Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign

Prayer Letter for May 2025

Dear Prayer Partners,

Shalom and greetings from Jerusalem, the city of our Great King. We just celebrated the Passover week with the Jewish community in Israel and worldwide. This was the second Passover since that dreadful day of the October 7 terror invasion from Gaza. How the world has changed since then, especially here in the Middle East. It is truly astonishing!

During Pesach, we remembered how God freed the Jewish people from slavery with His mighty hand.
We also remembered those still in captivity in the underground dungeons of Hamas in Gaza.

Naturally, Passover has amazing symbolism which foreshadowed Yeshua, our Passover lamb, and our future redemption. Isaiah 53:7 speaks powerfully of Yeshua, our Messiah, as the Passover Lamb: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

You might wonder why I started with the opening Bible verse from Psalm 34:1 about praising Him continually. Brothers and sisters, I truly believe we need to keep on praising our Lord and Savior in the good times and even more so in the more challenging times that we are currently in. We watch the daily news, and it might seem very bleak for Israel – with its diplomatic isolation, economic challenges, battle fatigue in the military, social tensions between Jews and Arabs, and the heated streets protests. One could wonder how this nation will ever get through it all.

In response, we need to focus on Him who sits on the throne – our Lord and Messiah! Revelation 5:13 describes this amazing scene: “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honour and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’”

While we stand in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30) and on the spiritual walls of Jerusalem (Isaiah 62:6-7) for this nation, you might be feeling the pressure in your own personal life, since there is a “cost” to standing with Israel. This cost could come in many forms, like social rejection, spiritual attack, or financial woes.

Friends, we thank you for your faithfulness in prayer. I also want to encourage you to stay the course and continually have praise on your lips to the One to whom all Praise is due, since He will deliver both you and this ancient nation so beloved of God.

Be encouraged that we serve an awesome God who truly sits on the throne.

Shalom from Jerusalem!

Richard van der Beek
Vice President for Operations
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

Photo Credit: Praise Stock photos by Vecteezy

PS: Our next day of prayer and fasting for the Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 7 May 2025. Also, please join our daily Global Prayer Gathering at 4:30 PM (Israel time) to pray for the nation of Israel. So, please join us there at on.icej.org/ICEJGlobalPrayer

And let us hear from you about your needs and how God has answered your prayers! Send a short email to prayer@icej.org to let us know you are praying and fasting with us.