Priority Prayer Focus
Elisheva Damkani writes that Jacob is
showing signs of consciousness even though he remains unconscious. It reminded
me of a biblical term, that Jacob was showing signs of "wakefulness"
and that there was something prophetic about that term.
It is from Jeremiah 1 The vision of the almond tree, where God reassures
a "watcher" (the prophet Jeremiah) during a stressful time of
history, that He is watching over His Word to perform it.
The vision of the almond branch is a play on words. "The name of the
almond-tree (here the poetical, not the common, name) made the symbol yet more
expressive. It was the watcher, the tree that “hastens to awake” (shâkêd) out
of its wintry sleep, and thus expresses the divine haste *which would not
without cause* delay the fulfillment of its gracious promise, but would, as it
were, make it bud and blossom, and bear fruit."
We are also in such a time historically, watching for the awakening of
the Church to its true connection to the Israeli Messianic body. It is a
stressful period of history for all of Israel, yet even more for all the
"watchers" - the evangelists like Jacob, the pastors, like Eddie
Santoro. Those that have gone on to the LORD like David Davis, Esther Moore and,
from many, many years ago, Ilan Zamir, a uniting brother beloved by all the
Israeli ministries.
They are, and were, all watching over their people for the promise of God
for Israel, these almond boughs "hastening to awake" Israel out of
its wintry sleep, the "Chosen People" out of their long exile from
their God through awakening to Messiah Yeshua.
I see Jacob
literally in that state now, a watcher — an early bloomer — that God is
reassuring His promise WILL be fulfilled, that Israel will bloom just as Jacob
has spent his life watching over.
The almond tree is the first to bloom when Spring is coming, that is why
it is called the watcher. Those who are ministering the in the Name of Yeshua
in Israel are all like the early blooming almond trees. God is promising that
He will not delay the fulfillment of "Spring" without cause - but
Israel will bud, blossom and bear fruit as He has promised, and as the watchers
have believed.
This fantastic photo is of
almond trees blooming in Jerusalem
________________
Yesterday was my 67th birthday & mid-August is the start of my 18th year
of Weekly Summaries of Prayer Requests from Israeli Ministries. Praise the Lord!
Thanks to Lollie in South Africa for creating that fab birthday greeting
Arrows from Zion
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Summarized from the Weekly Summary of Prayer Requests Israeli Ministries by subscription only donna@israelprayer.com
Howard and Randi Bass return from three weeks
in Zambia where they were ministering in conferences about "The Blessing
of Abraham to Africa and The World" and “Preparing for The Second Coming
of Our King JESUS in Glory, and All Eyes Shall See Him”. In an outlying area of
Lubumbashi, as primary and secondary school carries the name, the H. Randi Bass
School! What a blessing when the Israeli ministries go out into the nations, to
bless as the scripture records (Genesis 22:17-18): "I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants
like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will
possess the gates of their enemies. And through your offspring all nations of
the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” And Micah 4:2: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD
from Jerusalem."
Their prayer request for the Yeshua's Inheritance Congregation which "is going through a flux period, at least for the next year" with key ministers on-the-move and potentially on-the-move for continued education. Also "there are renovations which need to be done at the congregational home, and we need a common agreement among the leadership team, and wisdom and financial support to do what is appropriate."
The latest Maoz Israel report contains a real gem of Israeli Messianic history that we encourage you to read, called 1988: First Messianic Jewish Conference in Jerusalem in 1900 Years . This will give you a great sense of the pioneering work that has been going on among the "Baby Boom" aged generation of Messianic Jews in Israel, many of whom immigrated from the USA after being saved in the Jesus movement. A whole other chapter of that experience unfolded as these new Jewish believers in Yeshua discovered their authentic heritage and returned to the Jewish homeland to share it. Great article and collection of pictures from Shira Sorko-Ram.
See also in the August Maoz Report, Israel, God's Sign of the Times and Advancing Israel's Messianic Community through
Education
Intercessors for Israel (IFI) give prayer points based on their Friday prayer session for Israel. This week they cover the serious developments in Syria, Iran and the 5-year drought in Israel. Even though there has been unusual summer rain, Israel is desperate for water. Please pray according to the points that are provided in the Weekly Summary. If you no longer receive the Weekly Summary, you can write me at donna@israelprayer.com to go back on that mailing list. Or, you can subscribe directly to the IFI mailing list. They also note their January 21-28 dates for the IFI International Prayer Conference.
Intercessors for Israel (IFI) give prayer points based on their Friday prayer session for Israel. This week they cover the serious developments in Syria, Iran and the 5-year drought in Israel. Even though there has been unusual summer rain, Israel is desperate for water. Please pray according to the points that are provided in the Weekly Summary. If you no longer receive the Weekly Summary, you can write me at donna@israelprayer.com to go back on that mailing list. Or, you can subscribe directly to the IFI mailing list. They also note their January 21-28 dates for the IFI International Prayer Conference.
Ron Cantor writes about The Most Powerful Site in Jerusalem that Almost No
One Sees and you will be surprised to hear that it is the Upper
Room, the first Messianic synagogue in Israel. Why is it that 99.9% of tourists miss understanding where they are,
"and sadly, even educated tour guides don’t realize its significance.
Millions of tourists pass through this site every year. In fact, I would guess
that less than 1% of 1% realize that when they are in the Upper Room, they are
actually standing in a building that became the first Messianic Synagogue."
Our body of faith began in Jerusalem & it's time to embrace our earliest
history. Ron also writes about 5 Keys to Know God—through Suffering .
Asher Intrater writes about the significance
behind Abraham Had Three Wives —what was God's
purpose in that?! Plus two videos Cody
and Asher talk about the Progression of Apostles in the New Covenant
and Cody's teaching on Growing in Spiritual Gifts
Orna Grinman, A Sign & Example ministry,
continues on her blog with Part
4 of her “Back to Beit Lehem”, The Jordan Journey: Zigzagging - this is
what we did on our first day on the road. “Hebrewism” - as I started calling
it, trying to start feeling comfortable with this word in my mouth. Crossing
over the wounded rift again and again. South to north on the […]
After months and travels to prepare for a new
season of ministry in their lives, Joel and Teresa Jelski are settling in to
their new locale of northern Israel, far different from the city of Jerusalem
they are so used to. But now the next phase of their ministry life is on with a
heavy emphasis on discipling. They now
work under Fields Of Wheat, in the Katzir National Youth Camps, and the Olive
Tree Discipleship and Agriculture program. They are also settling in to a new community
of believers in the north under the oversight of Eitan Shishkoff. Joel will be in Texas Oct 18 - Nov 6. If you
want to connect, write him!
Evan and Maala Thomas from the Netanya Beit
Asaph congregation are off to Europe with a ministry team, while another of the
congregation teams is in Uganda. They
ask for prayers over both ministry teams - and fruit to come out of them with a
special focus to those local communities ministering to Muslim refugees.
Martin Sarvis in Jerusalem writes background and
prayer points for Andrew Brunson, the American Evangelical pastor of a
congregation in Izmir (ancient Smyrna) who has suffered in a Turkish prison
since December 2016, was released just over a week ago to house-arrest. He still faces up to 35 years in prison if
convicted on charges of terror and espionage, charges of which he insists he is
innocent.
Martin also shares how important an article by
Dr Michael Brown which was recently in the Christian (Jerusalem) Post called Israel’s
Looming Civil War. It is about how Israel's
fragile democracy hangs in balance between traditional and progressive
movements: "a steadily widening area of conflict within the heart of
Israeli society, of which many are unaware. He also admirably synthesizes
several aspects of Israel’s complicated governmental system, which are
essential to have clarified if we are to understand much of what is happening
in the news and be able to pray effectively. The “war” Brown sees this conflict
building towards, is itself part of a
great and very real spiritual war, which finds both sides (ultra-Orthodox
and liberal secular Israeli Jews) in bondage to powers of darkness battling to
keep them from light, truth, and the righteousness which is the only thing that
will establish and exalt their nation."
Truth be known, the whole world is in the grip
of the same battle —the war between the liberal seculars and the religious,
although in the nations, instead of the religious being ultra-Orthodox, they
are fundamentalist Islamist. The hope lies in the faith of Yeshua.
Often Israel is referred to as the "Canary nation". It comes from the mining practice of keeping a canary in the mine because if there is a problem with air quality, it is the canary that is the first to keel over dead. It is important to pay attention always to what is happening in Israel, the spiritual Canary among the nations.
Often Israel is referred to as the "Canary nation". It comes from the mining practice of keeping a canary in the mine because if there is a problem with air quality, it is the canary that is the first to keel over dead. It is important to pay attention always to what is happening in Israel, the spiritual Canary among the nations.
Also enclosed in the Weekly Summary are several examples of the type of high quality, real-time commentary that Dr. Daniel C. Juster is posting on his official Facebook page. Among those I copied and pasted are his posts on The Nation State Law in Israel, The Surrogate Law and the LGBT Movement in Israel, and Frustrations on the Netanyahu Government. It's a great follow and acompletely different focus than his Twitter feed.
From KehilaNews.com just a few of the many articles and videos last week:
Another view of Israel’s Nation State Law | by Lisa Loden Jul 31, 2018 | The recently
passed Nation State Law has received a lot of publicity and not a little
controversy since it was voted into law last week. Being a follower of Yeshua,
a concerned citizen and a member of a minority group; I had hoped and prayed
that this proposed legislation would not become law. To my sorrow, it was
passed into law, albeit by a very narrow margin.
Walking in His peace – The southern steps of Temple Mount | by Reuven Doron | Reuven writes, "While God is real and can make Himself known to anyone anywhere (as He is doing all the time), a visit to the Land of Israel does draw any person of faith closer to the Creator."
Walking in His peace – The southern steps of Temple Mount | by Reuven Doron | Reuven writes, "While God is real and can make Himself known to anyone anywhere (as He is doing all the time), a visit to the Land of Israel does draw any person of faith closer to the Creator."
Urgent HEALING Needs: Life and Death is in the power of the
tongue
Please keep in prayer these Israeli ministry
leaders and believers with urgent health needs
CONTINUED
URGENT PRAYER FOR JACOB DAMKANI | and EDDIE SANTORO Following a 2nd brain surgery, Eddie has now started a biological drug which drug is given intravenously
twice a month. According to the doctor, this particular treatment is very
effective in 60% of the cases. | See latest
update on Jacob Damkani above | Ruth Nessim appears to be on the repair and
currently out of the country with her son after suffering from severe Gastro-Enteritis which she had 5 attacks of
within a 2-month period. Con't prayers |
Rachel Netanel took a fall
and has broken her leg. Pray for quick healing. In April she learned she had a polyp on her vocal cords. Please
pray for complete healing for this evangelist in Israel. | Olga
Bikas continues to suffer from chronic, acute back pain. She is getting
medication and physiotherapeutic treatments but without any substantial
improvement |
Sensitive Information | I cannot share names of several who have asked for prayers for the last several months for certain of their grandchildren who are afflicted, even tormented. The enemy not only strikes at us through our children, but also our through our grandchildren. Please pray for these Israeli grandmothers crying out to God silently for their grandchildren. | Pray also for Israel intercessors/supporters in other nations with urgent health needs: Jeurgen, Karen and Yonit in Israel. Debra Koen Abernethy, Cecelia Toth, Arlene Stucki, Una Gere, Mo Murray, also from our friend Steve in the UK for his wife Elizabeth.
Because thousands of people were praying for Esther internationally, many hundreds of condolences were offered publicly on social media the day after Esther's passing. This is the first communication from one of her parents, Rick Ridings, that was written on August 1st, received at Israelprayer August 7th:
Sensitive Information | I cannot share names of several who have asked for prayers for the last several months for certain of their grandchildren who are afflicted, even tormented. The enemy not only strikes at us through our children, but also our through our grandchildren. Please pray for these Israeli grandmothers crying out to God silently for their grandchildren. | Pray also for Israel intercessors/supporters in other nations with urgent health needs: Jeurgen, Karen and Yonit in Israel. Debra Koen Abernethy, Cecelia Toth, Arlene Stucki, Una Gere, Mo Murray, also from our friend Steve in the UK for his wife Elizabeth.
Because thousands of people were praying for Esther internationally, many hundreds of condolences were offered publicly on social media the day after Esther's passing. This is the first communication from one of her parents, Rick Ridings, that was written on August 1st, received at Israelprayer August 7th:
"Our Dear Daughter Esther is with the Lord"
As I write this, it is one week since our precious daughter, Esther, “graduated” into the Eternal Presence of the Lord. I would like to share a few understandings that have emerged as we have processed her “home-going”. This is not meant to be a theological teaching, but rather a transparent sharing of what we have come to apprehend spiritually at this point.
We had to reconcile in our hearts why when we called
her spirit back into her body on July 1st, there was an “awakening” that
surprised and shocked the doctors, and yet when we did the same thing on July
24th and 25th, she did not “awaken” on this earth, but in the arms of her
heavenly Bridegroom, Yeshua (Jesus).
On July 30th, Esther went into a state of
unconsciousness marked by extremely low levels of oxygen and other vital
signs. The doctors told Will, Esther’s
husband, to inform her parents and sisters to come to the hospital in Mexico to
say “goodbye” to her unconscious body and to prepare for her funeral. I had seen someone raised from the dead many
years ago in Belgium after being pronounced dead about 15 or 20 minutes
earlier. In that instance, she died
during a worship service and she was sitting directly behind us. The Lord spoke
strongly into my spirit to call that woman’s spirit back into her body.
Patricia was holding the lady’s hand and felt the coldness leave, and warmth
return. The lady started trembling and
saying, “Thank you Jesus for giving me back my life”. A Moslem who was in that meeting gave his
life to Jesus that day.
On June 30th, I felt this same compulsion from the
Lord concerning Esther, and wrote immediately to Will to call her spirit back
into her body. I was in an isolated area
of South Africa, and got on the phone with my wife, Patricia, who was already
in a hotel in England on the way to Esther.
We felt from the Lord we were to cry out for Esther’s spirit to come
back into her body. The next morning,
when Will came into her room, Esther was not only conscious, but sitting up and
speaking, with no brain damage from the long time of low oxygen levels. When her primary doctor came in, expecting to
see her unconscious, he was so shocked he said, “I’ve got shivers all over my
body!”
By the time we all arrived, it was for a celebration
of life rather than to say “goodbye”.
Although Esther still faced great challenges because her body was still
fighting cancer, sepsis (an often fatal blood infection), and a severe, rare
form of pneumonia, she was able to progress well with therapy for patients who
have been under extended periods of sedation in ICU. However, this time she didn’t recover as we
had hoped.
AFTER HER HOMEGOING ON JULY 25TH, THE QUESTION AROSE
IN OUR HEARTS AS TO WHY SHE DID NOT RESPOND TO OUR SAME CRIES FOR HER SPIRIT TO
RETURN INTO HER BODY THIS TIME. HERE IS
WHAT PATRICIA AND I BELIEVE:
On July 1st, it was not yet time for Esther to go home
to the Lord. After a few days, she began
to communicate what had happened that night of June 30th. She said she had felt a great tug of war
going on with powers of darkness trying to pull her down into death before her
time, but she could feel the intercessors, and most of all, the Lord, pulling
on the other side. She said at a certain
moment it was so hard she felt she wanted to let go, but the Lord would not let
her go. She returned to life.
Esther later communicated to Bethany, her older
sister, that during that time she had gone up, up, up and through a long tunnel
until she saw a great light - into the Presence of the Father. He showed her Will and all of us who were
calling her spirit back into her body, and the Lord allowed her to decide. She came back.
Esther was making good progress when her body suddenly
went into another crisis on July 20th.
After she had been in a coma more than 36 hours, the doctors did a CT
Scan of her brain, and found a brain tumor, and that the upper, cognitive part
of her brain (that controls thinking, speaking, etc) had failed.
By about 6:00 PM on July 24th, a doctor informed us
that, short of a miracle, she would soon be gone, probably within two hours.
We, and a great army of intercessors who had been praying for her, prayed for a
miraculous healing and we thought maybe she would surprise us again. Patricia had received the Scripture that “the
Lord will come at the break of day”.
Will, Patricia, and I took turns praying at her side through the night.
About 5:30 AM, as I was sitting near her, Will
suddenly awoke with what he said felt like a “jolt of electricity” and knew
something had changed. He put his ear on
Esther’s chest and felt her heart beat and then stop, just at the “break of
dawn”. She was officially pronounced
dead at 5:50 AM. The medical staff very
graciously said yes to our request to have some more time with her body before
they would take it away. For over an
hour we prayed resurrection for her and called on her spirit to come back into
her body.
Why did it not happen this time? I must honestly admit that even though I
prayed for resurrection, I did not have the same sense of a firm word from the
Lord like I had on June 30th.
This time, Esther was not agitated before going into
the coma. IN FACT, ESTHER’S LAST WORDS
BEFORE GOING INTO A COMA AND THEN ON HOME TO THE LORD WERE THE HEBREW WORDS:
“HODU L’ADONAI KI TOV”. IN ENGLISH THAT
MEANS “GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD.
There were no signs of a struggle, but rather of deep peace as she went
into the coma and a few days later into the eternal Presence of the Lord.
Will shared an amazing vision he had at her bedside at
7:00 pm on July 24th: “I had such a beautiful vision of her last night. When we
first stood together in silence at 7pm it was like I was back at our wedding
waiting for Esther under the Chuppa. It was the clearest vision I have ever
seen. I saw her dancing down the aisle to me again but as I stood there I saw
my suit change and I knew it wasn't me standing there any more it was Yeshua.
All the emotion I had when I stood under the Chuppa came back. The excitement
of seeing how happy she was dancing down the aisle and how in love and
absolutely captivated by her beauty I was. It was the happiest moment of my
life. I knew in that moment Yeshua was seeing his bride come and he felt all those
feelings even more now as she danced towards him. He is her true husband and I
know how joyful she is now. Even more than when she danced to me.”
We later saw the text of a vision sent by a friend of
our daughter, Anna, which she had received shortly after Esther went into the
coma, but which was not sent to us until after her home-going. It said:
“Last night as
I was praying for Esther, I got a picture of strips of white cloth being
wrapped around her body, and I said "No, Jesus! Esther should LIVE not
die!" Then Jesus reminded me of how Lazarus came out of the tomb with
grave cloths wrapped around him because Jesus spoke life back into him, and I
said "Jesus, You are able! Speak LIFE back into Esther! Our faith is
placed in You, and in Your powerful love for Esther and Will and their little
son and the whole family. They have been fighting this battle on their knees -
in praise and worship."
And then I had a sensing of how very pleased the
Father's heart is because of your faith in Him - how you have given a
powerfully reminder to the dark forces of evil that Your God is able and kind
and good, and He is your strength! Abba delights in each of you dear family
members - for entrusting Him with your precious one, and choosing to do so in
faith in His ability to heal Esther. You have honoured Him, and He will honour
you for it!
At this time, the Father's ability has not lessened
nor changed - He is our sufficient, loving Healer!! Then as I continued to
pray, God again gave me the picture of grave cloths being wrapped around
Esther, and I said "Father, what does this mean?"
And He said that Esther was called back to life - more
than once in these past weeks, and she did come forth - the pictures posted
prove that - she was outside, with her husband and family - full of joy and
beauty!
Abba then showed me that what I saw were not grave
cloths anymore, they were the cocoon which was being unwrapped from around
Esther's body, because she would soon be set free, like a butterfly escaping
the restraints of the cocoon that had restricted it - flying free!
Then I prayed, "Jesus, if Esther is being
delivered and set free from the weights that have been hindering her - the pain
and sickness, and if you are freeing her to Life eternal - setting her free to
praise You forever, then we want to praise You for another miracle of LIFE -
knowing that you have shown Your power - You have given her extended life here
on earth, and You are giving her LIFE eternal. YOU ARE LIFE, and You live in
Esther! I ask that Your Spirit would hover over Will and the whole family,
ministering peace and a deep sensing of Your goodness and love for them, and
for dear Esther. Life is not being taken from Esther - it is being given to her
- show them clearly and whisper your love in their ears, dear Jesus - our
living HOPE, Amen."
This morning I am praying Zephaniah 3:14 - 17 over
Esther and Will and the entire family. Our God has spoken LIFE over Esther,
here on earth and in her forever Home, and nothing can take that away!”
We believe that it is Yeshua (Jesus) who holds the
keys of death and hell, and that the enemy cannot take us before the Lord’s
time to call us home to Himself, our glorious Bridegroom. We believe that on
June 30th, the powers of darkness were trying to pull Esther into death ahead
of the Lord’s timing. But on July 25th,
at the break of dawn, the loving heart of her eternal Bridegroom Yeshua (Jesus)
called Esther into perfect eternal wholeness at His side. An Israeli young woman who knew Esther, Liat
Ashel, shared this with us:
I asked Jesus, “why did you take Esther?” And what I
received was: “She was ready – like a prepared bride or a ripe fruit.”
Although we don’t pretend to understand it all, we do
rejoice that our dear Esther is now dancing with her heavenly Bridegroom, and
He is taking great delight in this mature, ripe fruit of her refined love for
Him. May her example inspire many to
live a life prepared and set apart for Yeshua (Jesus). Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
Esther’s burial will be August 15th in Bath
England. This will be followed by a
funeral “home-going” service at 2: 30 PM at the Bath City Church, which will be
open to all who desire to attend. We
will then have a special memorial service in Jerusalem at Succat Hallel on
Sunday, August 26th at 7:30 PM.
Thank you for your prayers for our family at this
time, especially for Esther’s husband Will, and their four-year-old son, Caleb.
- Rick Ridings, August 1st, 2018
________________________________________
The Israeli Messianic Marketplace Feature of the Week:
8/5/18 Caspari Media
Review Jerusalem Caspari Center for
Biblical and Jewish Studies subscriptions@caspari.com http://caspari.com
| The Caspari Media Review is a valuable resource that
tracks and summarizes news items in Israel that appear in Hebrew only which are
related to Messianic Jews and/or Christians.
The museum is located in
the Eastern part of the Old City, at the Church of Flagellation on the Via
Delarosa. Father Eugenio Alliata, professor of archaeology and the head of the
museum, explained that the museum is now in its third incarnation. It was
originally established in 1902. The
artifacts introducing the life of Jesus originate from Galilee, Bethlehem, the
Herodium, and Jordan. Some artifacts have been sitting in the Franciscan
warehouse for 100 years and will now be shown for the first time. Two more
museum wings will be unveiled over the next two years.
________________________________________
Donna
Diorio donna@israelprayer.com or donna@d10r10.com
Please pray about making a financial gift donation.
Make donations payable to the order of Donna Diorio
and mail to: P O Box 111302 Carrollton, Texas 75006
Or via PayPal, Send to: donna@israelprayer.com or https://www.paypal.me/DonnaDiorio
I do not have tax exempt status.
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