Prayer Target: PRAYER FOR THE COUNTRY OF TURKEY

Each leader of the prayer school seeks the Lord, wanting to know His agenda for the prayer school. We all want to be in line with His will. This is because we know that when we pray the will of the Father, this pleases Him, and He promises to answer our prayers.

Last week, God began to place the country of Turkey on my heart. Of course, I thought, this was not unusual in light of the terrible earthquake there, but this was such a strong unction to pray - like a life and death situation would be. Everywhere I turned, my attention was called to this country. The Lord then showed me His desire was not only for me to pray, but that He wanted the whole prayer school to join in corporate prayer for this country in great need of the Lord's help. This is God's agenda for this week, and I'm excited because I know He's going to hear our prayers, taking this horrible tragedy and pouring forth His love and mercy into the situation.

Allow me to recount what has happened in Turkey. In the early morning hours of August 17, a major earthquake hit under the city of Izmit, Turkey (55 miles from Istanbul). It measured 7.4 on the Richter Scale. Right now the death toll is over 13,000 with approximately 28,000 wounded and 200,000 homeless. There are estimates that deaths could total over 40,000 people.

The earthquake covered an area populated by over 20 million people, with the energy of this earthquake being the equivalent to 400 atomic bombs. Hundreds of thousands are camping outdoors due to damage and the threat of further destruction. The cities that were hardest hit were Izmit, Sakarya, Istanbul, Bursa, Eskisehir, and Bolu. These cities made up Turkey's industrial hub and are vital to Turkey's economy.

Concentrated prayer has been going up to the Father for Turkey over the past several years. As of now, 99.8% of Turkey is Muslim, and .2% is Christian and Jew.

Right now the Turkish people are suffering terribly. I feel strongly God desires for us to pray for His mercy and love to come to these people. In the midst of this pain, God desires to show compassion to these people and for us to pray for their various physical needs as well as their spiritual needs. Of course, the Father's greatest desire is for the Turkish people to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and that our God is a God who cares for them and answers prayer.

There are numerous prayer needs for this country right now. Each day, I will introduce a specific need for Turkey. As the Holy Spirit leads, please be free to build on this prayer focus. Of course, I may miss a specific need and you will notice this later in the week. Please share and pray for this need with the school. Many of you are prophetic intercessors. God may give you particular insight and prayer strategy for Turkey. I hope you will share what you hear God saying.

Let's pray:

Father, You are a God of infinite lovingkindness, desiring to show mercy and compassion to all. Lord, You are acutely aware of the earthquake that hit Turkey. In fact, You told us that in the last days, earthquakes like this would happen. I know that You desire to show mercy to the Turkish people, and believe it is Your will that we focus our prayers in their behalf this week. Please, come Holy Spirit, and anoint our prayers this week. Reveal Your heart of love to us for these people.

Lord, I want to start our prayers lifting up the government of Turkey to You. There is such a great need for better communication between government agencies and relief organizations. I ask that You would place Your Hand of unity and peace between this organizations. Supernaturally provide strength and transportation so that needed supplies will get where they're supposed to be. I pray that the government of Turkey will receive all the supplies needed - temporary toilets, water, and wisdom in handling bodies so that disease will not spread.

Thank You, Lord, that You hear our prayers and where there is chaos, You bring order. Jesus, You are the Prince of Peace. Come, Lord and work miracles in behalf of the Turkish people. We give You all honor, glory, and praise, Father - in Jesus's Name

Amen

Please feel free to pray into this topic during the week, to build on one another's prayers and also to discuss insights you have on the week's prayer target. Post your prayers and /or discussion to the prayer-school list by emailing them to this address: prayer-school@xc.org

Please limit your prayer/discussion to the current week's prayer target; please do not pray into or discuss previous week's prayer targets. However, if you have a praise report to answered prayer from a previous week's prayer activity, please feel free to post them any time.