Dear prayer partners around the world!
As Israel and many nations are in crisis mode, I personally found the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur to be a very inspirational and uplifting time. Others told me that they also felt in the Spirit that Sukkot also was very special this year. Often, it is in a crisis situation that we turn to the Lord in a deeper way. And as we seek the Lord, He also turns to us in a deeper way. Thank you for praying for Israel, for your nation and also for GPC in the context of these precious Biblical feasts and Jewish holidays!
My general sense of direction from the Lord in these special days at the beginning of the Jewish New Year was very much in line with a series of visions Rick Ridings from “Succat Hallel” in Jerusalem received a few years ago. Please have a look here, if you are interested.
Please continue to pray for Israel in this time of ongoing political turmoil and structural weakness in its leadership. May the Lord open a door for Israel to find a way out of this ongoing deadlock in a way which glorifies God and shows the world that Israel indeed has a living God who has compassion for His people. Please also continue to pray that the Lord would continue to confuse the communications of the enemies of Israel and to thwart every plan they try to forge against her.
Many Christian observers and analysts believe that the alliance which has formed between Russia, Turkey, Assad’s Syria and Iran in the war against the Curds is a prelude to the Gog and Magog scenario described in Ezekiel 38ff. I would not be surprised if this proves to be true.
A Christian analyst from the GPC network, Karin Heepen (Germany) has contributed her insider-view and prayer perspective on the current development in and around Syria and the Curds. I found her perspective to be very insightful:
After US President Trump had announced the withdrawal of US troops from North-East Syria for the first time at the beginning of this year, the GPC had launched a call to prayer by Rick Ridings because a power vacuum in the region would also endanger Israel. At the Jerusalem Prayer Breakfast in June 2019 and the following GPC we also prayed for the Kurds, who had established a Democratic Self-Administration (DSA) in North-East Syria since 2014 under the name Rojava (West Kurdistan) with the participation of all ethnic and religious groups. Since then 4 million Kurds and Yazidi, Arabs and Alevis, Christian Assyrians, Aramaeans and converts, Armenians and Turkmen have lived and worked together here largely peacefully as nowhere else in Islamic countries in the Middle East. In the years of the Syrian civil war, the region received about 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs). Most of the Pro-Assad government troops withdrew from northern Syria in 2012. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish YPG fighters, took control of the region and, with the support of US defense forces, defeated the Islamic State (ISIS) in North-East Syria. About 10,000 fallen fighters, mostly Kurdish, have also contributed to security in Europe.
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Confirming and complementing this insightful perspective, Rick Ridings (Succat Hallel, Jerusalem) received a vision from the Lord which he shares in a short video clip. Here is the link.
Toward the end of Sukkot, Harald Eckert from Global Prayer Call was invited to speak to group of Chinese-speaking intercessors who met for 2 days in Jerusalem to pray along the lines of what he shared in his book; “Israel, the Nations and Valley of Decision”. About 100 intercessors from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and a number of other nations gathered in Jerusalem exactly 70 years after the split of China into the communist mainland and the “democratic republic of China” in Taiwan. As we prayed for Israel and the Chinese-speaking world, we also brought very current events like those happening in Hong Kong before the Lord.
I took the opportunity to interview pastor David Peng, a native Taiwanese who has been pastoring a local church in New Jersey (close to New York City) for more than 20 years. We met about two years ago. Since then David has been working faithfully to translate my book into Chinese. It is due to be published early next year.
Please have a look at the 10-minute interview / First Friday Clip here.
Some of you will remember that we had a GPC prayer conference during the first week of May in San Remo, Italy. A few weeks ago, a local intercessor sent me the following report regarding an EU Summit held in Sibiu, Romania on May 9, 2019 - only a few days after our prayer conference in San Remo, Italy. She wrote:
EU summit in the middle of downtown Sibiu: 26 Heads of State from all 26 EU countries (including Angela Merkel from Germany) gathered with their 30 + delegates, some 1200 journalists and about 400 guests at our historical town hall - not even 100 meters from my office in the “Bishop’s House” on the main square. Our schools were closed for the entire week. All the good hotels were full, all the roofs in the old city center were sealed off and cameras were installed at all intersections. As the city prayer leader, I recognize the gracious leading and favor of the Lord as He helped us organize two major intercession-weeks in preparation for this event: One in February, with five Baptist churches joining for 7 hours of prayer per day for 7 days, and another in April with all the main churches including Orthdox, Catholic, Lutheran etc. being involved. For an additional seven days, we gathered for 7 hours per day to pray. We prayed that all participants and guests would be blessed, that God’s presence would be manifest and that any decisions made at the Summit would be in line with God’s will and would contribute to the growth of His Kingdom.
We thank God that all those PRAYERS were answered! A holy peace rested on the main street and the main square. One employee from Brussels who had attended every EU summit over the past 15 years stated that he had never experienced the peace and harmony that characterized the meetings in Sibiu.
Instead of agreeing to Juncker’s plan to install a new right wing Comission leader, the summit chose Van der Leyen, a pastor’s daughter. Most Journalists reported the astonishing moment when, just before gathering for a group photo, many Heads of State walked into the small crowds and shook hands with those who were so warmly welcoming them. Not a single angry or loud voice was heard and there was not a single demonstration on the main street or in the main square, the typical activists who travel to this event only to shout at the politicians had simple not come. Many of the Heads of State made a point of saying that they had never experienced such friendly and peaceful crowds. It was like a big party. We, the journalists, and the Heads of State celebrated together. The weather had been cold and rainy all week, but this Thursday morning, it was warm and sunny…
I found this to be very encouraging and wanted it to share with you! Please continue to pray as Key decision makers and members of parliament within the EU take their positions as “Esthers” and “Daniels” for such a time as this…!
On Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holiday, a 27 year old neo-Nazi tried to force his way into the synagogue in the city of Halle where about 70-80 Jewish believers had gathered for worship. Failing to achieve his goal of massacring people inside the synagogue, he shot two innocent bystanders in frustration. This terror-attack drew world-wide attention and sent shock-waves through the German society.
There are two sides to this event: One is the unsuccessful attempt to kill dozens of Jews in their own synagogue and the tragic loss of 2 innocent lives. The other is the “miracle of Halle” as some media have called it. The miracle was that the door to the synagogue withstood all attempts to open it. With the weapons used, it should have been no problem.
Please pray for Germany. In many ways, Germany is a very important country - especially for Europe. Germany is in a watershed moment. The next 1-2 years seem to be decisive – will Germany stay faithful to its unique relationship and responsibility toward Israel and toward the Jewish people living within her borders? Or will Germany – mostly for economic reasons – betray Israel and their Jewish population? May the Lord continue to show grace and favor to the nation and people of Germany. And may Germany, by God’s grace, respond accordingly.
The preparations for our next GPC prayer conference are picking up momentum. Speakers and prayer leaders from all continents have been contacted and invited. The decision on where to meet is approaching. Etc.
Please pray for Harald Eckert and the leadership team as well as Rick Ridings and the local partners he is working with to sense the direction of the Lord concerning the core decisions which need to be made soon. AND: Please mark these days in your calendar. The 53rd anniversary of the re-unification of Jerusalem in 1967 falls within this timeframe! Please join with us and with other intercessors around the world as “watchmen on the wall” for Jerusalem – and for our nations as they move closer to the “valley of decision”. More details and registration procedures will follow soon.
Please be encouraged to continue to bless and pray for Israel and for Jerusalem! Please be encouraged to pray for your nation and continent regarding its relationship to Israel! The Lord is King and He wants to train, equip and anoint us to pray – increasingly, even on the level of governmental prayer. As it says in Psalm 47,8: “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.”
Shalom and God bless
Harald Eckert, Founder Global Prayer Call
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