD when he is spoken to. When the LORD speaks to this man, Ananias’ immediate response is “Here I am, LORD!”
Ananias receives great detail in the revelation of the journey to Paul. He is given the street name, the homeowner’s name and Saul’s name. He is told what Saul is doing at the moment and what Saul is being told by God. He is told what he is supposed to do and say. He is even told why his mission is so important – God Almighty lets Ananias in on his long-range plans for the life of Saul and in so doing the life of the Church itself.
The safety and security of Ananias are secondary to the importance of the mission. Faithful Ananias was listening and ready for the mission, because God amazingly allowed him to fully understand the mission, because Ananias allowed the mission to be more important than himself, this faithful, obedient and utterly wonderful guy Ananias got to see the miracle of grace in Saul’s life and harvested Paul.
If the mission isn’t more important than you, the mission will never be accomplished. This is the heartbeat of Ananias.
What must the Church do?
Sauls are ready to rush up to the Ananias. A great harvest of Sauls are present in India.
The body of Christ must reveal the heart of the Father (Luke 15), they must
- Prepare
- Sharpen their gifting
- Rise Up And Look to God
- Children and Young people have a great role in the coming revival--a generation of Josephs, Elishas and Davids.
- The global Church should connect with the churches that are broken and take responsibility for them.
- The Church should rise, not in fear but in radically taking their rightful possessions as sons and daughters of God.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”