The Shuk in Jerusalem
Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is —
Greetings dear brothers and sisters,
May The Lord, The One True God, The Creator of heaven and earth, and His only begotten Son, Messiah Yeshua, Jesus Christ Who IS God, be blessed and glorified and may you be edified and blessed in Him by the power of His Holy Spirit.
God surely answers prayer and glorifies His Name. He will not be mocked and it never grows old, seeing His Hand move in such evident, direct answers to prayer.
I am able to write now because I CAN’T be at the IFI prayer conference except for the mornings that I don’t work, and I am LONGING to write because I was BLESSED to be able to attend yesterday morning. The morning sessions at the conference are WORK and my favorite part. They are given to active, directed prayer. Once again, hats off to you British prayer warriors. Not only did you see your answers in the Brexit move, but to the surprise of the participants in the peace gathering at Paris France, Britain boldly stood up and refused to sign the statement presented to the 72 nations participating. Wow! The Balkan states followed her lead. It was dramatic, unexpected, but prayed for. There is no doubt that God is on the move amongst the nations.
Midmorning yesterday we heard a fine-tuned and impassioned plea for prayer concerning E.U. elections that were to take place throughout the day with a clear explanation of the background. The plea was to pray for the fear of the Lord to stop governments from standing against Israel and thus being cursed. “Fine-tuned” and “sharpened” would be how I would describe the calls. I was honored to be there and to pray among polished prayers. I wish I could attend all week.
After a fashion, YOU CAN BE. Just go to “Intercessors for Israel,” which can be checked out here. May you be blessed.
At the same time, while God works at this conference, He is also at work in the streets around us. Before Britain’s bold move to remove the sting of the Paris talks, our streets were quite tense with anticipation. The same chord was sounded wherever I listened. As I waited for the train at the shuk, an older lady had her packages strewn across the bench while she slowly brushed her hair out and wrapped it into a thick, neat roll piled atop her head. Another older woman wanted to sit and motioned her to move her packages, which she did. Still brushing, she shook her head, “With all that is going on in Syria, in Iraq, with the Kurds, with the Turks, with the Sudanese…all the 72 nations can think about condemning is us!”
The two nodded their heads in unison. Mine nodded, too. “What will happen now?” the second woman asked. ‘
“Oh, we will keep on going but it will be harder. America’s new President…what’s his name? Trumpet? He seems to like us, but will it last?” she replied.
They shook their heads again. That was the body language seen all over, the shaking of heads. “How can it be that there is this much hatred toward us and that no one seems to understand what is happening? Or even CAREs about the TRUTH.”
Oh how much lighter the air was the following morning. Eyebrows were raised when people learned that Britain stood up for us. “Maybe their new leader WILL prove to be straight and strong?” people stated aloud.
Maybe some of you remember Mali, one of the secretaries that I work with, whom I love, and whom I have shared my love for Him. Many of you have prayed for her. Today as I read about the shocking upset in the E.U. elections yesterday and how TOTALLY unexpected the defeat of the left wing social democrat was and how upset everyone is with the win by the conservative candidate and how the polls were all wrong, I burst out laughing.
“I can barely believe it, but here it is. Look Mali. God answers prayer.” I explained to her a bit about the IFI conference.
“It only meets once a year? Why doesn’t it meet every day?” she nearly yelled.
“Oh Mali, we meet several times a week but the people come from the nations to pray once a year,” I explained.
She is amazed to find out that people PAY THEIR WITH THE OWN MONEY to come here to pray for us. She became full of questions as I shared about the answers to prayer and the urgency to pray for the nations at this moment in history.
“They KNOW that God (she says ‘h’shem – or The Name and I say “Elohim” or God Almighty and it doesn’t offend her) promised to Avraham that He would bless those who bless us and curse those who curse us. Do you see the way that the storms hit them EVERY TIME they do these terrible things?” I told her. “Sadly, so many don’t believe in God, or The Bible.”
She turned and shook her head. “I can’t understand that,” she said. “How can someone not believe GOD?”
We have to get back to work but I see that she HEARD me and she is wondering. Because her Rabbi told her not to listen to me, I have had to be very careful to not say anything without His leading, but He Who knows the heart is also The One Who makes the key to each heart.
It was a different response when I took a taxi to the conference. I don’t often take taxis, but I have had some strong leg pain and the walk up to the hotel from the train seemed like a foolish move. My taxi driver was an Arab man and we exchanged a few pleasantries, asking about one another’s families, health, and the weather. “What are you going to do at the hotel?” he asked.
That was an unusual question. “I’m visiting some friends and we are meeting together to pray.”
His eyes turned hard and immediately the atmosphere turned icy and then silent. I realized that he must have known that it was a prayer for Israel conference. Most people here know that God hears and answers prayer, not everyone is happy with that.
Our son in law is also being touched by a new view on the reality of God. It is such a blessing having them here and we have had ample opportunity to sow into their lives. Thank you for praying for my son in law to be able to make ends meet with his work as a locksmith. It is a challenge to establish a new business and he does not yet grasp the necessity of constantly working at advertising his services. The other night he shocked us by giving up and saying that he wants to move back to America! Yes, it was probably frustration speaking, but I continue to ask for prayer for them to be established and rooted in the land. Even though he was born and lived most of his life here and our daughter has also been here for nearly 2/3 of her life, it is not easy here. Comparing it to America, where they have just spent the past 4 years, the enemy loves to throw everyone discouraging thoughts, which leads away from God’s will.
Many of you pray regularly for aliyah, and you know that one of the main prayers is that those who come will also be rooted and blessed in the land. Thank you for continuing to pray for them to be established here. I have given Yitzhak’s card to many people whom I meet at work and several have called him for work, but he needs a steady stream of callers. Mostly, they need to come to HIM, to find HIM Who is our Peace and our Wisdom in EVERY situation. Thank you for praying.
Finally, before I fall into bed, one of the side blessings of the Prayer conference is once again getting to hug and have my heart stirred by old friends, and meeting and making new ones. There is never enough TIME, because GOD must be the center and purpose, but oh what a joy to be with such a body! I am overwhelmed by the love, the reflection of Him, shown in each of His sheep.
Thank you for your prayers for this nation and people, for the body here, and for our family. God bless you.
Your sister here in Jereusalem,
J
Larry Who 