For the IDF

Yossi Azulay, 'Ana Bechoach' (IDF prayer song)

Israel! Israel!

 From the beautiful art of Adam Rhine at HebrewArt.com

Israel!  Israel!

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of the people Israel; Bless the State of Israel, with its promise of redemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the shelter of Your peace. Guide its leaders and advisors with Your light and Your truth. Help them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our Holy Land. Deliver them; crown their efforts with triumph. Bless the land with peace, and its inhabitants with lasting joy. And let us say: Amen

Israel! Israel! celebrates the reclaiming of the Promised Land by the Jewish people in 1948 and expressed the vision the Holy Temple will be rebuilt.

Yom Kippur: Our Father, Our King

Svetlana Portnyansky, 'Avinu Malkeinu'
Avinu malkeinu

khaneinu va'aneynu

sh'ayn banu ma'asim
Ase imanu tzedakah
va'khesed v'hoshe'eynu

Our Father, our King,
Be gracious unto us and answer us
For we are unworthy.
Deal with us in charity and loving-kindness
And save us.

In 2009 Yom Kippur (Jewish Day of Atonement) begins at sundown on Sunday September 27 and ends at nightfall on Monday September 28.

Durban II: A Prayer Request

I'm passing on this prayer request from Ebenezer Operation Exodus because I know many of you join me in supporting Israel and the Jewish people. This conference promises to be such a hate-fest that the United States will boycott the meetings. Read more about it here, here and here.

In 2001 an Anti-Racist Conference took place in Durban, South Africa. Its target was the Jewish state. Many nations turned against Israel in hatred and condemned and accused her of being guilty of Apartheid. Their most honored guests who greeted the delegates then were Arafat - the father of modern terrorism, together with the founder of the oldest dictatorship in the western hemisphere, Fidel Castro.

Now these nations are planning a follow-up conference, called Durban II. It is going to take place from April 20-24, 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland. The conference is deliberately planned to start on Hitler's birthday, April 20 and the honored speaker will be Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran.

In Durban 2001 the Jewish organizations were left to defend themselves on their own. This year a delegation from the European Coalition for Israel, as well as other Christians, will be actively involved in the events in Geneva in order to support Israel. ECI will organize a special public ceremony in the synagogue of Evian on the opposite side of Lake Geneva on Tuesday 21 April to mark the 70th anniversary of the Evian conference which rejected the Jewish refugees and which by some historians is seen as having given Hitler the green light to genocide. On Wednesday 22 April in the evening there is a pro-Israel demonstration planned where all Christians are welcome to take part.

Please exalt the name and the word of the Lord over this conference and pray for:

• The important event, on Tuesday April 21 in Evian, organized by ECI (Tomas Sandel and Helmut Specht). Ebenezer representatives and intercessors will also take part in it.
• The massive pro-Israel rally of Jews and Christians to be held in front of the UN Geneva headquarters building on Wednesday, April 22 at 5:30 p.m. Ebenezer representatives and intercessors will also take part in it.
• The Lord's protection over everybody participating in the rally and for no disruption by pro-Palestinian groups.
• The many Christians to be a real comfort and support to the Jewish people at the rally and the other events (Isaiah 40:1).
• The Lord to cause many nations to cancel their participation before the conference will start.
• The Lord to confuse the plans of the enemy and thwart any attempts of the participating nations to condemn Israel during the conference. Instead of cursing may there flow blessings for Israel (Numbers 23:20)
• The Swiss government to have discernment about what is going on.
• The Swiss churches and believers to take a stand for Israel.
  

'God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the people have gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.' Psalm 47:8-9

A Prayer for America

This arrived in my inbox today. I wish I had written it, but I didn't. I don't know the 'Jo Ann' to whom it is attributed, but I could not have said it better myself. God bless Jo Ann, and God bless America!

America stands at a crossroads, not just politically but also spiritually. The current election cycle is nothing less than a battle for the very soul of our country. The discerning among you already know this to be true. The deepening political polarization we have witnessed in the past few elections is merely a symptom of an ever-intensifying spiritual polarization, as the battle lines between the righteous and the wicked are drawn with increasing clarity. The stakes are enormous, whether politically, economically, morally or in terms of our physical security. We are about to step off in a direction that could very well lead to our destruction as a nation — and so many millions are blind to this reality.

As I observe popular attitudes and watch the public opinion polls, my heart grieves for our nation. We have abandoned the principles upon which our nation was founded, principles which in turn were anchored in the person and principles of God. The wicked grow ever more powerful and influential. Once respectable journalistic organizations have degenerated to little more than propaganda organs for the political left. Godly leaders who can rise up in defense of righteousness and our God-given liberties seem nowhere to be found. As a nation, we have cast God out of our thinking. The murder of the unborn is championed in the streets and in the courts. Homosexual ‘marriage’ is trumpeted as a constitutional right and as the sign of a so-called progressive culture. Sexual immorality, drug abuse, violence, idolatry, pornography, and a host of other sins have overtaken us. As a nation we either justify these things or, at a minimum, turn a blind eye to them. And God’s people have certainly not been immune from these things.

Now we stand ready to reap the fruits of our national godlessness. God sometimes judges sin by giving people over to the very things they desire and allowing the natural consequences to play out. However, as the wicked gain the upper hand in the halls of power, all of us of whatever political leaning will experience the predictable consequences.

So where does that leave us? Current polls indicate that the left is in position to seize decisive control of our entire political system, including all three branches of government. They stand to take the White House , both houses of Congress and, by inevitable extension, the courts as well. If that happens, they will take the country hard to the left in a way from which I do not believe we will ever recover. Socialism, moral libertinism, contempt for the sanctity of life, and increasing efforts to stifle political dissent (and I would add, to silence biblically-based ‘hate speech‘) are sure to follow in short order. If God severely judged Israel for her wickedness, who are we to expect differently?

‘If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ What can we do to prevent the unmaking of America from happening right before our eyes?
We can call upon the name of the Lord, who is rich in mercy and mighty to deliver His people. We can pray along with the psalmist that the designs of the wicked and the oppressors would be thwarted by the hand of God. We can pray that God would lift the evident blindness that has gripped our nation, and that He would grant widespread repentance. We can pray that only the most godly men and women would be elected to lead this nation, and that they would lead in righteousness. We can pray that such righteousness would again exalt our nation as we return to the Lord in humility and repentance. We can pray that, regardless of what happens on November 4, the people of God will manifest ‘the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ’ in ever increasing measure.

To that end, I am asking every believer in Jesus Christ to set aside Monday, November 3 as a day of fasting and prayer. I would urge you to review the prayer of Daniel on behalf of his people in Daniel 9:3-19, and to pray that way for our nation. And finally, I would ask you to distribute this call to prayer as widely as possible so that the greatest number of people would lay hold of the throne of grace all at once. It may be that God will show mercy to America, that He will shed His grace on her once again.

Amen, Jo Ann! Please pray for our nation, her leaders, and her deliverance on Monday as we prepare for historic elections on Tuesday.