Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign

Prayer Letter for May 2024

Dear Prayer Partners,

In this time of war and crisis for Israel and the region, we may feel frustrated from time to time that God is not answering our prayers fast enough or in the way we would like. Well, the Lord gave us a remedy for that through the prophet Isaiah, saying those who “seek the Lord” and “follow after righteousness” should always “look to Abraham your father… For I called him alone…” (Isaiah 51:1-2) In looking at Abraham’s life, we can be encouraged in our own faith and prayer life, as his story contains many valuable lessons for us today, including on how to pray and believe for Israel. Remarkably, we see Abraham having intimate conversations with the Lord, and thus he was called “the friend of God.” (James 2:23)

First, that is an amazing statement about Abraham, that God “called him alone.” By this, he meant that Abraham was the first person called by God to carry out His redemptive plan. Even after the Flood of Noah, mankind was still lost and did not seek God or even know how to find Him (see Romans 3:9-12). So, the Lord decided to come save humanity. And He deposited within Abraham great promises: to bless him, to multiply him, to make of him a great nation and even a father of nations, to give him a land, and most importantly that through him God would “bless all the families of the earth.” (Genesis 12:3) That is, through Abraham and his natural descendants the Lord would offer to all humanity a blood covering for sin (Genesis 28:14; Psalm 32:1-2; Romans 4:1-8; Galatians 3:16).

But there was a problem – Abraham was already old and had no offspring. So, when God came and told Abraham, “I am your shield, and your exceedingly great reward” (Genesis 15:1), Abraham replied: “Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless…” (v. 2) What a daring yet honest reply to the Lord, coming from a man whose body indeed was too old to father children (Romans 4:19). Yet God directed his gaze upward to the innumerable stars in the heavens, and said “so shall your descendants be.” And in that moment of intimate and honest conversation with his Maker, the Bible says that Abraham “believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

Now Abraham, like us, grew impatient and tried to work it out himself by fathering a child through Hagar. But in the end, he and Sarah bore Isaac – the child of promise. And Paul testifies that he “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God.” (Romans 4:20)

We could also speak of Abraham’s intercession for Sodom in Genesis 19, or the many other conversations which he had with the Lord, some even face to face. These intimate, weighty talks with God constituted the prayer life of the Father of faith, and he always received an answer in due time. “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude – innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.” (Hebrews 11:12)

May we look to Abraham for encouragement and inspiration in praying for Israel today, and in being patient until we obtain that which God has promised for this nation in our day!

Blessings from Jerusalem!

David Parsons
Vice President & Senior Spokesman
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

PS: Our next day of prayer and fasting for the Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 1 May 2024. Also, please join our daily Global Prayer Gathering at 4:00 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.