|  WHY WE CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING Innumerable blessings have been bestowed upon the United States of America. Concerning these blessings President Lincoln wrote: "No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God." President Lincoln went on to set apart the last Thursday of November as "a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens." 1
While President Lincoln established America's official Thanksgiving holiday in 1863, it was the Pilgrims who first celebrated a day of Thanksgiving in this land in 1621 and who set an example that many followed in the succeeding years.2
Prayer focus: This article from our friends at Providence Foundation is a great encouragement to give thanks and praise to God our Father. We at IFA give thanks for all of you who pray and intercede with us in faith week after week. This is not easy work. The articles themselves do not edify. Intercessors do not see "instant results." We find joy in praying because God will do all things well. Pray that the truth about the origin and remembrance of Thanksgiving will not be filtered out of the American educational system. It has already been adulterated and diluted by secular thinking. Pray that Christian parents and church leaders will strive to emphasize the value of maintaining a grateful heart. "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thess. 5:18)
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shownit to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Rom. 1:18-21)  |
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|  PROTESTORS OF FERGUSON DECISION FLOOD STREETS Thousands of people in U.S. cities from Los Angeles to New York protested peacefully while others blocked traffic or clashed with police as anger flared over a grand jury's decision not to indict a white police officer who killed a black 18-year-old in Ferguson, Missouri.
Nationwide, demonstrators Monday night led marches, waved signs and shouted chants of "hands up, don't shoot," the refrain that has become a rallying cry in protests over police killings across the country.
The most disruptive demonstrations were in St. Louis and Oakland, California, where protesters flooded the lanes of freeways, milling about stopped cars with their hands in the air. Prayer focus: Intercessors take the long-range view. In this case, the Ferguson grand jury examined the evidence presented and reached an honest decision. Protests were pre-planned, which means protesters were used to create unrest and chaos. Criminal acts were committed in some cities. Pray for renewal, beginning in the Church. Only the Christian message of forgiveness and reconciliation can bring healing to individuals and, through changed lives, to society. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.: (Eph. 2:13-16) |
|  CHUCK HAGEL STEPPING DOWN UNDER PRESSURE
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama's Democratic majority in the Senate and the struggles of his national security team amid an onslaught of global crises.
The president, who is expected to announce Mr. Hagel's resignation in a Rose Garden appearance on Monday, made the decision to ask his defense secretary-the sole Republican on his national security team - to step down last Friday after a series of meetings over the past two weeks, senior administration officials said. Prayer focus: Once again, we look to the larger picture here for effective intercession. Pray for healing to come to our deeply divided nation. President Obama has yet to acknowledge the stunning defeat in the Nov. 4 elections of his ideas, policies, decisions, popularity, and methods of governing. Pray for him to awaken and to embrace reality. Pray for divine restraint, so that there are fewer presidential actions until 2015, when some balance of power will return when the new Congress has more conservative senators and representatives. Pray for the next secretary of defense, not an easy job. Pray for Chuck Hagel, a loyal American and decorated combat veteran, to find his proper niche. "So [Jesus] called them to Himself and said to them in parables.... If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.'" (Mark 3:23-26) "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Prov. 21:1-3) |
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|  PRAY FOR 'THE MIRACLE OF ISRAEL' TELECAST God is working through the media to make His Name known! The award-winning television special, "The Miracle of Israel," has already aired this fall in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was seen by over 243,000 viewers! This documentary presents four prophecies that many believe are being fulfilled in our day: * Creation and Survival of the State of Israel * Regathering of Jewish People From the Nations * Rebuilding the Temple * The Rise of Messianic Expectation The Lord has been using this television special to powerfully impact Jew and Gentile alike in each of the cities it has shown since early 2013. We will be airing in five more cities this December: Washington, DC
Las Vegas, Nevada
Tucson, Arizona
Columbus, Ohio
Portland, Oregon * Pray for God to prepare the cities and the hearts of those who are in them to hear this message
* For smooth delivery of the film and promos to each station
* For many in each city and its' surrounding broadcast area to tune in and watch
* No technical difficulties of any kind
* For people to respond via phone or web
* For a thorough and effective follow-up process
* The salvation of Jewish People in the cities where it is airing and throughout the United States
Lack of understanding about God's heart for Israel and the Jewish People is rampant, and this program addresses those issues. However, at an even deeper and individual level, there is a heart-hunger and soul-weariness in the citizens of the United States these days that only the love and power of Yeshua can address. Pray for the miracle of His Good News to impact thousands and thousands of Jewish People and Gentiles alike through this program. ( Click Here to see The Miracle of Israel in your area.)
Prayer focus: This article speaks for itself. It is, in its outreach, a call to prayer for the specific items mentioned. Please read it prayerfully and utilize the bullet points to intercede against apathy and ignorance. May thousands of hearts be touched, producing greater appreciation for Israel, for the scattered Jewish people, and for the Church to respond from a biblical perspective. "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, [and] prosperity within your palaces.'" (Ps. 122:6-7) |
|  U.S. PLANS TO ARM IRAQ'S SUNNI TRIBESMEN The United States plans to buy arms for Sunni tribesmen in Iraq including AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar rounds to help bolster the battle against Islamic State militants in Anbar province, according to a Pentagon document prepared for Congress.
The plan to spend $24.1 million represents a small fraction of the larger, $1.6 billion spending request to Congress focusing on training and arming Iraqi and Kurdish forces.
But the document underscored the importance the Pentagon places on the Sunni tribesmen to its overall strategy to diminish Islamic State, and cautioned Congress about the consequences of failing to assist them.
Prayer focus: It does not require advanced military training or knowledge to know that more weapons and more troops (for any group) mean more killing and the extension of war. While IFA does not take a pro or con position on military involvement, we do point out that America's national debt continues to rise, while no direct benefit comes to our nation through continued White House-led warfare. Pray for the safety of U.S. military personnel, the brave men and women in harm's way every day. "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.... And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matt. 24:6-8, 14) |
|  EVANGELICALS RECRUIT PASTORS TO RUN FOR OFFICE A prominent evangelical Christian leader has launched an effort to recruit 1,000 pastors willing to run for political office, hoping to inject religious issues and candidates into the 2016 election.
David Lane, the founder of the American Renewal Project, said he hopes he can persuade pastors to run for offices as varied as school board and city council to the state legislature and Congress. He's scheduled an organizing meeting in January in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
"Government is not going to save America. Wall Street is not going to save America. The Republican party is not going to save America. If America is going to be saved it will be done by Christian men and women restoring a Judeo-Christian culture to the country," Mr. Lane said in an interview with The Washington Times.
Prayer focus: Whether you agree with Mr. Lane or not (and many will not), please pray for pastors and churches throughout our country, especially at this Thanksgiving and upcoming Christmas season. Pray diligently for your own pastor. Each of us has the responsibility to pursue his or her calling in God. Charles Spurgeon once said that if you are called to serve God as a pastor, "do not settle for being a king." Pray that those with a true call to the ministry will prepare with diligence and preach and teach God's word faithfully. "Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards [servants] that one be found faithful." (1 Cor. 4:1-2) "We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain." (2 Cor. 6:1) |
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