March 29, 2024 - Belo Horizonte Brazil

The Jerusalem Prayer List – March 29, 2024

By Joseph Shulam - From Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Today, T.J., our dear brother from Taiwan, and I arrived in Belo-Horizonte, and Matheus picked us up and took us for lunch. I remembered that it was Wednesday, and I needed to write the Jerusalem Prayer List. 

This week's Torah portion is of great importance to me. The reading is from a portion that in Hebrew is called Tzav – Command!

Torah Reading: From Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36. 

The Prophets: From Ezekiel 36:16 – 38, 

The New Testament: From the Gospel of John 11:47-56. 

Today, I want to reverse the order of my usual commentary on the Torah portion and start by commenting on John's gospel, chapter 11:47-56.    

The discussion is among Jerusalem's dignitaries, priests, rabbis, and those who seem to worry about the good and future of Jerusalem. Please, let me start with the first phrases. 

"Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation." (John 11:47-48 NKJV). 

Here are some important things we can learn from this discussion amongst the Jerusalem leadership. Both political and religious leaders discussed it! 

1) These leaders of the Pharisees and Priests know that Yeshua is doing many great works, signs, and wonders among the population of Jerusalem! Instead of rejoicing and being happy that Yeshua is doing healing, signs, and great and good works, they are feeling fear and anger, and there may even be some jealousy. 

2) They fear that Yeshua will do even more powerful signs and miracles and that everyone will believe in Him! Do we, as ministers of the Good News, sometimes react this way? Do we fear someone else will succeed and do great things for God's Kingdom here on Earth?

 3) The third thing these religious leaders and politicians feared was that the Romans would see the great works, healings, and charity that Yeshua was doing among the people. Then, the Romans will come and destroy the Temple and the nation.   

The common element in the Apostle John's text is fear that someone else will succeed. Fear that the outsiders, like the Romans, would come and destroy and punish for doing something right. There were some great Pharisees in Jerusalem and Israel in the first century B.C. and into the middle and end of the First Century A.D. But the fear was present that someone else would succeed and be praised and elevated for doing good and for the miracles of healing and opening the eyes of blind people.  

 Dear Brothers and Sisters, let us not be like these Pharisees and Priests, who were fearful, jealous, and envious. We must rejoice when anyone is doing good, blessing people, serving people, feeding the poor, and healing the sick. It is simply not acceptable for disciples of Yeshua to be jealous of one another for doing good deeds, restoring people to their health, or just giving someone a cold glass of water!

Now to our Torah Portion from Leviticus 6:1 – 8:36:

This portion of the Torah has some fundamental principles that we all ought to learn, appreciate, and appropriate in our attitudes and walks of faith. When we consider sin, we typically think of something big like adultery or murder (really big and bad things.) We don't think of finding something like an iPhone or a wallet with some money (or maybe just a nice hat) that someone dropped and walked away without noticing. 

This text from the Torah is rather demanding and expects that if you find something in the public or private space, you must sincerely try to find out who this lost item belongs to and return it to them. It is a sin to find something that someone has lost and not to make a sincere and genuine effort to search for and return the lost item to his rightful owner. A sin that if you were to commit when we had a temple and an altar, you would have to bring a RAM or equivalent and offer it as a sin offering. 

Here is a part of this section of the Torah that will be read around the world this next Shabbat: 

"And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "If a person sins and commits a trespass against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his neighbor, or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears falsely—in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: then it shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, or all that about which he has sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. And he shall bring his trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. So the priest shall make atonement for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that he may have done in which he trespasses." (Leviticus 6:1-8 NKJV)

I marked the passage above with different colors to indicate the sins and their gravity. The darker the color, the more prevalent and serious the sin! 

Just look, dear brothers and sisters, and see how strong and essential it is to speak the truth, because when you don't tell the truth about something that you borrowed and didn't return or don't want to return because you covet it and want it, your sin is not against your neighbor only, it is a sin against God. 

If you lie to your neighbor, you lie against God! If you take something unintentionally, you have to restore it to its rightful owner, or it is considered extortion. You must bring a trespass offering to the altar. 

Some would say, "We don't have priests today, and we don't have an altar and a temple!" True, we don't! But the most important thing about these sins is that you must remember that sin still stands, and you are guilty, and all that we do or don't do is written on your report card in heaven! They are recorded on your record in heaven, and on that great day when all flesh will pass under the Judge's verdict, those so-called little sins that we probably have committed (sometimes even without thinking about them at all and forget them so easily) might be a significant stumbling block for us in this life and even in the judgment day. 

Please, dear brothers, I know myself well enough to remember what is called "small things" – "small sins" – "the insignificance of words spoken or written" that ought not to have been there. The best example of repentance is attributed to a short tax collector named "Zachay" = "innocent" is for all of us to remember and find the opportunity to repent and fix our so-called minor sins! 

"Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."" (Luke 19:8 NKJV). 

Zacchaeus restored twice as much as the Torah demanded. He was a righteous and Torah-observant Jew, but the people judged him because he was a tax collector. I hope and wish that our tax collectors in Israel would be like Zacchaeus! 

Please, dear brothers, let us take those sins that we call "small" or "insignificant" much more seriously because everybody commits them. 

Barry Shulam - Please Pray for the Annusim Conference in Brazil 29th to the 31 of March. I will be staying with Mom and Dad will be traveling alone. Please also pray for a meaningful conference and a Breakthrough in Biblical Prophesies.

The Antisemitism is rising in the world and Netivyah International is working on a major campaign to provide materials and speaking engagements for Church to combat this Virus of Hate agains Israel and Jews worldwide.

To contribute specifically for this new Antisemitism project.

Battle Against Antisemitism

---

For updates or request please email us at Prayer@netivyahinternational.org

Pray for faithful brothers and sisters in Israel. If you want to post an encouraging message  there are multiple public platforms you can do it on.  This will provide you a way to connect with the family of faith on this list who can access Facebook,  Internet Website and Instagram.

Netivyah International Socials

Web: https://www.netivyahinternational.org/news/categories/jerusalem-prayer-list

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/netivyahusa

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/netivyah_international/

Joseph Shulams Socials

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/josephbshulam

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/josephshulam/

Your prayers for brothers and sisters you don't know personally are pure love and building of the Body of the Messiah. It is Agape Love since you are doing this without any selfish interests and casting a vote in Heaven for someone who is your brother. Still, you don't know them, and God looks at these prayers that are unselfish and genuine expressions of love and care for another link in the long chain of love and faith that binds us together even though we might not know each other in this world. 

When we all get to Heaven, it will be a joy to meet people we prayed for and sometimes even cried for. Brothers and sisters who are physically strangers but spiritually a part of the same body of Christ, I believe that one day we will have the privilege to sit together and share: "I remember praying for you to be healed!" "I remember praying for you to be safe when you were fighting in Gaza to free the hostages from the cruel hands of the terrorists of the Hamas in Gaza."

Continue earnest prayers for our war with Hamas to end soon and all the hostages to be returned safe and in one piece home to their loved ones!

Pray for our soldiers, especially for the soldiers we know and appreciate Emanuel, the son of Victor and Ayala, Amiel and Solomon Eze, Kiel Intrater, and any other children of Believers, and, of course, for all of the men and women serving this country.  

I hate that our boys, the men of our congregation, still serve in the Army. Most of them in reserves have to fight and use weapons and do war to protect the civilian population of Israel from terrorism driven by hate and blindness. 

 Please pray for the Middle East and for the world to see and understand what reality is in this part of the world. The land that provided for King David, the prophets, and Yeshua the Messiah want peace with our neighbors.

But our neighbors don't want the hand that is stretched out in peace. They want to kill all the Jews and take the land, which is flourishing and a blessing for all the world, and make it a dump like their own place in Gaza and the Arab countries. 

[note from Barry Shulam]

Update:

• We completed the Biopsy this Monday and are awaiting the consultation with the doctors on April 11th. after Joe returns from the Annusim Conference in Brazil.  
  

• Please keep Joe and Marcia in your prayers. Please keep praying for Marcia Shulam, my wife. Pray that Marcia's memory will stop weakening, her arthritis will be healed and stop being active, and her strength to return to where she can take more care of herself. If you feel compelled to help the Shulam family, you can provide support at https://www.netivyahinternational.org/support-us.

In Jerusalem:

 Pray for the following brothers and sisters who need divine grace and the gentle touch of the hand of God for healing and strength.

• Batya Segal is coping with the cancer treatment's effects and is faithfully waiting for clean PET Scan results.

• Ilana Ahijervie is a dear sister who is 98 years old and suffering from memory problems.

• Please pray for our dear sister, Lea Kurkey.

• Sarit, a sister born in Jerusalem, is over 88 years old and lives alone. She has no close family and suffers from several old-age illnesses.

• Your prayers for Alexander, Sarah, and Andrew, who were raised as believers but have left their faith behind, have been answered. The Divine Shepherd guided these members of the same family gently back to the fold. Please keep praying for their general and spiritual welfare!

• Pray for Adam's father and mother, Barry and Dalia. They have some health problems and challenges.

• Pray for Miriam and Hannah, her daughter. Miriam is a dear sister and has lost her husband recently.

• Pray for Daniel S. and his children.

• Pray for Gary, our dear leader in the Ro'eh Israel congregation, and his health, as well as for his wife Melanie and their family.

• Pray for Um Mahmud Abu-Eid, Jimmy Abu-Eid, and all of the family. This is a dear family of old friends that needs healing and wisdom for the children and for their work.

• Please pray for the Romero family, who live deep in the Negev desert. It is hot there, and they are far from our congregation, and we miss them.

• Please pray for Shannon's father, Michael McGoff. Michael had heart surgery and we need to pray for his full recovery.

In the U.K.:

• We bless our dear sister Celestine with health and blessings from Heaven for her life and her family. We pray for the Lord to be her comfort and provide sister Celestine with all her physical, spiritual, and social needs with His grace.

• Pray for Deborah Isaiah. I pray for the Lord to find Deborah Isaiah and lead her to a blessed life, family, and a solution to her problems.

• Pray for our dear brother Dennis D'Costa and his family as they find their way and have a clear vision of what and where God wants them to live, serve, and grow their family. Lord, open the right doors for Dennis D'Costa and his family.

In Australia:

• A dear friend from Hong Kong, Bonnie, asked that we pray for her brother, Ray Chen, who lives in Australia. Please mention Ray Chen and ask God to show this man the grace of God and God's powerful healing of body and soul, restoration of faith, and life of holiness and sanctity.

In Finland:

• Ester, a dear sister in the faith, is anxious about the results of some tests she has completed. We are thankful for the tests being done, and please pray for happy results. Waiting can be stressful, and we want to pray for her needs.

• Mauno Lemponen has been diagnosed with cancer in advanced stages. We are asking for God's Will to be done, giving him healthy days with family—prayers for Hilka, Miika, and Ester, who support each other. 

• Pray for Keijo and Salme, our dear partners and fellow workers in God's flock. Both Keijo and Salme have some challenging heart issues.

• Sipra, our dear sister in Nokia, is a widow with some health issues.

• Pray for Satu-Maria, Sinni Tuuli, Anne Mirjami, our dear sisters

• Pray for Eva H., Patty, Andrea, Julia, Victor, Aaron Tani, and Hillel.

• Please remember to pray for Kari Antilles' health in Finland. He has been a dear brother and supporter of Netivyah in prayer for many years.

In Brazil:

• Pray for the Congregations related to Netivyah in Brazil to have the strength and stamina to face the challenges ahead of them with courage and strength of faithfulness to the Lord and to the vision of the restoration of the church and Israel.

• Pray for the millions of victims of the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition who have been forced to convert to the Catholic church and now want to return home to the land of Israel and the faith of our fathers.

• Pray for the state of Israel to open the doors for these lost Jews to be able to return and fulfill God's promises to the prophet Ovadyah:

"But on Mount Zion, there shall be deliverance, And there shall be holiness; The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. The house of Jacob shall be a fire, And the house of Joseph a flame; But the house of Esau shall be stubble; They shall kindle them and devour them, And no survivor shall remain of the house of Esau, For the Lord has spoken. The South shall possess the mountains of Esau, And the Lowland shall possess Philistia. They shall possess the fields of Ephraim And the fields of Samaria. Benjamin shall possess Gilead. And the captives of this host of the children of Israel Shall possess the land of the Canaanites As far as Zarephath. The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad Shall possess the cities of the South. Then saviors shall come to Mount Zion To judge the mountains of Esau, And the kingdom shall be the Lord's." — Obadiah 1:17-21 [NKJV]

• Pray for a dear young man, Paulo, from Curitiba, Brazil, who seriously needs our prayers for sanity and mental health.

• Pray for Rita Sassai, from Vitória, ES.

• Please pray for a dear sister named Claudia Rita Souze Arau. She has cancer and needs God's healing hands to touch her with healing. 

• Fatima Maria Docarmo Guimararaes - pray for her health and her granddaughters' twin babies.

• Pray for Livia Schnell Nothen. She has some issues with her physical health and a growth in her adrenal gland. 

• Guilherme Antonio Nothen Becker is suffering from back problems.

• Aratuza de Oliveira and his wife. Pray for their 3-year-old child, Caique de Oliveira Becker, who has severe problems with his eyes, and ask the Lord to give healing to his eyes. 

• Please pray for Bruno Henrique Cardoso Jr. for his studies and his health. 

• A 70-year-old Pastor, Paulo C. Pereira Braga Dias, is the father of a dear sister in Brazil and suffers from diabetes.

• Pray for Roberto Morias, a dear brother who is going through heart surgery and an angiogram.

In Asia:

• Please pray for dear sister Bee Kim, a 71-year-old who lost consciousness on February 26, 2023. She has not regained her consciousness after a massive stroke.

• Pray for Pastor TJ in Taiwan.

• Pray for Deborah Ruth, a dear sister from China.

• Pray for sister Reiko Ishiida, Elder Takeo, his wife Tomoko from Tokyo, Dr. Yuizawa, Pastor Yushida, and his family.

• Pray for Sister Yoko Nagumo in Japan.

• In India, Pastor Isaac, from Chennai, needs our prayers. Pastor Isaac is suffering from kidney problems and has to have dialysis several times per week.

• Tony Tam, his wife Luisa, and his son Marco need special prayers for their situation.

•  We continue to pray for Zhou Wenrian, the Abe family, Toru San, Yumi Ohara, and her family: Deborah Ruth, Ayla, Daniel, and their daughter. 

• Pray for Dr. Song and his wife, Sister Harriet Kim and KIBI Ministry

In the United States of America:

• new Roger West had a medical scare this week. Please pray a prayer of thanks to Yeshua thanking him, that the issue was identified and not life threatening.  

• Keep the Family of Raymond Dennis Jimenez Sr. In your prayer since has gone to be with the Lord.

• Brother Philip Slate and his wife. She is suffering from several physical and mental health challenges.  

• Drayton Ford (Marcia's great nephew), age 14, has had health issues related to mold exposure that are affecting his ability to heal and participate in a public school with mold contamination. Please pray for the family to have support and peace in the choices they need to make for Drayton's health and schooling

• Barbra and  Angie in Alaska. Barbra has some pains and discomfort related to old age. Please lift them in prayer for strength and reduction in pain.

• Ray Jimenez from California is battling leukemia. Pray for God to sustain him and his time with the family.

• Rabbi Levy had a Stroke in Dallas. Please pray for the doctors and his recovery.

• Please continue to pray for the daughter of Bill Culwell, who is very sick with cancer and is receiving a second round of treatment. Please pray for success and healing.

• Jonathan Bernis is in a long six-month recovery from a liver transplant. We thank God for this match. Please pray for this new liver to function and provide much-needed function. Please pray for Elisangela and the girls and the doctors and nurses attending our dear brother Jonathan Bernis. 

• Andrew Huffines has complications from long-term COVID-19. 

• Please pray for my family in the United States: Barry, my son, and his wife, Beth, and for Joey, my grandson. Pray for their divine protection and health.

• Please pray for Danah, my daughter's health issues. I pray for the Lord to give Danah wisdom, peace, and calm in life and her work.

• Pray for Noaam, my granddaughter. She is working two jobs now and needs good health and wisdom to make the right choices and plans for life, education, immigration to Israel, and just general protection from all harm.

• Pray for David Young, the preacher in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, who is back to preaching after recovering from medical issues.

• Aaron Hook, Nancy Hook's oldest son, needs our prayers for wisdom and healing from past life issues.

• Lift for blessing and healing Jonathan B., his wife Aviva, their new baby, his mother, and his brother Daniel. 

• Pray for these important men of God: Rabbi Salt, his family, and Rabbi Hasselblad. They are both older and need protection and blessings.

• Also, pray for Ilana Avramov, who is married to my cousin Nissim and lives in New York City. Ilana has fallen and is now in rehab, learning how to walk again. We pray for her full recovery. She and Nissim both need our prayers. 

• Pray for Steve Mock - His cognitive condition has declined, and we ask for the grace of God and His Healing and strength.   Steve and Josie's son Joseph has received a wonderful and glorious report. After the last bone marrow transplant, the report is that the doctors didn't find any leukemia in his body! Praise the Lord!

In Canada:

Pray for three women of God in Canada who need healing: Lynda, Sandy, and Joanne.

I am asking for a special prayer for a dear brother and friend who is now doing very important work in a very dangerous and precarious part of the world. Just mention DadyLion in your prayers and ask for divine protection and angelic accompaniment for this man of God.

For updates or requests please email us at Prayer@netivyahinternational.org