Pray for Zagreb

Pray for Zagreb,

This week IST Group is hosting a seminar on healing and how to pray for the sick. The guest speaker is Michael T. Miller, who is the Pastor of Upper Room in Denver, Colorado and the founder of www.Thomasministries.org. There are five churches/groups in the city of Zagreb who helped organize the event and believers from other churches will attend as well. This is significant because of the freedom Michael’s teaching and training will bring. It is also significant because a group of pastors who have been meeting to plan and pray for this event! Unity is very hard to come by in the Balkans and it is beautiful to see this flourishing.

The following story is one of the oddest things…

Man in wheelchair robs bank
By AFP - 11 March 2016 @ 11:31 PM 

ZAGREB: A Croatian man in a wheelchair robbed a bank after passers-by helped him to enter the premises, local media reported Friday.

“I have a bomb!” shouted the 35-year-old disabled man to shocked employees in a branch of Austria’s Erste Bank in downtown Zagreb, before forcing them to hand over the cash,...

The crime occurred on Wednesday evening only a few seconds after the man had politely thanked passers-by for helping him to enter the bank in his wheelchair, the paper said.
After employees handed over 50,000 kunas (US$7,300) the robber wheeled himself to a nearby taxi station where a cab driver helped him get into the car and put his wheelchair in the trunk.

Unaware of his client’s recent activities, the driver took the man towards the northern town of Bjelovar, where he was eventually arrested. –AFP http://www.mb.com.ph/man-in-wheelchair-robs-croatian-bank/  

This story odd as it might be, reveals the desperation rising in the citizenry. Crime has been relatively low here, but stories like this remind us of the looming economic troubles ailing this young nation.

Prayer Points
:1) We are looking for signs following those that believe. Pray that the city of Zagreb will not be like Nazareth where in Mark 6:5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. Let us pray for, Mark 16:17-18 instead. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.
2) Lord Jesus, we look for Your visitation in Zagreb. Come and Make Yourself known like never before!
3) We are already seeing a shaking in the city among the Christians. Believe with us that churches will be changed as Jesus makes Himself known in the city.
4) It is believed that there are more Christians in the city that do not attend church than there are those who do. These were touched by Jesus but they were hurt by the church. Pray that they will see the real Jesus, forgive and move forward into the destiny God has for them.
5) Zagreb is a Catholic city, but God is stirring their hearts. We are beginning to see Catholic fringe groups who are awakening in Zagreb and in other parts of the country. Let us pray for these to come into the fullness and pray that they are welcomed by the Body of Christ. Because of the huge Catholic influence on this country, evangelicals tend to be very critical towards the Catholics.  These groups going through awakening can experience rejection from both evangelicals and Catholics alike.
6) Let us never forget to pray for the lost. With only about 1,000 believers that attend church in Zagreb, it is like swimming against the tide. Pray that mercy will be extended and Jesus lifted high.
7) Just like the bank robber in the wheelchair, we know there are many economically and spiritually desperate in Croatia. Pray for Gods wisdom and His solutions to be revealed for this city.
8) We ask special prayer for a lady that has been a great blessing to Croatia and many other Balkan nations. This faithful servant of the Lord was recently diagnosed with cancer. Pray that she would be healed and continue the work of the Lord!

For more information on ISTgroup go to www.istgroup.org

Thanks for praying for the Balkans with us. God hears.

Pray for ISTgroup

Pray for Intentional Strategies for Transformation

We have a full list of events to pray for ISTgroup this month:

1) Next week March 16-19, Michael T. Miller from Upper Room Denver is coming to hold a citywide seminar on Healing and Praying for the Sick. Expectancy is rising among the five churches cooperating in this seminar.
2) We are right now developing guidelines to begin accepting interns this summer for field service. Our four focuses this summer are: Serving in the House of Prayer, Evangelism, Community service to the poor and serving the local churches.
3) Preparations are on their way for a conference with Yonathan Lara form Argentina, scheduled for the end of May here in Zagreb. Yonathan is a 21-year-old prophetic voice who is well known in Latin America. His meetings last year in Zagreb were above expectations. Many in the city are eager to see him return! Please pray for the right venue and a strong translator.
4) March 23-27, we are making a trip to Dallas, Texas to attend Upper Room’s Global Conference. This is a gathering of the Upper Room extended family of ministries. Lidija, our UR Zagreb worship director is traveling with us.
5) Intentional Strategies for Transformation board meeting in Dallas at the end of the month. We want a solid foundation for the IST Group and for this reason we meet monthly for the next several months.

Prayer Points:
1) Pray with us for the Michael T. Miller meetings. Jesus said sings and wonders would follow those that believe. Let us pray for a release of healing miracles and the joy that follows.
2) Pray for the summer intern program. Pray that we are able to develop meaningful activities that will serve as a true benefit for His Kingdom, and one that will provide an enriching experience for the interns. Jesus, show us how to bless the Croatian people with the Gospel. May we be able to take them into His presence.
3) We will have more specific prayer points for the Yonathan Lara Conference in upcoming blogs, but for now, please pray for an excellent Spanish to Croatian translator. Pray for just the right venue that will be adequate for the people God wants to touch. Pray that all the finances will come together for the event.
4) Pray for the Upper Room Global Conference three weeks from now. Please pray that there is an impartation of His Spirit at the conference. May each of us be refreshed and return with sharpened vision to see His Glory manifest in this land.
5) Pray for the IST Group board meeting and for God infused strategies to be birth out of this strong team of board members.

Pray for Bosnia Herzegovina

In our quest to pray for one Balkan country at the end of each month, it just so happened that it is Bosnia Herzegovina's (BH) turn at this time. We also just returned from BH, where we were honored to have been guest speakers for a Prayer Summit at Rafeal Church in the capital, Sarajevo.

Pastors Robert and Sandrina Jurjuvich and their congregation were truly encouraged and built up, but in the same time we were also blessed by the believers and encouraged by their stories.

While there, we met a couple who has led a house of prayer in the city for two years. We were so encouraged! More and more it is being confirmed to us that God is on the move in these last days through houses of prayer.

Acts 15:16-17 (NKJV)
‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does all these things.’

We were encouraged by news from the locals concerning the government cracking down on corruption and cronyism. The main reason for this crackdown is BH’s path of entry into the European Union. We do consider this an answer to prayer. Over the years of praying for the Balkan countries, corruption has always been high on the list. We rejoice in this and thank each of you who so faithfully pray with us week after week. Your prayers are making a difference!

Prayer Points:
1) Lord we thank you for the increased desire of Bosnians to build on the foundation of prayer and intercession. May they apply those principles in their lives and ministry.
2) Let us pray that the Lord would come in power and divine purpose to move through BH for the saving of many! Lord raise up evangelists and reveal Your strategy to them.
3) Thank You Jesus for the leaders of the HOP and their  sacrifice to intercede for this nation many hours each week. Lord, we ask for the fruit of their labor to be multiplied beyond what they can contain.
4) Let us pray for Rafeal Church and pastors Robert and Sandrina. May they be positioned by the Lord to receive a great harvest of souls in Sarajevo. May their excitement and vision continue to grow.

Malachi 4:1-3 (NKJV)
“For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“That will leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who fear My name
The Sun of Righteousness shall arise
With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out
And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
3 You shall trample the wicked,
For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet
On the day that I do this,”
Says the Lord of hosts.

5) We believe the above verses are to be declared before the Lord in regards to corruption in BH.
6) Oh Lord, we ask for cleansing fire to come upon the government and business that roots out corruption in BH.
7) Lord, come and replace the wicked with men and women of righteousness. Let us pray for government authorities and business leaders that love justice.
8) Then Jesus, we believe Bosnia will “grow fat like stall-fed calves.” Let us pray for the blessing of increase to come upon those that have in their heart to bless others.
9) Lord, we know that to our natural eyes this seem impossible for present-day BH, but You, oh Lord, are great and mighty and there is nothing impossible for You.