Emergency prayer request for Israel
July 12-26 2006
At approximately 9:05 am this morning the Islamist terror group Hezbollah opened up a massive katyusha rocket and mortar attack on Israel’s northern farms in the western Galilee. Eight Israeli were injured according to initial reports.
Evidently the attack was a cover ruse to kidnap Israeli soldiers. Two IDF soldiers engaged in a routine Hummer patrol on the Israeli side close to the international border were kidnapped by Hezbollah during the attack. Within an hour Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV announced the kidnap, and within an hour later the Israel Defense Forces spokesman acknowledged the strong probability that a kidnap had occurred.
At this moment, Hezbollah mortars are falling on Israeli kibbutzim and moshavim. IDF jets have blown up a bridge in south Lebanon in an attempt to slow down the terrorists from fleeing deeper into Lebanon, and are shelling Hezbollah positions along the border in that area.
Victory celebrations are breaking out at this moment in towns throughout south Lebanon over the kidnapping.
This kidnapping comes in the wake of the kidnapping of Corporal Gilad Shalit two weeks ago, also within Israel’s internationally recognized borders beside the Gaza Strip. That kidnapping prompted a re-entry of IDF forces into Gaza, as well as shelling of Kassam rocket launchers and targeted assassinations of Hamas terrorists and their commanders.
Hezbollah receives its military equipment and encouragement from Iran, and all weapons flow to Hezbollah through Syria. Both countries are involved in strategic advice, influence and support for Hezbollah. Hamas is headquartered in Damascus and also receives much military help from Iran, smuggled in through Egypt.
The IDF will probably respond by striking in three areas:
1. There are 13,000 long-range Hezbollah rockets on the border with Israel. These can reach Haifa, Tiberias and Hadera with fair accuracy. Chances are that the upset of the military status quo will force Israel to at least weaken and at most destroy Hezbollah’s missile ability to hurt Israel. It is probable that a military incursion into Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure is in the offing.
2. It is highly likely that Lebanon will pay a price for not controlling its own sovereign territory and for allowing it to be used to attack Israel, a country which has pulled back to the internationally recognized border years ago. This might involve bombing of Lebanese infrastructure, power stations, etc.
3. It is pretty likely that Syria’s support for Hezbollah and Hamas means that there may be IDF strikes into Syria generally, and on Damascus specifically.
PLEASE PRAY URGENTLY FOR THESE SOLDIERS AND FOR ISRAEL’S LEADERS
According to the Jewish calendar, the period beginning tonight marks the “Dire Straits” season, from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Av. This is a season of increased danger for Israel. See our newsletter from February 21 2005 on www.davidstent.org for more information here. This is a period where watching and praying for Israel’s safety is of heightened importance. Please stand with us in prayer for God’s protection on Israel, for the return of these soldiers, and for God’s hand to prevent a major war from breaking out before the time.
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Two
July 13, 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis of the ‘whys’ and then specific prayer requests.
Last night (Wednesday July 12) was the first night of the “bein hameitzarim ” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the 9th of Av (Thursday August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Yesterday morning began with an attack across the international border by Hezbollah terrorists based out of Lebanon. A routine Israeli Humvee patrol was ambushed, 3 soldiers killed and 2 taken hostage into Lebanon. An Israeli tank involved in an attempted rescue attempt was blown up and the 4-person crew was killed. Another Israeli soldier was killed trying to rescue the tank crew.
During the day Israeli special forces entered Lebanon and IDF planes struck most bridges in south Lebanon, slowing down travel with the center and north of Lebanon – partly to impede the captors, partly to weaken the terrorist infrastructure. The Israeli operation has been given the name “Sahar Holem” or “Just Rewards“.
Last night and this morning (Thursday) saw the beginning of a concerted rocket attack on Israel’s northern sector. Over 100 Katyusha rockets have been fired at farms and towns in the Galilee, including Nahariya, Tzfat (Safed), Carmiel, Majd al-Kurum (an Arab Israeli town), Rosh Pina, and Mount Meron. These short-range katyushas (the RAD-1) killed one 40-year old lady and severely injured perhaps a dozen, while lightly injuring over 100 people.
IDF planes responded by bombing the Beirut airport, causing damage which takes approximately 48 hours to repair. This is a military warning to Lebanon that much greater damage can be done, but that Israel wants Lebanon as a sovereign state to immediately stop armed terrorists from planning and executing murderous cross-border attacks from the safety of Lebanese territory. Hezbollah does have members sitting in the Lebanese government, and its presence is tolerated and occasionally cheered in official Lebanese circles.
As well, IDF jets bombed world terrorism centers and training camps in the Baalbek valley (where CIA station chief William Buckley was once tortured to death over a 15 month period by Hezbollah-associated forces), where Syria has an active presence, and also hit portions of the Beirut-Damascus highway within :Lebanon, where Syria still has small bases of its own soldiers on Lebanese territory. IDF navy boats and jets have placed a total blockade on maritime and air approaches to Lebanon. This combined strategy is meant to prevent re-supply of arms from reaching Hezbollah from Syria and Iran either by land, sea or air.
During the afternoon, Israel announced that if Hezbollah employed its long-range Fajr katyusha rocket and attacked major Israeli cities (these katyushas are capable of hitting Haifa, Tiberias and Hadera), Israel would respond by bombing the Hezbollah headquarters in southern Beirut and by leveling major high-rises in Beirut. A few hours later Hezbollah announced that if Israel attacked southern Beirut or Beirut itself, Hezbollah would fire missiles against Haifa.
At 8:03 pm tonight (Thursday evening Israel time) Hezbollah fired 3 Fajr katyusha rockets on Haifa. With all the red lines that have been crossed in the past 40 hours, this is a major escalation. Consider the situation – a Shi’ite jihadi terrorist group is attacking civilian population centers in Israel, armed by Iran and supported by Syria. The IDF has declared that its deterrent capabilities must be preserved and that terrorist bands cannot hold Israel hostage nor its soldiers hostage.
It is assumed that strong Israel Air Force response will come tonight. Probable focus will be on the 13,000 katyusha rockets that Hezbollah has aimed at Israeli cities, at Hezbollah HQ in Beirut, and on other strategic targets in Lebanon. The IDF has been warning the population in those areas for the past 24 hours to move out temporarily.
Why now?
There are two probable reasons for the war now.
One is connected to the spiritual season we are in, the period of the “dire straits”.
The other probably concerns Iran and what the Scriptures refer to as the Prince of Persia, the demonic principality that oversees and guides modern Iran’s present government. Iran is interested in distracting the world from its determined efforts to manufacture nuclear weapons. Its leader Ahmedinejad has repeatedly declared his Shi’ite belief that Islam’s Messiah-like figure is soon to appear, and that jihad against the West and Israel is the next item of business. Iran is probably attempting to distract the G-8 meeting in Germany from its own nefarious nuclear activities by activating its proxy Hezbollah.
This is also a time when Israel is prosecuting another terror war and hostage situation in the Gaza Strip. Iran and Hezbollah probably felt that Israel is also distracted and therefore could be weakened by opening up a second Islamist front against the Jewish state.
How to pray?
1. The decisive defeat of Fascist Germany and Imperial Japan at the conclusion of World War II led to a real period of peace. Only a decisive defeat of Hezbollah can lead to a real breathing space of quiet in the Near East. The pushing back of Hezbollah terrorist from the Israeli border and the destruction of their missile arsenal is an immediate need.
2. The release of captive Israeli soldiers could tone down the hostilities, though not solve the basic problems. Pray for the preservation of their lives and their speedy return to Israel.
3. Wisdom and divine strategies for Israel’s military and governmental leaders. Pray by name for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and for Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
4. Protection for Israeli soldiers involved in the battle, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers who are presently involved in the fighting. Protection for Israeli civilians from rocket attacks.
5. A revelation of Yeshua the Messiah for many in Israel. C.S. Lewis once said that God whispers in our pleasures and shouts in our pains. It is His megaphone to raise a deaf world. Pray that many ears will be opened to the sounds of salvation.
6. Pray for a minimal loss of life among those Lebanese who are innocent civilians. Pray for a revelation for them of Yeshua, as well as a revelation that the God of Israel is watching over and protecting His Jewish people.
7. Pray for God’s hand on Syria and Iran, and for the Almighty God of Israel to foil and break the satanic schemes of the enemy.
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Four
July 15 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Saturday July 15) is the fourth day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the 9th of Av (Thursday August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Friday and today (Saturday) have seen increased escalation between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel.
Over 761 katyusha rockets have been fired by Hezbollah into the northern sector of Israel over the past four days, striking, killing and wounding in a wide swath from Nahariya in the west to Hazor and Mahanayim in the east. Over 150 Israelis have been injured, more than 10 seriously. At least four civilians have been killed.
Israeli planes have carried than 1,000 sorties in Lebanon, enforcing a no-fly zone, impeding Hezbollah from resupplying its arsenal from Syrian and Iranian forces, and destroying Hezbollah command-and-control centers as well as rocket launchers. A naval and air blockade is in force. One goal of these strikes is to pressure the Lebanese government into taking responsibility for its own territory by closing down and disarming the Hezbollah terrorist bases in south Lebanon which are being used to attack Israel.
Thursday night saw Hezbollah fire two Fajr long-range katyusha rockets into Haifa, Friday saw Hezbollah fire over 100 rockets into Galilee, including at Safed (Zfat), Carmiel and Nahariya. Saturday (so far) has seen over 106 rockets hit Tiberias (for the first time ever, another red line crossed) in residential and hotel areas, Safed and many smaller towns and moshavim in the Galilee, including hits on the Israeli Arab Druze villages of Horfesh and El-Koush. Over 50 Israeli Jews and Arabs have been wounded today.
On Friday night Hezbollah forces led by Iranian military advisors fired a Chinese UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) loaded with explosives at an IDF missile boat off the coast of Beirut, killing between 2 and 4 crew members. The involvement of Iranian soldiers in this war is a serious escalation and matter of urgent prayer.
What next ?
Militarily, the order of battle is intensifying in increments.
Probably Hezbollah will increase long-range rocket attacks on major Israeli cities like Haifa (and its suburban oil refineries), Tiberias and even Hadera.
Intense Israeli bombings of Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in Lebanon would be next, followed by insertion of Special Forces by sea, air and land. A land incursion of divisional strength (20,000-30,000 Israeli troops) would probably come after that.
Hezbollah knows that it cannot defeat Israel militarily in a head-on confrontation. Hezbollah is counting on world pressure to stop Israel from crushing Hezbollah on the battlefield. EU, UN, G-8, Arab League and perhaps even US diplomatic pressures will increase, demanding an unconditional ceasefire. Chamberlain’s appeasement of Hitler led quickly to World War II. Appeasement of Hezbollah and the Islamic oil-producing world would lead to a further weakening of Israel and an intensification of World War III (see www.davidstent.org, “words”, August 23 2005).
One of Hezbollah’s short term goals is the release of their own terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails.
Hezbollah’s long-term goal is very clear – the destruction of Israel and America. Hezbollah’s philosophy is outlined in its “An Open Letter: The Hizballah Program” published February 16, 1985 in al-Safir newspaper (Beirut); under the paragraph entitled “The necessity for the destruction of Israel”: “We see in Israel the vanguard of the United States in our Islamic world. It is the hated enemy that must be fought until the hated ones get what they deserve”. And again, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah declared at a public rally in Beirut in September 2002, “Regardless of how the world has changed after September 11, ‘Death to America’ will remain our reverberating and powerful slogan: Death to America!”
Hezbollah may also hope than Syria and Iran will join the battle against Israel, and that this would lead to the breakout of a global Islamic jihad against Israel and the West.
How to pray?
1. Pray for the safety and rescue/return of the 3 Israeli soldiers held hostage by Hamas (Gil’ad Shalit, 19 years old) and Hezbollah (Ehud Goldwasser, 31 years old; Eldad Regev, 26 years old) .
2. Hezbollah has traditionally turned to hostage taking, an old Middle Eastern strategy when the going gets tough. Pray for the safety and evacuation of 25,000 US citizens and other Westerners now in Beirut.
3. Sheikh Nasrallah declared yesterday that “we are going to an open war on Israel.” Hezbollah has long-range terror capabilities. It has carried out kidnappings and torture of top CIA officials in the 1980’s; Beirut suicide truck bombing in 1983 that killed 304 Americans and wounded 200; the hijacking of TWA flight 847 in Beirut; the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires (29 killed); and the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in the same city (95 killed). Ask God to send His angels to foil and frustrate any satanic Hezbollah terror plots around the world.
4. The Islamic world has used an oil embargo against the West in order to punish it for standing with Israel. Pray that God would give Western leaders holy courage and divine strategies on how to deal with oil warfare.
5. Protection for Israeli soldiers involved in the battle, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers who are presently involved in the fighting. Also pray for protection for Israeli civilians from rocket attacks.
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Five
July 16, 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Sunday July 16) is the fifth day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the 9th of Av (Thursday August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Each of the five days of war has seen increased escalation between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel.
So far nearly 800 katyusha rockets have been fired into Israel. Over 500 Israelis have been wounded. Up until today 4 Israelis have been killed by the rockets.
Today (Sunday) has seen a rapid escalation. Close to 9:15 am five Fajr long-range Iranian built katyusha rockets were fired by Hezbollah at the Krayot Haifa industrial area. One hit a train repair warehouse, killing 8 and wounding 13. The explosive munitions on this rocket are stronger than all the other katyusha land attacks Israel has seen to this point. In this one attack today more Israelis have died than in the past four days.
Hezbollah immediately announced on its al-Manar TV station that Israel should not responded ‘stupidly’, otherwise Hezbollah threatened that it would begin to target Haifa’s petrochemical refineries. This area is adjacent to Israel’s third largest city, and many Israelis live directly beside these refineries.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated that this heavier rocket attack would have far-reaching ramifications on the northern border and for the entire area.
Over the past hour four developments have happened:
1. All Israelis living between Haifa and Tel Aviv have been warned to heighten awareness for the possibility of incoming Hezbollah missiles. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has concluded (based on the Chinese-made Iranian C-802 missile attack against its Saar-5 missile boat on Friday night) that Iran has transferred much technology and weaponry to Hezbollah. This would include the Zilzal missile with a range of 160 km, and other missiles with a range of up to 200 km. These missiles would put much of Israel’s population on the coastal plain within range.
2. General Udi Adam of Israel’s Northern Command has strongly suggested to all inhabitants of southern Lebanon to move northward toward Beirut immediately. The cut-off time on this warning is 1 pm Israeli-Lebanese time, a warning of 90 minutes total. The warning was broadcast by Arabic radio and by Arabic leaflets. Adam stated that since these people are human shields for Hezbollah’s katyusha attacks, Israel is about to strike back and would prefer that non-combatants leave the area for their own safety. He stated that the IDF’s target is Hezbollah and that they will make every effort not to hit Christian areas or the Lebanese Forces (which are primarily Maronite Christian). The area delineated includes Bint Jbeil and Nabatiya.
This effort to avoid civilian casualties is typical of IDF policies during war. Most of the katyusha rockets are hidden in living rooms and basements throughout southern Lebanon, as is Hezbollah’s local command structure. General Adam’s warning will cause an immediate flow of refugees toward Beirut, in the range of 200,000 to 300,000.
3. The IDF Home Command is forbidden local and foreign news media to give real-time specific locations of where katyusha rockets have fallen, in order to prevent Hezbollah gunners (who are monitoring Israeli and world TV) from adjusting their sights and honing in on targets. All merchant marine boats in Haifa harbor have been encouraged to lift anchor and move out into the Mediterranean.
4. Iran has threatened Israel not to attack Syria, warning that if Israel does this the consequences will be unimaginable. Syria has just announced that if they are attacked, they will respond harshly. Syria is armed with hundreds of North Korean Scud-C missiles, many of them having chemical warheads of VX and Sarin gas. Their accuracy is within 15 meters (50 feet) and they can hit Beersheva and possibly even Eilat. All Hezbollah weaponry and training is coming from Syria and Iran, including real-time military advisors on location.
What next ?
Hezbollah will increase long-range rocket attacks on major Israeli cities like Tiberias, Hadera, and possibly even Netanya and Tel Aviv.
It is highly likely that the petrochemical industries in the Krayot area of Haifa will be targeted and hit. This would create an environmental problem of large proportions, and would necessitate the evacuation of many civilians from the adjoining areas.
Intense Israeli bombings of Hezbollah targets and infrastructure in south Lebanon is next, accompanied by insertion of Special Forces by sea, air and land.
A huge amount of refugees will flow toward Beirut.
There is significant danger that Syria and Iran will try to join the battle against Israel, hoping that this would trigger a global Islamic jihad against Israel and the West.
How to pray?
1. Pray for God to deflect Hezbollah missiles away from their targets. This happened in the 1991 Gulf War and it can happen again as we pray.
2. Pray for the safety of all Israelis targeted by Hezbollah rockets and missiles.
3. Pray for a revelation of Yeshua as Messiah and atonement to many in Israel right now.
4. Pray for the protection of the many south Lebanese who are soon to become refugees.
5. Pray for those Hezbollah fighting against Israel to either be saved or to be totally crushed.
6. Protection for Israeli soldiers fighting, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers presently involved in the war.
7. Pray for God to reveal and counter Syrian and Iranian strategies to the IDF generals, as He did in 2 Kings 6 in Elisha’s day.
8. Ask the God of Israel to hook you up to His prayer request line – to download to you directly and in real time what needs to be prayed for. This is what Rees Howell experienced during WW II, in a time when there were no TVs, no cell phones and no internet.
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Seven
July 19 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Tuesday July 18) is the seventh day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the 9th of Av (Thursday August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Our last prayer request came out at noon Israeli time Sunday July 16. This report sums up the past 60 hours of the war.
1. One million Israelis are spending day and night in reinforced concrete safe rooms in the North of the country, a precaution against katyusha rocket attacks. This will probably continue until Hezbollah no longer has the ability to fire katyushas.
2. Residents of the coastal plain from Tel Aviv up to Haifa have been told that they need to stay close to buildings and be prepared to take shelter immediately upon hearing a 60-second warning by air raid siren.
3. Towns, villages, kibbutzim and moshavim continue to be hit on a daily, sometimes hourly basis. These include major towns like Haifa, Nahariya, Safed, Afula, Carmiel, Kiryat Shmonah, Tiberias, to Arab and Druze villages like Julis, Abu Snaan, Kafr Yasif, Sachnin and Deir al-Assad. On Monday night 70 communities were hit, while on Tuesday 125 katyushas were fired at Israel.
4. In Safed the major hospital and a chocolate factory were hit. Power outages occurred in Western Galilee when katyushas destroyed some electric pylons. In Haifa two floors of a residential apartment building were collapsed and 11 people were trapped, requiring IDF combat engineers to dig them out.
5. Nazareth and Capernaum, two sites made famous in the Gospels, have both been hit by katyushas.
6. 70 families in Carmiel are moving down to Gush Etzion (south of Jerusalem) for shelter while the katyusha attacks continue.
7. In the Gaza Strip Kassam rocket attacks fired by Hamas and Fatah (PLO) continue, hitting kibbutzim in the western Negev as well as the Ashkelon industrial park.
Analysis of events
1. Hezbollah is increasing the deadliness of the type of rockets it is firing, and boosting the distance they are traveling into Israel’s heartland. They began with the Iranian 122mm Arash, and have now added the Iranian-Syrian Fajr 5 (220 mm, 52 kg of explosives, plus steel pellets, with a range of 100 km).
2. It seems that Hezbollah is still holding some advanced Iranian weapons systems in reserve. It has not fired the Iranian 333 mm Shahin rockets with a range of 160-200 km, or the Zilzal-2 355 mm. rockets weighing 600kg. Nor have they used their SAM-7 anti-aircraft shoulder missiles (similar to the US Stinger) against Israeli jets. Hezbollah has fired its C-802 Chinese missile only once so far (against an Israeli missile boat) with help from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, the Pasdaran.
The Arabic London-based newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat quotes a senior Iranian army official that the Pasdaran has set up dozens of advanced rocket and missile bases in Lebanon and along the border of Israel. Between 1992 and 2006 Hezbollah received nearly 13,000 of these weapons from Iran, flown to Damascus and trucked into southern Lebanon (see Michael R. Gordon, NY Times, July 16, 2006). At present approximately 100 military advisors from Pasdaran are working with Hezbollah operating these weapons platforms. This is probably what Sheikh Nasrallah meant when he said that his forces will yet surprise Israel. Israeli military Intelligence (AMAN) says that Nasrallah hasn’t yet pulled his strategic cards out of the hat yet.
3. Israel bombed one C-802 site yesterday. The missile was accidentally triggered and lifted off but exploded in mid-air. Its crash was filmed by the media, and Hezbollah TV inaccurately stated that the film clip showed an Israeli F-16 being shot down. Over the past few days this type of disinformation has surfaced on the Hezbollah and Palestinian side. Other examples include Hezbollah’s assertion that only 4 of its fighters have been killed over the past week, and Fatah’s declaration yesterday that it has kidnapped an Israeli Border Policeman (also false).
The Shahin, Zilzal and C-802 rocket systems can hit Tel Aviv. The IAF is continuing to target these Lebanese launch sites, most of which are hidden and camouflaged in Shi’ite residential areas. The IAF has stated that if Hezbollah rockets strike Haifa’s petrochemical plants, it will consider bombing Lebanese power plants. In this way pressure is being brought to bear on the sovereign Lebanese government to stop Hezbollah from using Lebanese territory to attack Israel.
4. Last week Israel called up one reserve division, and today has issued call-up orders for 3 reserve battalions. This will free up regular troops now engaged in guarding and patrolling in Judea and Samaria, and will allow them to be sent to the North in preparation for possible limited ground incursions.
5. Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameinei said on Sunday that “The US says Hezbollah must be disarmed. This will not happen”. SKY TV noted on Sunday that Iran has sunk over $100 million into Hezbollah’s arsenal. Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal said that “any aggression against Syria will have a harsh and direct response not limited in time or means”. Both comments indicate that Syria and Iran are afraid of losing their Hezbollah proxy mini-state, and are trying to preserve Nasrallah’s regime as a military player in Lebanon.
Back on Sept. 27, 2002, NY Times journalist Michael R. Gordon stated that there is a fear “that Iran or Syria might encourage Hezbollah to stir up tensions along Israel’s northern frontier to divert attention from Iraq and complicate the Bush administration’s plans…” This is the same scenario now being played out, with Iran’s 2006 nuclear program substituting for the Iraq invasion of 2002.
6. Nasrallah pre-recorded a poorly produced TV address on Sunday from his underground bunkers in the dahiya, the Shi’ite suburbs of South Beirut. Gone was the laughing sarcasm. His face was grayish and subdued. He spoke to Israelis, saying that Hezbollah has a faith deeper than that of Israel. He threatened to surprise the IDF “beyond Haifa and on the ground”, probably referring to longer range missiles directed at civilian population centers, booby traps along likely Israeli invasion routes, and perhaps even chemical warheads or nuclear suitcase bombs. He stated that Allah has given the Arab and Islamic world a historic opportunity to defeat the USA and Israel, and that the Lebanese people’s stand will lead to the salvation of the entire Islamic people. Hezbollah is the spearhead, he said, giving an example to the entire Islamic nation on how to fight the enemy with courage and defeat him. “Where are you, Arabs?” he asked, appealing for help in the jihad.
7. It has been reported numerous times today that Nasrallah’s forces are firing on Shi’ite villagers trying to flee from Hezbollah-controlled villages northward toward Beirut. They are forcing these villagers to stay and act as human shields and potential casualties in the face of Israeli bombardments of rocket launchers and terrorist command and control centers.
How to pray?
1. Pray for God to frustrate the weapons used against Israel (see a similar promise in Isa.54:17 – “No weapon forged against you will prevail”).
2. Pray for God to frustrate the wicked counsel of evil leaders in Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and world terror (“Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us” – Isa.8:10).
3. Protection for Israeli soldiers fighting, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers presently involved in the war.
4. Pray for a revelation of Yeshua as Messiah and atonement to many in Israel right now.
Many believers are beginning to realize that God is again protecting His people. There have been over a thousand katyushas fired, and the death total from those rockets hovers near twenty. Continue to ask God for His defensive shield to cover His people Israel.
We thank you for your prayers for Israel, for Messianic believers and for our family. Our two oldest sons are soldiers in the IDF. Our oldest son is presently stationed in the Jerusalem area. Our second son will be traveling to the north tomorrow to work as a medic in one of the cities worst hit by katyushas. We ask for your prayers for his safety, protection and for opportunities to be a light in a difficult place.
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Nine
July 21 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Thursday July 20) is the ninth day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the 9th of Av (Thursday August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Our last prayer request came out just before midnight Israeli time Tuesday July 8. This report sums up the past 48 hours of the war.
1. Today 50 Hezbollah katyushas fell in Israel (yesterday 116 fell; 125 fell on Tuesday). There were 76 Israelis wounded by rocket fire today. Since the start of the war, 592 Israelis have been wounded by 261 rocket attacks. Another 600 rocket attacks landed without hitting people. So far 27 people have been killed (including soldiers).
2. In Nazareth a rocket fell a few hundred meters away from the biggest church building in the Middle East, the Church of the Annunciation. Two Israeli Muslim Arab brothers Muhammad (age 7) and Rabia (age 3) were killed. Their father justified Hezbollah’s rocket attacks, saying that they are due to Israel not giving back territory to Hezbollah (though the UN has ruled that Israel is no longer occupying any Lebanese territory).
3. Focus today was on three elite reconnaissance groups (Paratroopers, Duvdevan [counter-terrorism special forces] and Maglan [LRRP laser-painting target recons who guide missiles to target]) who crossed into Lebanon to confront and remove Hezbollah terrorists and bunkers within one kilometer of the Israeli border at Aita e-Sha’ab and Maroun a-Ras. Each team suffered some casualties, 2 Maglan special ops were cut down (ages 20 and 21) as well as two other Israeli special ops. Fighting continues at this hour in at least two locations. Many Hezbollah forts and frontlines have been destroyed in the past 3 days abutting the border with Israel. These skirmishes are not a ground forces invasion, but a pinpoint insertion and extraction of special forces at this stage of combat.
4. Hezbollah is engaging in a tunnel and bunker strategy similar to that of the Viet Cong – mass networks of honeycombed warrens, passages and ammunition bunkers (some are 40 meters deep). In most cases bombings will not take out these sites, while katyusha long range rockets are stored and fired from them.
5. Attempted suicide bombers were intercepted in Jerusalem and Hod Hasharon (north of Tel Aviv). A huge upsurge in red alert warnings of terror attacks has caused Israel to close off the West Bank areas from the rest of Israel until Saturday night.
6. The IAF bombed the suspected HQ of Sheikh Nasrallah in the Burj al-Barajneh suburb of Beirut. Twelve F-16s each carrying 2 one ton bombs leveled the underground structure, but Nasrallah was uninjured. So far the Israel Air Force has flown 3,000 sorties, has hit 1,200 targets and today alone carried out 150 sorties.
7. In Beirut the blockade has been relaxed by Israel to allow tourists to depart and humanitarian aid to enter. Voices such as Maronite Christian leaders and Druze leader Walid Jumbalat have come out with carefully worded rebukes of Hezbollah. Jumbalat also revealed that a round table of most of Lebanon’s leaders had recently agreed to disarm Hezbollah. But before this could be carried out, Hezbollah’s attacks and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers froze that option.
Analysis of events
1. It is hard to come by accurate figures of the situation in Lebanon. A comparison of major media numbers and even official Lebanese government sources gives greatly differing figures. Examples: fatalities (216, 300, 350); wounded (600, 1,000); refugees (500,000 – 750,000). It is certain that number of Hezbollah terrorists killed is much higher than the 4 to 7 figure that they have offered.
2. Christiane Amanpour of CNN stated today that when there is a 10 to one casualty ratio between Lebanese and Israelis, something is wrong. There is a presupposition here that war is like a video game where casualties must be balanced for the sake of fairness. The term ‘disproportionate’ has been used by the UN and the EU, indicating that it is not ‘balanced’ for Israel to remove Hezbollah’s forces which are entrenched in civilian areas. The assumption is that Israel should allow itself to keep enduring terrorism, and that continuing Israeli casualties are a preferable option to pushing Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. It might be instructive to remember some divine mathematics in Leviticus 26:8, where God prophesies to Israel that “five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you”. Though death in battle is not to be desired, war does happen; Israel is being attacked; and it is destroying its enemies. Let us pray for God’s protection and salvation to visit all, and for the IDF to have even better accuracy.
3. Much of the world media is focusing on the suffering of tourists and injured civilians in Lebanon without explaining the context. Pictures of civilians casualties stir the heart and bring tears to our eyes. Yet the reasons behind Israel’s determination to remove Hezbollah from attacking and killing Israelis must be kept in front of our vision during this time. The world ignored Israel’s pleas for intervention, refused to get involved when Israelis were being slaughtered and did nothing to enforce UN resolution 1559 calling for Hezbollah’s disarmament and disbanding. No IDF sorties would be happening tonight had Lebanon disarmed Hezbollah two years ago.
4. There are parallels between Hezbollah tunnels and Viet Cong tunnels, though there are some differences too. One big difference is that Israelis are defending their homes and families which are less than a kilometer away. That makes the battle more personal and the determination to win that much stronger for us Israelis.
5. There are parallels between Arafat’s ‘Fatah-land’ terror colony in southern Lebanon between 1975-1982 and ‘Hezbollah-stan’ in today’s Lebanon. For nearly 8 years Arafat terrorized Israel from southern Lebanon with katyusha rockets and cross-border terror attacks. His forces catalyzed the Lebanese civil war in which 100,000 Lebanese died. Today Hezbollah’s maverick terror tactics are boomeranging on Lebanon and many lives are being lost again in order to crush this jihadi terror group. Israel invaded Lebanon in1982 to remove Arafat, and perhaps another land invasion may again happen.
6. There are parallels between the 1962 Cuban missile crisis and this war. The USSR was developing ICBMs to threaten the USA, but in the meantime began to preposition shorter-range nuclear missiles in Cuba, within striking range of America. Iran is using the same strategy using Hezbollah’s missiles to attack America’s friend Israel in order to distract the world from Iran’s nuclear bomb program.
7. There are parallels between the London Blitz of 1940-41 and this war. Then Londoners were subjected to day and night attacks. They had to seek shelter in underground shelters. Hitler’s goal was to destroy the will of ordinary people, but the British people’s will did not crumble. When it came England’s turn to counter-strike, the German people suffered a much more extensive bombing campaign, and the morale of the German people collapsed. Hezbollah can be compared to Nazi Germany, and the Israeli victims of the katyushas can be compared to the determined Londoners under the Blitz.
What next?
The war seems to be developing into three distinct stages.
The first stage has been primarily an air war, during which time Hezbollah infrastructure, weaponry, command and control centers, and resupply routes are being destroyed.
The second stage (which continues in tandem with the first) involves pinpoint insertions of special forces to locate (‘paint’) enemy forces and bunkers. These forces then call in pinpoint air attacks or accurate shelling.
The third stage will need to address the honeycombs and rat’s nests of Hezbollah tunnels, warrens and bunkers. This will involve land combat by special land forces backed up by air support.
How to pray?
1. Pray for God’s angels to continue to push off course the katyusha rockets being fired against Israel (see Isaiah 54:7)
2. Pray for safety for Israeli soldiers fighting, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers presently involved in the war (see Psalm 91).
3. Pray that Israel would fulfill the promise of Leviticus 26:8, where one soldier will put a hundred enemies to flight, and five would chase 10,000.
4. Pray that Lebanon’s leaders would come to the same understanding that the citizens of Abel Beth Maacah (right near the Lebanese border) did in 2 Samuel 20:13-22. Job gave them the choice of total destruction or handing over the head of Sheba ben Bichri the rebel.
5. Pray that Lebanon’s leadership will move to end the suffering of its own people by working with Israel to change southern Lebanon from a terrorist nest into a good neighbour.
6. Pray for Israel’s leadership to receive guidance from the God of Israel on how to prosecute this war with the minimum of suffering and death for both Israeli and Lebanese peoples, and to deal with Hezbollah according to Genesis 12:3.
7. Pray for the revelation of Yeshua and His salvation to come to many Israelis and Lebanese and even to some among Hezbollah at this crucial season.
We thank you for your prayers for Israel, for Messianic believers and for our family. Our two oldest sons are soldiers in the IDF. Our oldest son is presently stationed in the Jerusalem area. Our second son is working as a medic at one of the flash points on the Lebanese border. We ask for your prayers for his safety, protection and for opportunities to be a light in a difficult place. Also, we ask for a family of 6 believers in Kibbutz Nahal Oz (and all the kibbutz members as well), who are being shelled with Kassam rockets by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip. Pray for physical safety, for encouragement and for many opportunities to witness of Yeshua’s love and saving power
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Twelve
July 23 2006
This is a short report of details of today’s fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Sunday July 23) is the twelfth day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the evening of the onset of the 9th of Av (Thursday evening August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Our last prayer request came out just after midnight Israeli time Friday July 21. This report sums up the past 56 hours of the war.
1. On Saturday 150 Hezbollah katyushas fell on 12 cities in Israel. Over 1,000 katyushas have been fired by Hezbollah over the past 11 days. Since the start of the war, 1,293 Israelis have been injured by rocket attacks, and 34 Israelis have been killed (including soldiers). Many Israelis from the North have ben living in unventilated bomb shelters for 10 days, and thousands have temporarily moved south to relatives or friends out of harm’s way.
2. The south Lebanese villages of Maroun ar-Ras and Merwahin have been taken by Israeli special forces. Maroun ar-Ras was used by Hezbollah to direct katyusha fire against Israel, as its location on a high ridge overlooks both Israeli positions and Hezbollah’s regional command and control town of Bint Jbeil. IDF forces will use this empty village to oversee the next stage, an attack on Bint Jbeil.
3. Large caches of katyushas and other weapons were discovered stashed in the mosques of these villages.
4. The IDF has warned all inhabitants of 13 Shi’ite villages in south Lebanon to move northward toward Beirut before the fighting engulfs their areas. Again, this is the third time Israel has warned these villages, in an effort to lessen civilian casualties. Hezbollah, however, has honeycombed these villages with bunkers and weapons, knowing that civilian casualties boost their terror efforts in world opinion.
5. On Saturday Hezbollah continued hitting civilian targets in Israel. For example, they fired over 54 katyushas onto the coastal city of Nahariya, and more than 28 on Kiryat Shmonah. The IDF, on the other hand, evacuated a 40 year old Lebanese woman wounded in Maroun ar-Ras (and her husband) to Israel for medical treatment.
6. Israel has taken more than twenty Hezbollah terrorists prisoner, and has recovered the bodies of 13 Hezbollah fighters, which could be used in a future swap for the two live Israeli soldiers kidnapped from Israeli territory 12 days ago.
7. In Beirut the blockade has been relaxed by Israel, and between 25,000 and 30,000 tourists have already left. That is 1/3 of the total projected number of tourists or dual nationals expected to depart. American, German, French Swedish, Russian and Sudanese are the majority of departing tourists. Humanitarian aid is also being allowed in by Israel
Analysis of events
1. Hezbollah’s firing of katyushas has become less accurate and has somewhat diminished overall. This indicates some good military result from the IDF campaign, though the firing will only stop when ground forces wipe out the bunkers, tunnels and launchers. IDF Air Force Intelligence spokesman Ran Shmuel pointed out yesterday that the katyusha is not a decisive battlefield weapon. It is primarily a weapon of terror.
2. The use of mosques as bunkers reveals a military perspective very different than that of Western civilization. The cooperation between Islamist jihad-preaching mosques and Islamist jihadi terrorists is seen as natural in the Muslim world.
3. The call-up of Israeli reserves has been met with overwhelming response, something unusual in regular peacetime operations. This high response in wartime brings to mind Psalm 110:3 “amecha nedavot b’yom cheilecha” (Your people volunteer [or move into military formation] freely in the day of Your power [or army]”. The prophecy here looks to a day when the reborn youth of Israel will rush (in military formation and in holiness) to carry out the revival will of their Father in Heaven, the God of Jacob.
4. It’s important to remember the words of Genesis 12:3 in this war: “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who derides / belittles you I will curse”. Hezbollah has been cursing, deriding and murdering Israelis for decades. This war is one of the God of Israel plumb lines – He is offending the minds of the nations in order to reveal their hearts (see Luke 2:34-35). Pray for your country and your fellow believers!
What next?
1. The IDF is pushing Hezbollah out of strongholds close to the Israeli border. This involves hand-to-hand combat by special forces, in order to clear the bunkers and tunnels of terrorists, katyusha rockets and launchers.
2. Expansion of this belt northward until Hezbollah no longer controls Lebanese territory within katyusha range of Israel.
3. Increasing EU, UN, Russian and Arab/Islamic pressure to force a ceasefire. This would leave Hezbollah able to attack Israel at will, and would not return the kidnapped Israeli soldiers. All root causes for renewed hostilities would remain.
4. Possible Hezbollah targeting of Haifa petrochemical refineries, and population centers further south up to Tel Aviv. Possible use of biological, chemical or primitive atomic warfare by Hezbollah.
How to pray?
1. Pray for God’s angels to continue to push off course the katyusha rockets being fired against Israel (see Isaiah 54:7). Over 1,000 Hezbollah rockets have been fired. Over 600 of them have missed their targets.
2. Pray for safety for Israeli soldiers fighting, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers presently involved in the war (see Psalm 91).
3. Pray for Israel’s leadership to receive guidance from the God of Israel on how to prosecute this war with the minimum of suffering and death for both Israeli and Lebanese peoples, and to deal with Hezbollah according to Genesis 12:3.
4. Pray for the revelation of Yeshua and His salvation to come to many Israelis and Lebanese and even to some among Hezbollah at this crucial season.
A Messianic youth camp has just ended and many of these teeneagers are returning to bomb shelters in the north. We ask prayer for these kids and their families in the north, who are receiving daily katyusha attacks. Pray for physical safety for all, for encouragement and for many opportunities to witness of Yeshua’s love and saving power
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Emergency prayer request for Israel – Day Fifteen
July 26 2006
This is a short report of details of the last three days of fighting, followed by a brief analysis, and then specific prayer requests.
Today (Wednesday July 26) is the fifteenth day of the “bein hameitzarim” or “dire straits” period (see www.davidstent.org under the “words” section, Feb 21 2005 newsletter, also www.bobjones.org/articles/Basilisk%202002.htm), a period of extreme spiritual danger for Israel. This period lasts up to the evening of the onset of the 9th of Av (Thursday evening August 3). It is a time of urgent heightened prayer for Israel and her survival.
Our last prayer request came out just before noon Israeli time Sunday July 23. This report sums up the past 67 hours of the war.
1. On Monday more than 80 Hezbollah katyushas were fired against Israel, while on Tuesday over 100 Hezbollah katyushas fell on cities in Israel. According to updated IDF reports over 2,500 katyushas have been fired by Hezbollah over the past 15 days.
2. The Hezbollah ‘capital’ of south Lebanese, the village of Bint Jbeil, has been taken by a combination of Israeli special forces as well as Golani and Paratroops. Bint Jbeil was Hezbollah’s regional command and control town of Bint Jbeil. Sheikh Nasrallah used that town to declare Hezbollah’s ‘victory over Israel’ after the IDF’s withdrawal from Lebanon on May 26 2000. Fighting continues around Kafr Aitroun, where some of Hezbollah’s operation rooms, intelligence collection centers and news stations were situated.
3. On Sunday a 48 year old Israeli Arab carpenter, Habib Awad from the village of Ibelin was killed by a direct hit from a katyusha while working in his Haifa carpentry shop. Jewish Haifa resident Shimon Glicklich (60) was killed by katyusha shrapnel as he was driving beside Mount Carmel.
4. On Tuesday a 15 year old Israeli Arab girl Doa Abbas was killed in her living room when a Hezbollah missile crashed through the roof of her home in Mrar (a mixed Druze, Muslim and Christian village near Capernaum). More than 1,500 prisoners from Zalmon and Hermon penitentiaries nearby have been move to fortified facilities within the prisons as a result of this attack.
5. Three IAF Apache helicopters have crashed in the past week, with the loss of all pilots. Human error caused two Apaches to collide with each other, while the third copter had a mechanical failure from a significant height.
6. Nearly a million Israelis in the north have spent 14 days living in bomb shelters.
7. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice made a lightning visit to Lebanon and Israel. She did not pressure Israel to stop its war against Hezbollah, though she also expressed concern about the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. “The goal of Hezbollah is to set the world aflame, and we will not let them succeed” she said. “Any peace is going to have to be based on enduring principles and not on temporary solutions”.
8. Four U.N. observers were accidentally killed Tuesday when their observer outpost at el-Khiam was struck by an IAF bomb. Israel has expressed regret and opened an investigation, while Kofi Annan has declared that the attack was “apparently deliberate targeting”. He said ” I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a U.N. Observer post in southern Lebanon” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said in response, “I am shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement of the secretary-general, insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the U.N. post,” he said. Gillerman pointed out that Israel was investigating the matter, and that Annan’s statements were a rush to judgment.
Analysis of events
1. Hezbollah’s firing of katyushas continues with deadly results. Though IDF air attacks have lessened low trajectory attacks, Hezbollah continues to fire short and medium range rockets. The pushing back of Hezbollah from the Israeli border is making it harder to fire these rockets, but at least half of Hezbollah’s arsenal is intact. Iran continues to resupply Hezbollah through Syria, though IAF raids interdict some of these weapons.
2. Israeli, Jordanian and Egyptian military intelligence reveal that Iranian soldiers have been killed fighting with Hezbollah against Israel, and their bodies have been transported back to Iran for burial. Evidence continues to come in of direct Syrian and Iranian involvement in strategizing, assistance and military hardware supply.
3. Hezbollah has announced that it will be escalating its katyusha attacks to the area south of Haifa. These longer range katyusha rockets are located north of the Litani River and even north of Beirut. Such an escalation would enlarge the area that the Israel Air Force will need to bomb to destroy rocket launchers and make it more difficult for Hezbollah to fire them. It is likely that these longer range Iranian and Chinese rockets could reach the Tel Aviv area.
4. A comparison of casualty figures shows that over 400 Lebanese have died in air attacks, while over 40 Israelis have been killed either by katyusha rockets or in combat. Four points should be emphasized here:
– one, Hezbollah is trying for many more casualties. We thank God for the fact that many katyushas have missed their targets. Keep praying!
– two, Hezbollah is specifically targeting civilians, while Israel is strenuously trying to avoid civilian casualties. If the IAF had wanted to hit Lebanese civilians, the casualty rate would already be immensely higher.
– three, Hezbollah situates its bases in the heart of civilian populations, hiding behind them and using them as civilian shields. This is part of their military modus operandi. The U.N.Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland stated on Monday, “Hezbollah, stop this cowardly blending in among women and children … I hear there was a statement they were proud they had lost very few fighters, and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don’t think you want to be proud of having more children and women than armed men killed”.
– four, the prophet Isaiah tells us that God has a foreign policy vis-à-vis the nations whereby He considers Israel to be His international priority (Isa.43:3-4 – “For I am YHVH, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in My sight, and because I love you, I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life”). He will hand over other nations as a ransom in the case of kidnappings, in order to spare the people whom He especially loves. Leviticus 26:8 puts the percentages at 20 to one, with Israel’s victory on the battlefield being a sign of God’s favor. We cry for all the human casualties, yet understand that war (which involves much suffering) is often waged to limit even more suffering in the long run (e.g., the Allied war against Nazi Germany).
What next?
1. Israel will continue to push Hezbollah northward, out of the area south of the Lebanese Litani River until Hezbollah no longer controls Lebanese territory from where short-range rocket fire can hit Israel.
2. Increasing EU, UN, Russian and Arab/Islamic pressure to force a ceasefire. This would leave Hezbollah able to attack Israel at will, and would not return the kidnapped Israeli soldiers. All root causes for renewed hostilities would remain.
3. Possible Hezbollah targeting of Haifa petrochemical refineries, and population centers further south up to Tel Aviv. Possible use of biological, chemical or primitive atomic warfare by Hezbollah.
How to pray?
1. Pray for God’s angels to continue to push off course the katyusha rockets being fired against Israel (see Isaiah 54:7). Over 2,500 Hezbollah rockets have been fired. Many have missed their targets.
2. Pray for safety for Israeli soldiers fighting, and especially for those Messianic Jewish believers presently involved in the war (see Psalm 91).
3. Pray for Israel’s leadership to receive guidance from the God of Israel on how to prosecute this war with the minimum of suffering and death for both Israeli and Lebanese peoples, and to deal with Hezbollah according to Genesis 12:3.
4. Pray for the revelation of Yeshua and His salvation to come to many Israelis and Lebanese and even to some among Hezbollah at this crucial season.
We thank you for your prayers for Israel, for Messianic believers and for our family. Our two oldest sons are soldiers in the IDF. Our oldest son is being transferred to the border with Lebanon for possible service across the border. Our second son is serving as a medic at one of the flash points on the Lebanese border. We ask for your prayers for their safety, protection and for opportunities to be a light in a difficult place.
We will be traveling to North America to speak and minister in various congregations, and to attend Rachel’s parents 50th wedding anniversary. We will make every effort to continue sending out these prayer alerts while traveling. For breaking Israeli news, we suggest that you follow www.ynetnews.com, which gives minute by minute updates.
PLEASE PRAY URGENTLY FOR THESE MATTERS! THANKS SO MUCH FOR CARRYING THIS PRAYER BURDEN WITH US !