Middle East Prayer Update
©Asher Intrater October 19, 2007

Iran Realignment

Tuesday, October 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad in Tehran and announced his support of Iran's nuclear program, and his desire for cooperative relations with Iran. Yesterday, Thursday, October 18, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert flew to Moscow to try to dissuade Russia from enabling Iran to acquire nuclear weapons capacity.

President Bush responded to Putin's support of Ahmadinejad's nuclear program by warning that nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran's current regime could lead to a third world war. France and Germany have also expressed their concerns over Iran's nuclear development. It seems that Russia is motivated by its desire for power and money, and sees this opportunity to acquire both in the Middle East.

Russia's supplying both Iran and Syria with weapons is a dangerous alignment of power. I believe we should pray against that new alignment (Ezekiel 38:2,5-6,8,11-12,15-16,21) .

In 1979, Muslim Shiite extremists took over the government of Iran, ousting previous Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. This week his son, Reza Pahlavi, granted an interview in the Israeli press stating that he felt the Iranian people no longer want Ahmadinejad or the Muslim extremists to be running the government. He also sited Iran's previous good relationships with Israel, and even the positive history between the two nations going all the way back to the famous Persian King Cyrus who helped the Jewish people rebuild the second Temple in Jerusalem after the exile to Babylon (Isaiah 45:1, Ezra 1:1-4).

Israeli School Strike

The Israeli high schools and middle schools have been on strike for over a week and a half. The strike is indicative of a steady deterioration of the Israel public school system for the last 20 years. The spiritual and educational state of the Israeli teens is an important need for prayer. The Orthodox religious groups have separate schools and so are less affected by the strike.

Most Israeli Messianic teens are attending the public school system, and I believe the moral deterioration of the middle and high schools has greatly hurt the Body of Messiah here in Israel. Because of the high cost of security, the schools have budget problems. So much emphasis is put on political issues, both by the Israeli political parties and by Christian Zionists, that issues like quality education are often overlooked.

At this point there are a few small Messianic options for education in the Land. I believe we should pray for Messianic schools, such as Makor Hatikva in Jerusalem to be built and strengthened across the country.

Congregation Ahavat Yeshua

Our new congregation in Jerusalem, Ahavat Yeshua, has grown out of its current space and is moving to a larger area. There are over 50 Messianic congregations in Israel and another 50 Messianic fellowships. Please pray that they would all increase in evangelism, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, in discipleship and equipping, and in unity.

We believe that the Messianic community in Israel is renewing the vision of the book of Acts, not just for ourselves, but in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a world wide revival (Acts 2:17) and in the completion of the Great Commission (Acts 1:8) before the Second Coming of Yeshua.