Laying Siege over the Election:
Friday, October 23, 2020
Today is Day 12 of 21 Days
Prayer, Fasting and REPENTANCE before Election Day
Our verse to claim for today:
2 CHRONICLES 7:14,15
It is written: " . . . if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place."
Our prayer:
Father God, once again we come before Your Throne of Grace on bended knee, asking for Your help in time of need. Today, we have added the word "repentance" to our call to enter into 21 days of prayer and fasting in advance of our general election on November 3rd.
Lord God, we as a people have so lost our way . . . we have strayed from the path of Your Biblical truths to a lifestyle that has compromised our faith with the ways of the world.
Forgive us, O Lord, we pray.
We fully acknowledge that we, Your children in our nation, are not deserving of Your mercy, but of Your wrath; but we thank You that You ARE a God of mercy, and not wrath. We ask that, "in wrath . . . (You) remember mercy" and that "mercy triumphs over judgment." (Habakkuk 3:2; James 2:13)
Thank You, O Lord, that as we repent, it is written . . .
" . . . then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place."
Hear our prayer today, O Lord, we pray, amen.
Focus on Israel
1. Israel said to strike Iran-backed militia base in southern Syria - Times of Israel
Syrian state media said Israel fired a missile early Wednesday at a site in the Quneitra province in southern Syria, near the border with Israel's Golan Heights.
The official SANA news agency said the midnight attack hit a school building in the village of Al-Harah, without providing further details.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Israel Defense Forces would not comment on the matter, in line with its so-called "policy of ambiguity" regarding its military activities against Iran and its proxies in Syria.
2. Gantz issues ultimatum: If there is no budget, we'll go to elections - Israel Hayom
Following weeks of empty threats against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz said he would dissolve the government if the state budget for 2021 doesn't pass by the end of October.
"If there is no budget, we'll go to elections," Gantz warned.
"I'm not willing to be held hostage to anyone's political situation. I will not accept a government that does not collaborate, does not function. My priorities lie with the State of Israel, not with myself," the former IDF chief asserted during a Blue and White faction meeting.
Israel has not had a national budget for almost an entire year, a situation Gantz's party wishes to end promptly. "If we don't see this happening... we will examine another path to tread on."
3. Ministers fail to decide on next stage of exit strategy - Jerusalem Post
After nearly six hours of intense debate, the coronavirus cabinet meeting ended on Wednesday with a decision that no decisions will be made until next week. The ministers are expected to formally reconvene on the next stage of the country's exit strategy next Monday.
The meeting should have celebrated the decline in infection across Israel: the number of daily cases has gone down, the reproduction rate is low and hospitals are seeing a decrease in serious and intubated patients.
On Wednesday, the Health Ministry reported that 1,171 people tested positive for the virus the day before out of 42,518 tests done - a rate of just 2.75%. As of Wednesday night, there were 596 coronavirus sufferers in serious condition with 232 on ventilators. The death toll from the virus stood at 2,291.
4. Qatar to keep funding Gaza through the end of 2021 - YNET News
Qatar announced Wednesday that it will keep its funding of the Gaza Strip through 2021. It is yet unknown how much monetary aid will be given how it will be used.
Mohammad al-Emadi, Qatar's envoy to Gaza, has regularly visited the Strip in recent years with Israeli approval, bringing funds dedicated for the purchase of fuel, civil servants salaries and cash to help Gazan families in need. This funding has been critical to maintaining calm along the border.
The decision was made while intensive efforts were underway by Israel, Hamas and international mediators, held in Israel and in Doha, to negotiate a ceasefire that would be in effect for at least one year.
Qatar and the Gaza-based terror group remain at odds over how the funds were to be used with Doha officials insisting on investments in significant infrastructure projects include building a gas pipeline to supply the only power station in Gaza still operating on coal.
5. Israel, Sudan said to reach final agreement to normalize ties - Times of Israel
Israel and Sudan will announce the establishment of diplomatic ties over the weekend or early next week in a US-brokered deal, Hebrew media reported Thursday, citing officials involved in the negotiations.
The announcement will likely come after a phone call between US President Donald Trump, Sudan's transitional leader Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan's Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the Walla news site.
The breakthrough comes after a high-level Israeli-US delegation reportedly traveled to Sudan on Wednesday for covert negotiations on the normalization of ties between Khartoum and Jerusalem.