Sometimes we wonder if our seemingly puny prayers make any difference in the colossal matters affecting the wellbeing of nations.

However, Scripture tells us that God stills the “turmoil of the nations” and He “makes wars cease to the ends of the earth” (Ps. 65:7 and 46:9). He also says directly to His people, “Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” (Ps. 2:8)

Of course, the most famous promise urging us to pray is the one given to Solomon, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron.7:14)

The Peacemaking Power of Prayer is an effort to understand the awesome power of united prayer in God’s hands to turn around even the most hopeless situations of war, genocide and human suffering. It describes four international prayer initiatives for the healing of conflicts that resulted in stunning peacebreakthroughs that were completely unexpected and hugely transformative for these nations.

This book in its entirety is being given to you through the attached PDF that you can download. Please have a read and be encouraged that your prayers joined with others can unleash the hand of the One who has all power to heal and deliver the nations!

DOWNLOAD The Peacemaking Power of Prayer HERE.

John D Robb

Praying with God's Heart: The Power and Purpose of Prophetic Intercession

James Goll, the founder of God Encounters Ministries is a veteran prayer leader who has experienced many deep things in intercession. His latest book is full of wise counsel and helpful guidance for those who want to join Christ in His priestly work of intercession for our world.

As Goll writes, "Praying with God's heart moves mountains, calls forth the prophetic destiny upon a generation and brings you closer to the heart of God Himself!"

This book which is written from a charismatic perspective is both wise and balanced, full of valuable insights in the areas of prayer as travail, spiritual warfare, receiving revelatory words, and the intersection of spiritual gifts with intercession.

As a senior in prayer ministry, he also gives down to earth, practical counsel to those who want to be more available, discerning intercessors and includes a 21-day prayer guide at the end to guide the reader in implementation.

He has also produced a separate companion study guide so the book can be easily used for a prayer group or Sunday school class. You will be both delighted and blessed to get this book!

Available at ChristianBook.com

We would encourage our prayer partners to watch, and share the links to these excellent newly re-mastered videos entitled ‘Reaching the Unreached – Prayer that Empowers Missions’ - that focus us on the need to pray for the 4,700 unreached peoples' groups.  They were produced by the acclaimed Videographer / Director, Michael Lienau, a friend of IPC.  There is a 3 minute and 9 minute version: 

Play / Download 3 minute version:  https://vimeo.com/311331983

Play / Download 9 minute version: https://vimeo.com/311342648

One fourth of the world's households live in Frontier People Groups - with virtually no contact with believers, and no sign yet of a gospel movement bringing God's promised blessing to their families.

Half of these households live in these 31 largest Frontier People Groups.

This is a Prayer Guide for the 31 – an invitation to the

Body of Christ to Pray for the Harvest.

Download the PDF guide from this link below.  Print copies are available.

https://inheritthenations.net/resources/the-31-a-prayer-guide/

One of the leaders in our prayer ministry begins his prayers, “Father, we come before you in Jesus’ name . . .” Three words that people traditionally use to conclude their prayers are used at the beginning by this brother. Rightly so. “In Jesus’ name” was never designed to be a tack-on at the end of our superficial requests. Rather, “in Jesus’ name” is a reality that changes why, how, and what we pray, from the very opening moment of our communion with God! According to Jesus one of the keys to answered prayer is praying ‘in his name.’

John 14:13-14, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

John 15:16 (ESV), “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

John 16:23-24 He states, “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

So what does Jesus mean when he says, “ask in his name?”

I see three primary things.  First it is worship-based prayer focused on the character and renown of Christ. Second, we come on the basis of Christ’s merit. Third, we are authorized to be Christ’s representatives praying with his delegated authority!

Worship-based prayer

Ultimately God will answer prayer when it will magnify his name and his character! As Dr. Randal Roberts writes,

“Praying in Jesus name means to pray in a manner consistent with His values and purposes . . . It is to pray with the glorification of God as the supreme motive; It is to pray as Jesus would pray if He was in our circumstances; It is to pray as His followers who have been appointed as instruments of fruit-bearing in the outworking of His mission . . . It is learning to ask for the good things that He delights to give from the devoted heart that He delights to bless.”

Praying ‘in Jesus name’ means we pray that the reputation of Jesus would be enhanced. Jesus Christ  would be more clearly seen and savored, revealed and revered.  We pray that the name of Jesus would be treated as infinitely valuable here on the earth as it is in heaven!

One major assumption when we pray is this:

There’s always MORE --OF Christ, FROM Christ, and FOR Christ!  As David Bryant shares, the one major GUARANTEE our prayers will be heard and answered is this:  Will the answers to our prayers help...

EXALT Jesus’ NAME?
SPREAD Jesus’ FAME?
EXTEND Jesus’ REIGN?
INCREASE Jesus’ GAIN?
RATIFY Jesus’ CLAIM?

Christ’s Merit

Praying in the name of Jesus is no formality. We approach God in prayer through Jesus because Jesus is the grounds upon which God chooses to hear us. God chooses to hear us because we have loved Jesus and believed that God sent him. God answers those who ask of him on the basis of Jesus and his gospel work. You and I have no claim on God, but Christ does.

He merited the blessing of the Father’s favor by his perfect life of obedience and sacrifice of the cross. Our access depends solely on what Jesus has done! When we pray in Jesus’ name we are asking the Father, ‘grant this request, because your Son the Lord Jesus has earned it!’ May Jesus see the travail of his soul and be satisfied! May the Lamb who was slain receive his due reward. He is All-Deserving! Rev. 5:12

In our praying, it is God’s name that is at stake! Jesus is telling us that His Father always acts in ways that honor his Name!  He would never want the rumor to go out that when someone came asking in the name of his Son, that he was turned away. 

Can you imagine going to God the Father in the name of God the Son and asking for more of the power or joy of the Holy Spirit, and be told to go away?  Jesus says, ‘it is impossible!’  The Father will get up and give you as much of himself as you need and as you desire!  So we pray, God vindicate your name in the nations of the earth!

Authorized as ‘Christ’s representatives’

Third, when we are praying in ‘Jesus name’ we are coming as those who are authorized to act in his place. Since we ‘represent’ him, Jesus authorized us to use his name in prayer. He gave us authority over his accounts. He asked us to exercise control over his estate-the kingdom of God!

We exercise our authority through prayer. By prayer we ask the Father for all we need to get the job done. By prayer we ask God to bind and destroy all demonic strongholds that are contrary to his will! By prayer we ask for justice, making wrong things right!  By prayer we ask God to shatter evil regimes and expose corruption! By prayer we ask him to direct his grace and power for the advance of the gospel in the nations of the earth! To pray in Jesus name and with his authority ultimately means praying according to his will not our own. 

Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords! He has been given the name that is above every other name!  He is the SovereignSonoftheFather,reigningat His righthandforeverandever. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him and he has asked us to exercise his delegated authority in the place of prayer! He is the triumphant victorovereveryfoe-sin,death, Hades.

He is the Glorious Conqueror! Therefore, we are praying from the victory that he has secured through the cross. He is the Righteous Judgeofpeoples andnations,towhomallmustgiveanaccount. He is the Undeniable and Gracious Rulerofhistory,overseeingits pathandits outcome frombeginningto end! He is the IncomparableKingofa Kingdom thatwillultimately cover the earth as the waters cover the sea! Hab. 2:14

Expect Results!

What happens when we pray in Jesus’ name? What is the ultimate purpose and result? According to Jesus’ multiple commands in this Upper Room Discourse, the outcomes of praying in His name are:

The Father will be glorified in the Son!

We bear fruit that remains!

Our joy is full!

God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven!

He promised if we prayed in his name, he would do it! Let’s believe it and pray until we see the results!

What a glorious privilege to pray “In Jesus Name!”

Dr. Jason Hubbard
Executive Co-ordinator
IPC

"The war level between India and Pakistan is high.  PRAY for peace between the two nuclear countries.   In the last two days tensions have reached a dangerous level. 

It is hard to know what is happening. Each side is, of course, blaming the other. And each side has reason to blame the other one.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Khan is newly in office and talking about trying to get peace with India.  Any time Pakistan talks about peace the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists create trouble in India to try and stop peace talks.

The Prime Minister of India Modi is up for elections and is not doing too well; people are getting fed up with him.  The way a leader gets people behind him is to build up war with the other side.  This has created wars between the two countries in the past.

Positive is when Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan came on national TV and addressed the people of Pakistan and Prime Minister Modi of India.  He said they all need to come to their senses and pull back or the government  would be taken from their hands and given to another (i.e. the military).

President Trump is trying to get peace with North Korea. But most of the news today was about the congressional testimony of lawyer Cohen.  Pakistan and India

were hardly heard of.  It was like the devil was working, hidden underground, while the world was occupied in other things.

A few years ago a very insightful article was written on the “Zero Line” claiming that this was probably the most dangerous borderline in the world. This is the borderline in Kashmir between these two countries.  The article went on to say that these two nuclear countries, in a flash, could go to war, drawing in much of the world.

This situation needs to be covered in PRAYER.

Please pray for peace along what has been called the most dangerous border in the world.

Links:

BBC News -  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47366718

DAWN - https://www.dawn.com/news/1466347/ispr-dg-press-conference-all-three-indian-pilots-arrested

Daily Mail - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6750329/Pakistan-shoots-Indian-jets-carries-airstrikes-Kashmir.html

Pr4Pak

A Sweeping Global Evangelism Strategy by Every Home for Christ

2019 is a critical year for the Every Home for Christ ministry, as it marks the beginning of the OIKOS Initiative. Since 1946, Every Home for Christ has labored to serve the Church to reach every home on the earth with the Gospel and in that time we have seen over four billion presentations of the gospel in nearly every nation on the planet, with many millions turning to the Lord for salvation. Now, with the OIKOS Initiative, we are putting a stake in the ground and asking a bold question – Is it possible to present the gospel to every home on the planet within one generation? We think it is possible and as a result are mobilizing all the resources of the ministry to this grand objective – the evangelization of the world in our generation.

FROM HIDING TO THE HARVEST!

Because we know how their stories ended, it can be hard for us to comprehend just how overwhelming the Great Commission was for the Early Church. Jesus commissioned His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. Yet they were only 12 young men, mostly poor and uneducated. And only days earlier, they had been hiding behind locked doors, fearful and discouraged. Suddenly they go from hiding to the harvest! Their assignment - “All nations” and “every creature!”

Indeed, when the Holy Spirit empowered these men to boldly proclaim the Gospel, they turned the Roman world upside down. Since those days, the Great Commission has passed from generation to generation. As Keith Green reminds us, “This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth.”  Of course, task gets more difficult with each passing day. When Every Home for Christ began in 1946, there were only about 2.5 billion people alive. Today, there are 7.4 billion! That’s 7.4 billion names and faces and stories, 7.4 billion people loved by God and created in His image, 7.4 billion souls He died to save - and you and I (and other Christ-followers of this generation) are responsible for reaching them.

That’s why Every Home for Christ (EHC) is launching the Oikos Initiative, a strategic plan to reach every family on earth with the Gospel by 2038. This task may seem overwhelming, but the same Holy Spirit who empowered the early Church disciples is also empowering us.

WHAT IS OIKOS?

One might appropriately ask, what is the significance of using the Greek word oikos as the focus of this initiative? Oikos is a Greek word that’s been around for many centuries and in the last several years even has become the trademark name for a popular brand of yogurt. Of course, to us at EHC the word is significant because it is used in ancient Greek texts to signify a house, household, family or even dwelling. Luke, the physician-historian recorded in Acts chapter five this statement of the early disciples:  “And daily in the temple, and in every house [oikos], they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42, NKJV).

Those Early Church disciples conducted the first Every Home Campaign! Acts 5:42 reminds us that everyone lives someplace, and the best way to measurably reach everyone with the gospel is to go directly to where they live — whether a conventional home like we generally envision, or a cardboard makeshift dwelling in a Mexican garbage dump, or even the sewer in a third-world city under some street where unwanted children sleep nightly. In the rainforests of Africa, our indigenous Central African evangelism team launched what they termed the "Every Tree Crusade” to reach the Pigmies whose homes were, quite literally, in the trees! They even modified our motto “We will not stop until we reach the last home on earth with the gospel” to “We will not stop until we reach the last tree on earth with the gospel!”

Also interesting, is a Greek expression used in another of the frequently quoted passages associated with the return of Christ and the Great Commission—Matthew 24:14. We read: “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.” The Greek expression translated “all the world” (oikoumene) in this passage has its roots in the word oikos. The word oikoumene literally means “every inhabited place in the world.” Frank Kaleb Jansen, a former Norwegian ship captain and past leader of Adopt-A-People Clearing House said of Christ’s use of the word oikoumene in Matthew 24:14…“I believe Jesus is actually saying the gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed to every home.”

LEAVING NO ONE BEHIND

Through the Oikos Initiative EHC is embracing this “all the world” and “every creature” mentality of the Early Church. We have made a commitment to leave no one behind in this twenty year period – and that means tirelessly laboring to work systematically and ensure that every person has a chance to hear the Gospel explained in a way that they can understand.

All across the world for the last twelve months, our field leadership has been praying and strategizing about how we are going to complete the OIKOS Initiative region by region and country by country – a goal we have always had, but now with added urgency due to the timeline of “one generation”. This means reaching every home in the approximately 150 nations that we are currently present and starting work in the approximately 50 where we are not present – it means planning for a presentation of the gospel for over 8.5 billion people.

The ministry of EHC involves a lot of small things – but when added together they are a symphony to heaven. The very nature of our ministry lends itself to statistics. EHC Missionaries (8,000 supported staff and an average of 60,000 or more monthly volunteers) are every day going home to home with the good news of Jesus and as a result, we hear back on a continual basis from the over 150 nations where we are active that we are presenting the gospel daily to some 350,000 homes. The challenge with statistics is that they don’t communicate what this actually looks like…

…What it actually looks like is 240 conversations happening every minute of every hour in multiple languages around the world – can you just imagine the cacophony of voices right now. It looks like a repeatable gospel message (often two—one for adults and one for children) being left as a clear message of salvation only through Jesus Christ in a home.

What it actually looks like is followers of Jesus talking to people who do not know him. It looks like some people violently rejecting the conversation and some people thinking deeply about the truth that has been shared, with many responding (indeed more than 16 million just last year) to know more about Jesus. It looks like individual lives being redeemed by a loving savior; it looks like whole families or even whole villages coming to a knowledge of the truth.

It looks like men and women being faithful to step out, share their story and distribute gospel resources, even if nobody sees because they long for others to find healing, salvation and a purpose-filled life. Statistics are sometimes hard to grasp – but grasping the individual story of a life now saved is something we can perhaps relate to a little easier. And the Oikos Initiative doesn’t stop with just the proclamation of the gospel in millions of homes annually. In villages and towns where few or no churches exist, the fruit of the local harvests results in new believer fellowships called Christ Groups being planted. This past year represented the ninth consecutive year of the EHC’s church planting arm seeing more than 20,000 new Christ Group fellowships planted in each of those nine years. This, too, is the Oikos Initiative.

NO “ALL” WITHOUT “EVERY!”

Of course, the bottom line of this global launching in 2019 is the embarking on a serious journey to see the “every” in the name of our ministry become a very literal reality over the next two decades. It is to see “this generation of believers” set out to reach “this generation on non-believers” quite literally—right where they live—with the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of this is not to change who we are but to refine what we do with a God glorifying, Christ honoring, and Holy Spirit-saturated motivation.

It is to hone in on the vision God has entrusted to us for 72 years with a laser-sharp focus that, as already stated, leaves no one behind. It is to take the words “all” and “every” of the Great Commission very seriously—and quite literally (Matt. 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15). In this process it’s good to remember there cannot be the “all” without the “every!” The dictionary definition of the word every reads: “Each taken individually and separately and including all.” Interestingly, “all” is part of the definition of “every.” The definition for every continues: “The fullest possible extent; all that there possibly could be.”

STAYING ON POINT

A critical part of the global “every” in EHC’s Oikos Initiative involves reaching at least 130 million households (oikos encounters) in 2019. That’s an achievable goal, as 125 million were reached in 2018. That means visiting at least 350,000 homes each day.  Reaching that number will keep us on point for the two-decade goal of the initiative. At EHC we recognize there are many other God-honoring and worthy mission endeavors. We applaud them all. We rejoice in that each of these has a unique purpose in carrying out the Lord’s commission to “go, disciple the nations.”

We likewise recognize that Every Home for Christ has its unique calling. In some ways it is uniquely unique. It is also uniquely challenging. It is to go to the tough places.  As Paul Vincent Donovan suggests: “Evangelism is a process of bringing the gospel where they [the lost] are, not where we would like them to be. When the gospel reaches a people where they are, their response to the gospel is the church in a new place.” Thus, our goal for 2019: to take the gospel directly to where lost people are—their homes—some 2.5 million every week; 130,000,000 by year’s end. And where a person responds, and experiences the transforming grace of our Lord, a new seed of the church has been planted in that place! We’re preparing for as many as 19 million such responses in 2019, and 27,000 new Christ Groups. That is the Oikos Initiative.

We are calling far and wide for others to link arms and join us on the journey. If you’re a ministry, a church, an evangelist, even a denominational leader or simply a believer with a heart to reach everyone on earth right where they live with the gospel, we’d love to hear from you.

We need people to pray for this initiative, we need people to support it financially and we need volunteers to join the Oikos initiative in spreading the Good News globally.

Please pray with EHC and their staff that they with the help of many other partners will be able to reach every family on earth with the Gospel by 2038.

Go to www.oikos.global to enlist.   More about Every Home for Christ: www.ehc.org

The news that Nechirvan Barzani will not continue as prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq is causing Turkey to worry that the new KRG Cabinet will not be formed of allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

For about 10 years, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which controls Erbil and Dahuk provinces in Iraq, has enjoyed close working relations with the Turkish government on trade, energy and security. The main architect of this opening has been the KDP's Nechirvan Barzani. The KDP, unlike other Iraqi Kurdish groups, has also acted as a counterweight since the 1990s to the formidable Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla movement — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s archenemy — by allowing Turkey to establish a number of military bases to monitor PKK activities.

However, Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since 2012, was not nominated by the KDP to form the next KRG Cabinet. This is causing Erdogan to worry about the fate of a 50-year secretive energy deal made with Barzani in 2014.

Turkey does not want to see another self-administered Kurdistan on its doorstep that spends millions of dollars annually on lobbying in Washington and other Western capitals. Since 1992, Turkey has faced numerous problems with the Iraqi Kurds from whose territory PKK fighters cross the border into Turkey and attack Turkish security forces and their Kurdish collaborators. In the first decade of Kurdish rule in northern Iraq, Turkey enticed Kurdish peshmerga to fight a bloody battle against the PKK fighters in the mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan; still, the Iraqi Kurds, feeling more anchored and connected internationally, have become more independent actors.

The issue of the Syrian Kurds is a big headache for Erdogan; another one involves the activities of the PKK in the Sulaimaniyah area, the seat of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). Since August 2017, when the PKK abducted two senior officials of the Turkish intelligence agency near Sulaimaniyah, Ankara has placed tremendous pressure on the PUK to limit PKK activities. Turkey also has continued a ban on flights through its airspace to the Sulaimaniyah airport that started after the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum in September 2017.

Ankara says there is no coherent rule in PUK-controlled areas, unlike in KDP-controlled areas under Barzani. A Turkish diplomat told Al-Monitor that this has created a vacuum the PKK has exploited to increase its activities. A Turkish diplomat told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that the main stumbling block is “financing and sending new recruits to the mountains, which is done in safe houses in Sulaimaniyah.” Still, the PUK has intensified its crackdown on PKK activities, leading to the arrests of dozens of people affiliated with the groups close to the PKK in Sulaimaniyah. Turkey is allegedly prepared to lift the ban on use of its air space for flights to Sulaimaniyah later this month following the recent visit of Iraqi President Barham Salih, who is a senior member of the PUK.

Turkey apparently also has concerns about PKK activities in KDP-controlled areas as well as the activities of Gulen educational institutions. “The KRG has taken over all our institutions, and we are not operating anything there,” a Gulen movement official who operated in Kurdistan until two years ago told Al-Monitor via Facebook from a Western capital. “The terror that Erdogan unleashed against us made life unbearable for us in Kurdistan.”

Erdogan’s overzealous drive to strike hard at opponents in and around Turkey will undoubtedly win him votes inside the country, but Turkey is bound to be troubled by the Kurdish issue for years to come as demonstrated by the changing US position on the Kurds of Syria.

The PKK is a powerful transnational armed organization and further pressure from the PUK on its activities and activists in Sulaimaniyah area could propel the group into reacting, which could have devastating consequences for the stability of the Sulaimaniyah region.

As for the formation of the next KRG government, negotiations are dragging on. Erdogan's ally Nechirvan Barzani has been nominated to be KRG president, a post that is expected to be less important than prime minister. There is no clear indication as to how he and his cousin Masrour Barzani will share power.

By: Fazel Hawramy (Al-Monitor, Iraq Pulse 1/16/2019)

Read more:http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/01/iraq-kurdistan-nechirvan-barzani-turkey-erdogan.html#ixzz5dOBbMQON

Pray that even after Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, there would be continued peace between Kurdistan and Turkey.

Pray that Erdogan and the current Turkish government would deal peacefully with the upcoming new Kurdistan government.

Pray that God's kingdom and His righteousness and His divine order would come upon both Turkey and Kurdistan.

U.S. peace envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (pictured) says that although talks with the Taliban have produced the framework for a peace deal there is still a "long way to go" before a final agreement.

Speaking at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington on February 8, Khalilzad said he was "hopeful" a peace deal could be finalized before Afghanistan’s presidential elections in July, but warned that there remained "a lot of work" to do.

"We are at the early stages of a protracted process," said Khalilzad, who has met with Taliban negotiators for a series of talks in the Middle East in recent months.

Khalilzad held six days of talks with Taliban negotiators in the Qatari capital, Doha, last month, culminating in the basic framework of a possible peace agreement.

The agreement calls for the Taliban to prevent international terrorist groups from basing themselves in Afghanistan and for the United States to withdraw its forces from the country.

The Taliban has yet to make concessions on two key U.S. demands -- implementing a cease-fire and agreeing to negotiate directly with Afghan government representatives as part of an Afghan-led, intra-Afghan peace process.

The Afghan government has been absent from the U.S.-Taliban talks, prompting anger and frustration in Kabul.

The Taliban considers the Kabul government a Western puppet and has so far refused to directly negotiate with it.

But Khalilzad said the next phase of the peace process will have to be Afghan-led, saying Washington role’s will "decrease" as Afghans from the warring sides hammer out a possible deal through an "inter-Afghan dialogue."

Khalilzad said there were indications that the Taliban could sit down with government representatives in a "multiparty format."

The former U.S. ambassador said there was "positive change" in Pakistan, which Washington and Kabul have long accused of sheltering the Taliban.

Khalilzad said Islamabad had helped facilitate recent talks between the militants and the United States, although he said Pakistan should "do more."

Russia hosted a second peace conference in Moscow from February 5-6, attracting representatives of neighboring countries, powerful Afghan power brokers, and Taliban officials.

U.S. officials have accused Russia of attempting to muddle the U.S.-backed peace process.

Khalilzad said the Russia-backed talks were "positive" as long as they helped facilitate intra-Afghan talks, not if they "polarize Afghans further."

"I'm not seeking to monopolize" the Afghan peace process, Khalilzad said, adding that regional countries should play a role in resolving the 17-year conflict.

As we go to print, we are hearing that following significant meetings in Doha, Qatar on Feb 26, a spokesman for the Afghan Taliban has said the group is close to reaching an agreement with the United States on the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

More here: https://www.rferl.org/a/taliban-hopeful-on-possible-agreement-on-u-s-afghanistan-pullout/29792382.html?ltflags=mailer

Pray for wisdom and guidance for Zalmay Khalilzad as he seeks to broker an end to the fighting and insecurity.

Pray for meetings between politicians, tribal, ethnic and religious groups that they will build reconciliation and trust.

Pray that the superpowers will co-operate and not compete in the peace process.

Pray for the support and positive engagement of neighbouring countries.

Pray that the recent attacks in disputed Kashmir (between Pakistan and India) will not affect this peace process.  Pray that the tensions between Pakistan and India will also be resolved.

Pray for lasting peace in Afghanistan.

More at: https://www.rferl.org/a/afghanistan-khalilzad-u-s-envoy-says-long-way-to-go-before-peace-deal-with-taliban/29759907.html?ltflags=mailer

Suicide Attempts on the Rise

Officials said domestic violence, forced marriages and lack of awareness are among main reasons behind the suicide attempts.

The Public Health Directorate in Herat province, in the west of Afghanistan, has recorded almost 1,600 cases of suicide attempts since last March, showing a 10 percent decrease in the figures compared with the last solar year – March 2017 to March 2018. 

The figures by the Directorate show that 50 of those who attempted suicide lost their lives and those who attempted suicide aged between 15 to 25 years old.

Moreover, of the 1,600 individuals who have attempted suicide, at least 300 of them are men while others are women and girls.

The health directorate’s assessments show that domestic violence, forced marriages, lack of education and poverty are among the main reasons behind suicide attempts among the young generation in the province.

The head of Herat Hospital’s Burn Unit, Haidari, said lack of awareness about life is also among the main reasons behind suicide attempts by the youths. 

Meanwhile, statistics by the provincial Women's Affairs Directorate show that at least 600 cases of violence against women have been reported in the province since last March.

Herat Women’s Affairs Directorate Sumayya Taheri said women prefer to commit suicide “instead of suffering domestic violence”.

“The graph of suicide attempts and self-immolation cases is high in Herat and most of such cases are not registered,” Taheri said. “The statistics of the Public Health Directorate show an increase in suicide attempts and self-immolation cases in Herat which is concerning for us.”

Please keep Afghanistan and its long-suffering people in your prayers for peace and life to return to their land which has so long known much death and destruction through war and despair.

Pray too for deliverance from the false ideology of radical Islam that has fueled this tragic situation.

May His Gospel speed on and triumph there so that everyone may hear!

More:https://www.tolonews.com/index.php/afghanistan/suicide-attempts-rise-herat

Let me begin by saying, I believe New York City has a birthright to birth Intercession to the Nations, with this gifting of birthing comes a great responsibility in what we export to the Nations. Many looking from the outside would say not much good comes from New York City.

But God…..

Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, Romans 5:20

Recent updates in the natural do not paint a pretty picture such as the new law passed by NY City Council, which states. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2019 anyone who was born in New York City has the ability to have the gender marker on their birth certificate changed to X, rather than simply male (M) or female (F), and is able to do so without a doctor's note or medical assessment.

The New York City law doesn’t allow parents to select X at birth, but they will have the ability to change the gender marker on the certificate any time before the child is 18 years old. People over the age of 18 have the ability to make the change themselves.

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019 the NY State Legislature passed the “Reproductive Health Act” and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law this late term abortion bill on the 46th Anniversary of  thelandmark court ruling of Roe v. Wade U.S. Supreme Court decision.  Advocates said the measure is needed to protect abortion access in New York in the event the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.  That evening the Freedom Tower was lit up pink at the sight of 9/11 Memorial. This a memorial to the thousands of innocent lives lost, now celebrating the choice to end innocent lives of babies…

I believe there is a progression of sin that leads to Gods judgments, when we go from sin, not knowing that we are sinning against God, to rebellion - choosing to do what is wrong, to iniquity which is making laws that are against God’s Biblical mandates.

Several days after this we in NY received a prophetic word from Chuck Pierce

There would be an earthquake in New York and 1,000 people killed for every abortion. He then followed up

This thing with New York - let me tell you something - God is God!  And the blood speaks.  That blood will get so loud in New York, it will jar those bridges!  You write it down!  That heartbeat will get so loud it will make Scrooge in that movie where he’s visited by those demons, look like patty-cake.  I know God too well and I know how He works.  When you decide to run with demons, they’re going to come back for you eventually.                                                                                

This drastic move by the enemy has awoken a somewhat complacent church in NY. Leaders across the state are now seeing opportunity for a real Unity arising between Upstate and NYC, which we did not have after 9/11. It was much easier for people to go back to their so-called normal lives disconnected from the trauma of 9/11. But in this case this law is affecting everyone’s conscience and spiritual beliefs.

We ask for your prayers that we the ecclesia will unite in a unified strategy to turn our state from the culture of death to a state that Champions a Covenant of Life. We are launching a 40 day campaign of fasting, prayer, and action beginning Wednesday, March 6, 2019 and ending on Sunday, April 14,2019.

…. but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. Daniel 11:32b

UNITED NATIONS

There have been and continues to be many ministries focused on the United Nations.  Some have specific focuses to Ambassadors, others to staff of the Secretariat, and still others as NGO lobbyist groups whose targets are Conferences and events.  I believe it is important to honor and bless those who have gone before us, as well as those who are presently ministering at this Global Gate.

Last September, President Donald Trump during his speech in the General Assembly made a profound statement.

“America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism”.

Because of this statement and the actions of the United States the Globalist who’s whole agenda is for a One World Government are now in a state of ciaos, which is why I believe we are seeing an opening like many of us have not seen in all the years we have been laboring at the UN.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  Romans 1:16

I ask that you focus your prayer for those who will be attending and hosting events during the sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Womenwhich will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 11, 2019 to March 22, 2019.

There are thousands of individuals who come from around the worldto this conference, they are seeking answers to the Global Challenges, yet we know there is only one place to find those solutions that is from the King Of Kings and Lord of Lords. Pray for those with Kingdom solutions to have access to World Leaders and those who council them.

Secondly, pray for those in our government who work in collaboration with the United Nations and its organizations, they are currently pushing the most pro-life agenda then any previous Administration.

Finally, pray for the confirmation of Kelly Knight Craft who has been nominated to be the next UN Ambassador, this is a very influential position and carries a weighty responsibility; we desire God’s person to be brought forth.

In closing, I want to thank you in advance for your prayers on behalf of NYC and the UN; I believe we serve a Big God who wants us to pray Big Prayers! I look forward to sharing the Glory Stories of Kingdom Advancement in the near future.

JODY WOOD

Director, New York City Intercessors

United Nations NGO Representative and Global Prayer Coordinator