Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.
For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Give to the Lord glory and strength. Give to the Lord the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come into His courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.
Say among the nations,
The Lord reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously.
Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness; Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.
Psalm 96
We praise You, Lord that Your name is a strong tower; that we can meet together in the City of the Great King! Thank You for bringing us to Jerusalem from many nations!
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Elections in Israel
This week the Prime Minister called for new elections in Israel because he could not get the parties in his coalition government to agree a new budget. The election has been scheduled for 22nd January 2013. We have already entered into a difficult season of political maneuvering with different politicians seeking to establish new alliances in order to beat Netanyahu. Several of the leading players have criminal convictions or are being accused of criminal deeds. Ehud Olmert, the former Prime Minister has been convicted and is still in a legal process. Aryeh Deri has been to prison. Avigdor Lieberman is facing accusations. This "dirty" political landscape brings the nation and ultimately the Lord into disrepute.
He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
Proverbs 17:15He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous," Him the people will curse.
Proverbs 24:24Pray:
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Lord have mercy!
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Raise up men and women of truth and of integrity, so that Israel may fulfill it's role to be a light to the nations! Raise up those who love You and love Your word
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Open the eyes of the Israeli people to the truth about their leaders and give them the ability to choose righteous leaders. May the people gain a vision for the nation and see through the self-seeking of many in politics!
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Give the Prime Minister and all in government the integrity to govern the nation during this election season, looking to the good of the nation rather than their own personal popularity. Don't allow the nation to be left leaderless!
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Bring down the works of wickedness and close any legal loopholes which would allow a convicted criminal to come back into politics!
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Bibi Netanyahu
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Give Bibi a renewed vision for the nation and the ability to communicate it! Enable him to instill hope in the people.
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Keep his eyes on God. May he continue to read Your word and find it a source of true light.
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Surround him with wise counsel and give him great wisdom over when and to whom to delegate.
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Enable him to keep his focus in apparently impossible circumstances with all the dangers around from outside and inside the nation and an election campaign to fight too!
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Protect him from making mistakes, unwise words or foolish actions!
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Iran
The Iranian threat has not gone away. Although international sanctions are hurting, there is no indication that Iran's nuclear program is being slowed down. Nor is there any reason to believe that Ahmadinejad doesn't mean what he says regularly about destroying Israel.
Jeremiah 49:38-39I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy from there the king and the princes,
says the Lord.But it shall come to pass in the latter days: I will bring back the captives of Elam,
says the Lord.Pray:
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God, fulfill Your purposes in Iran! Thank You for what You have promised in Your word!
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Bring down the leaders. Bring confusion to their plans to destroy Israel. Cause division among the leadership so that they may not trust one another. Cause them to take a step too far so that they make disastrous mistakes!
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Thank You, Lord for the growth of the Body of believers in Iran. Raise them up to take their place of authority in prayer. Give them courage in prayer and the wisdom to speak up at the right time!
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May the international sanctions continue to bite. Dry up the tentacles of control and influence from Iran into many neighboring nations.
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Make Israel ready for the role You want her to take in bringing down Iran. Give our leaders plans and the wisdom to know what to do!
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Turn the hearts of the Iranian people to favor Israel!
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Making ready
During the coming weeks there are plans for Israel to conduct both a major joint air defense exercise with the US and an exercise testing readiness to cope in the event of a major earthquake. Pray:
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For protection for all soldiers and civilians involved. May Your angels surround all those involved in these exercises!
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May we learn all we need to learn and have our eyes opened to any weaknesses in our guard!
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Grant an excellent working relationship between the Americans and the Israelis!
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Protect the nation from fear!
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Threats around our borders
Rockets continue to be fired into Southern Israel from Gaza. An unmanned aircraft from Hezbollah was recently shot down in Israel. Syria continues to be in chaos, with one of Israel's major concerns being over who would gain control of the chemical and biological weapons if Assad falls. The situation in Jordan too, is increasingly volatile. Surrounded by these dangers to Israel's security, pray:
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For our leaders, military and political, to have wisdom and courage to do whatever is needed to preserve Israel's security.
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Give the planners plans and the strategists strategies and the means to carry these out!
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Let our military leaders put the right structures in place to minimize fear among our soldiers! Give us officers who can merit the confidence and trust of the troops!
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We also took a stand against the spirit of fear gaining a hold over our nation among soldiers and civilians.
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US Elections
The outcome of the November 6th elections is bound to have a major impact on Israel and on the world. The relationship between the US and Israel has deteriorated markedly in recent years. We prayed:
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That the many millions of votes cast before November 6th would be cast under the Lord's direction.
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For God's mercy that the outcome of the elections would be for the good of Israel and the good of America and that the increasing darkness in America would be held back.
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But if it is God's time for increasing judgment on America that His will be done!
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Aliyah
Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, and gather you from the west; I will say to the north,
Isaiah 43:5-6Give them up!
And to the south,Do not keep them back!
Recognizing that most of the Jews who are still living in exile are in the west, we continued to pray that the Lord would bring His people home to Israel:
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Elections are times of decision. Use the American elections to prompt the Jews to come home!
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Cause many who visited Israel for the high holidays to have a desire to stay!
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Use the growing anti-Semitism in France and in England to cause Your people to come home!
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Open the doors and remove the bureaucratic obstacles to the Aliyah in Israel, especially where the Interior Ministry seeks to keep people out rather than encouraging them to come!
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Take away the selfishness from among the population of Israel who prefer to hold on to what they have rather than welcome their brothers and sisters home!
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May the Israeli government be prepared and make preparations for the olim (new immigrants) who are about to come!
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Sow seeds in many Jewish hearts today which will bear fruit in them coming home to Israel with their families!
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IFI
In closing we prayed for travelling mercies and anointing on the ministries of Eliyahu and Chuck as they are away in the USA and Germany for a few weeks.
Shabbat Shalom and Lord, keep us all faithful on our watches!