ENHANCE - 2nd Quarter 2023

Special Report
CFI UK PRAYER
CONFERENCE
Tuesday 21 st – Thursday 23 rd March
By Julia Soakell
Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say “Amen”,
Praise the Lord.
(Psalm 106:48)
The theme of this year’s CFI Annual Prayer
Conference was Everlasting to Everlasting. In
‏.(אֵ‏ ל עֹולָ‏ ‏ֽם)‏ Hebrew the Everlasting God is El Olam
The word ‘olam’ occurs more than 400 times in the Hebrew
scriptures and is often translated eternal, forever, lasting, ever
and ancient. Drawing aside from the chaotic days we are living
in, we felt blessed to pray and spend time with the Lord when
so much in the world seems changeable and shaken.
More than fifty supporters gathered at Kings Park Conference
Centre in Northampton in mid-March, keen to pray for Israel,
her people and for CFI. Many felt as they left, that the time
was well spent in being rather than doing, and allowing the
Lord to prepare and strengthen them for the seasons ahead.
One of the CFI Jerusalem staff always ends her emails with,
“Before we can do what God wants us to do, we must first
be who God wants us to be – being always precedes doing”
David and I were blessed to host the group, many of whom
hadn’t been to a residential prayer conference before, and
with a higher proportion of men than in previous prayer
conferences. In our preparations we felt it would be vital to
‘hold lightly’ the sessions and their focus, allowing the Holy
Spirit to lead us into the Lord’s focus and priorities.
A good amount of time was spent in worship, especially in
the first session. Prayer topics included our post-Christian
nation and the church in the UK, as well as our leaders and
government, asking the Lord in grace and mercy to lead our
nation to become a greater blessing to the land and people
of Israel. We also prayed about Aliyah and its counterpart
Yeridah – the phenomenon of Jewish people leaving Israel to
return to their previous countries and lives. That happens for
various reasons, but economic factors are a current concern.
CFI Jerusalem projects were considered and thanks offered for
breakthroughs where new visas and staff recruitment have
drawn seven new project coordinators into their roles.
Praying for the younger generations was a major focus,
appealing for them to better understand Israel as they become
pastors, teachers, politicians and intercessors in the years to
come. We included those generations in Israel itself, and also
in the Arab Palestinian areas where hatred is promoted in the
education system. These children and their parents can ask
God to intervene and bring about supernatural change and
restoration for all. The young people of the region have known
tensions and traumas in life, with high levels of hatred and
media bias against the Jewish people.
We also considered that the Bible mentions there will be an
accumulation of knowledge in later times. As the late Derek
Prince once said,
“Cleverness and education are no substitute for the
moral foundation and understanding which are the fear
of the Lord and obedience to his precepts.”
David Soakell and Jonathan Holbrook led morning
meditations based around scriptures about the everlasting
God and living in his presence. David led a session on
‘Comfort and keep comforting’ (see Isaiah 40:1), sharing
personally on the difficulty of standing with Israel in
connection with CFI’s ‘Forsake Them Not’ project. We also
heard from Jacob Vince, our Chief Executive, about attending
the Global Coalition for Israel Conference and hearing of
some surprising nations that now work closely with Israel.
And he shed light on praying for the UK church about pivotal
issues raised lately in the Church of England’s General Synod.
Looking back on the theme and on our time together we
give thanks to the everlasting God we serve and in whom
we can put our trust, even when we see the nations shake
and tremble. We can be confident in him. He is powerful
and productive in all he does, producing fruit in his perfect
6 ENHANCE • 2 nd Quarter 2023
@christianfriendsofisrael_uk