Tuesday, July 30, 2013
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Carol Bauer
Capital Prayer Alert
Gary and I recently had the privilege of participating in the Christians United for Israel annual conference in Washington. Gary has served on CUFI's Executive Board since its inception, and the group now has 1.2 million people involved in its efforts. Over a period of a few days, workshops and speeches enumerated the blessings that the people of Israel have enjoyed over recorded history as the Lord has challenged and protected the Jewish people, the apple of His eye.
Some of Israel's leaders trusted and obeyed the Lord's commands, and the people of Israel were blessed by their decisions. At other times the leaders of God's people chose to walk with the Lord but the people did not and dire consequences followed. There were also times when both the leaders and the people turned their backs on God.
Across the ages empires and dictators rose and fell, and God's people suffered a Holocaust, banishment, anti-Semitism, mockery and humiliation. And yet they have prevailed as a people with accomplishments far surpassing their numbers. And they now call home a tiny sliver of democracy in the roiling vastness of the Middle East. For 65 years it has stood as a beacon of freedom in a world of dictators, thugs and tyrants.
Once again, Israel finds itself at the center of the geopolitical universe. Yesterday at the State Department, Israeli and Palestinian officials began new talks aimed at finding a peace that has eluded previous administrations. Meanwhile, Iran boldly marches toward its goal of acquiring nuclear capability, and its ruling mullahs publicly promise to kill all Jews and to annihilate Israel. Nuclear capability is thought to be just months away.
Our gaze is averted from this looming, and for Israel existential, threat by mobs in the streets in Egypt, a civil war in Syria and by our own president, who seldom seems engaged in foreign policy. An emboldened Russian President Putin, an untested and unpredictable new leader of North Korea and a rising China add more uncertainty to the mix. Each is jockeying for geopolitical advantage, looking for opportunities to increase his political power and influence on the world stage at the expense of a hesitant United States. Our president seems content to "lead from behind" with a foreign policy marked by drift and incoherence.
In the midst of all these hot spots there is the tiny nation of Israel, a vibrant democracy with a thriving economy whose continued existence as a nation and people is an open question. At some point, very soon, Israel may decide to act out of self-preservation, with or without the United States. Join me in prayer for our closest ally in the Middle East as storm clouds gather.
Please pray for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he carries an unimaginable burden on his shoulders. He has been called to lead Israel at a critical crossroads where few good options remain. Ask God to pour out on him wisdom, clarity, strength of purpose and the ability to articulate a vision and lead a country whose existence is being challenged.
Pray that God's hand would protect the Israeli people from the madmen bent on their destruction. Ask God to prompt church leaders around the world to a new focus on the plight of the Jewish people both in Israel and in other nations in the Middle East and Europe where anti-Semitism is on the rise. May our church leaders call us to pray for the people out of whom our own faith has grown.
Remind believers of the clear promise of Genesis 12:3 -- "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed though you." (NIV) Finally, ask God to use this crisis point in world history to His glory by opening the eyes of the millions across the world who have sold out to secular humanism or false religions and walked or run away from God's commands.
Thank you for your love of Israel and for your support for Gary's work here in Washington. The challenges here have never been greater, but a peace comes in knowing that so many of you are praying for his work and our country.
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