Today we pray for Attendees: Sara, Becky, Joanna, Cathy
Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. (Exodus 20:12)
Dear Father,
Our attendees have many concerns for their family they’ve left behind. We pray for those who are concerned for elderly parents growing old without their companionship. We pray for those who have children now living as adults in the States. We pray for those who long to hold their grandchildren or hear from their now-independent college-age student. We pray for those who are managing a long-distance dating relationship and questioning if serving overseas will require singleness.
Distance makes communication more challenging, staying current in each other’s lives more difficult. The Internet doesn’t always work and Skype isn’t always possible. Please ease the relationship challenges that come from distance and heal the relationships that are strained or broken.
During the retreat, Father, please help our attendees entrust their beloved families into Your care once again. Please give them peace. Help them to know how to think and pray about their family differences, problems, and needs.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
©2017 Thrive
Attendee Country of Service Prayer Focus Nation: Israel
Challenges for Prayer:
Followers of Jesus in Israel are likewise a mix of Messianic Jews, foreign believers and Arab-Israeli Christians. All three groups have grown recently – especially Messianic and expatriate believers – the result of both immigration and conversion. There are over 120 Hebrew-speaking gatherings. Russian-speaking congregations are the next-largest number (as many as 50), followed by eight Amharic-speaking (Ethiopian) congregations and a smattering of fellowships in various European languages. Israeli-born Messianic Jews are around 1,000. Pray for:
a) Boldness in witness and perseverance of faith despite difficulties and opposition. The Haredi regard evangelicals as subversive and a threat to Judaism, and therefore malign and occasionally harass them. Tolerance of Christians and Messianic Jews is high, but proselytism is increasingly opposed, especially by the ultra-Orthodox.
b) Full legal rights of immigration and social acceptance in the face of national, social and family pressures. Israeli law states that national identity and religious identity of Jews are one; secular Jews can become citizens, but Christian Jews cannot.
Excerpts taken from Operation World