Prayer Letter – January 2017
Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign

Dear prayer partners,

As we enter the New Year, I pray that God’s mighty blessings will come upon you and that this will become a year of divine breakthroughs and miracles for you. As my family and I reflected over the past year and set our goals for the coming year, our hearts were full of thankfulness. Exactly one year ago, we were in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death as I was facing a medical condition that gave me little hope of survival. My Israeli doctors encouraged me to leave Israel and undergo surgery in Germany. In light of Israel’s own high standards of medical care, this advice was not comforting. But God restored me! I not only survived a very complex operation but recent tests have confirmed once again that God has completely restored my health.

At one of my latest doctor visits, a new doctor looked at my file. “Jürgen Bühler,” he said. “I know that name! You were here a year ago. I remember you because we discussed your case.” He then looked several times at the file and back at me, and burst out: “You are alive!” At least four times he said that it was a miracle that I was sitting there.

This miracle took place because here in Jerusalem we prayed, and I know that many of you in the nations prayed as well for my restoration to good health. Again, thank you for standing with me, our family and the ICEJ in such an amazing way!

I want to encourage you for this new year to expect great things from God. No matter how great the mountain is that you are facing, nothing is impossible with God. He can restore your situation just as He did with me. Maybe your marriage needs restoration, maybe your body needs a touch of God, or maybe there is a sinful habit that troubles you. No matter, God can intervene today!

I also want to encourage you to activate your faith as we pray for Israel. Even today as you receive this prayer letter, there is a battle being fought over Israel that requires the engagement of our faith. It is a battle waged less with conventional and carnal means, and more with the spiritual weapons of prayer, praise and total trust in God. It is a battle that seems to bypass reason and common sense, and aims to frustrate the purposes of God with His people Israel.

In the recent decision of the UN Security Council on the legality of Israeli settlements, we could see an almost supernatural eagerness by the nations to give voice and mind to one purpose, which is to harm Israel and the Jewish people. One UN diplomat stated after the vote on UNSC Resolution 2334 that he was “surprised at the haste of some of the countries to hold a vote as quickly as possible.” The result was again a resolution that is viewed in Israel as one-sided and harmful to the interests of peace.

But this latest chapter of UN bias and hostility towards Israel has not been closed. Over the next two weeks, some 70 countries will be preparing for an international conference in Paris on January 15 which will again deal with questions concerning the Jewish state. That conference will be followed two days later by another session of the UN Security Council where Israel expects yet another hostile decision by world leaders, just before the Obama administration leaves office in Washington.

Yet, the Bible again encourages us that “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). The word of God tells us that He can turn the heart of kings. The nations might plot vain things, but there is still a God in heaven who will have the final word. Pray with us that the purposes of the enemy will be frustrated and another anti-Israel resolution will be prevented.

Let us pray together and expect the miraculous!

Many blessings from Jerusalem for 2017!

Yours in Christ,

Jürgen Bühler-signature
Dr. Jürgen Bühler
ICEJ Executive Director

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PRAYER POINTS FOR JANUARY 2017

The next day of prayer and fasting in our Isaiah 62 Global Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 4th of January 2017.

Please pray with us in the following areas of need:

1) Prayer for Israel
Please pray that there will be no more harmful anti-Israel actions or decisions at the Paris conference or the UN Security Council over coming weeks. Also, pray against the negative consequences that could result from UNSC Resolution 2334, just passed in late December. This includes the way this resolution:

A) Prejudges the outcome of negotiations on the status of the disputed territories, thereby denying Israel of a key bargaining chip and deviating from the formula for peace-making originally adopted in UNSC Resolution 242 back in 1967.

B) Leads to a hardening of the Palestinian position, and encourages them to continue to seek an imposed international solution rather than engage in direct talks with Israel.

C) Determines that Israel’s presence in the territories is “illegal,” which could open the door to major anti-Israel decisions at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, among other adverse results.

D) Urges the international community to make a clear distinction between Israel proper and the territories, thereby providing a boost to the BDS movement.

Pray that God will rightly judge those nations and leaders now coming unfairly against the people of Israel. Pray in accordance with Psalm 9:19-20, Psalm 82:8, Isaiah 2:4 and Matthew 25:31-32.

2) Prayer for the Middle East
Please pray for the new opportunity for Israel’s acceptance in the Arab world due to the current dynamics in the region. Israel and the main Arab states now share a number of common interests due to the growing threat of Iran, the fallout from the Syria conflict, and the incoming Trump administration in the US. Pray that Israel will be able to solidify its place in the region in this unique time period. Pray according to 1 Samuel 7:13-14, Isaiah 19:23-25 and Jeremiah 46:27.

3) Prayer for the ICEJ
Please pray for the leadership, staff and worldwide family of the International Christian Embassy as we enter the new year of 2017. Pray that we would have fresh vision, direction, unity and strength from the Lord as we pursue our calling in Israel and across all the continents. Pray that as we seek and honor the Lord, this would be a year of multiplication of finances and resources for our ministry, as well as a time of unprecedented favour and impact in Israel and among the nations of the world. Pray in line with Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 115:12-15, and 2 Corinthians 9:10.