Cultivating Seeds

One of the most wonderful things we partner with you in doing is having fun with kids while simultaneously affirming their Jewish identity and sharing with them the Good News of Yeshua (Jesus).

We do this through the Zehra Kid’s Program. If you have been a partner with Jewish Voice Ministries for some time, you’ve seen the photos: happy children playing with hula hoops and soccer balls on a playground, singing, learning, and coloring under the Zehra sign and brightly decorated canopies.

This is such a significant aspect of our Outreaches. The children have meaningful experiences onsite at our Medical Clinics. We also reach out to them during special school visits, interacting with hundreds of children in a short time.

The name Zehra comes from the Hebrew word for “seed.” This program, along with the newly developed Nehemiah Teen program, Shabbat school materials and other resources and initiatives, truly plant seeds of love, joy, truth, and identity.

Will you help cultivate these seeds in the lives of these beautiful children and teens — through your prayers? Here are some points our Zehra Program Manager asks us to please pray for:

• The Zehra children’s program during our Medical Outreaches to be well situated and staffed, and to impact not only the kids who visit, but their families and friends as they go home and share the songs, lessons, and coloring pages
• School visits, where our Zehra Program leader and others can impact hundreds of children in one short visit
• The new and very well-received Nehemiah Program, specifically designed for Jewish teens and their friends in our Outreach communities
• Anointing and excellence in developing and facilitating Zehra Leadership Trainings for indigenous leaders
• Life-impacting times of service for the young adults who minister by helping facilitate the programs
• The Lord’s help and favor for some significant resource projects designed to speak straight to the heart and identity of children from some of our key communities

Some more areas for prayer include:

• Community Impact: Pray that Zehra may have a positive and lasting impact on the communities we reach out to, bringing hope, joy, and transformation to children, teens, and families
• Spiritual Growth: Pray for the spiritual growth of the children and teens, that they may come to know and love God deeply, understand His Word, and grow in their faith & godly identity
• Volunteers and Leaders: Pray for wisdom, strength, and guidance for all volunteers and leaders involved in the ministry so that they may serve with love, patience, and humility
• Outreach and Impact: Pray that the ministry will effectively reach out to even more in the community and that the love of Messiah will be evident through the ministry's activities and interactions
• Open Hearts and Minds: Pray that the children and teens will be opened to receive God's love and truth and receptive to the messages shared

Let’s Pray

Lord, we know that, because of You, there is hope for the seed. May You use the Zehra Program in all its aspects to deeply impact the lives of many, many children and teens, as well as their families, friends and communities. May the kids learn life lessons that will help them know and love You, understand Your love and blessings for them, and step into the identity and calling You have for each one. Thank You for all You have done and will do as we water the Zehra program “seeds” with our prayers! In Yeshua’s name, AMEN.

Bearing Fruit in Chatikobo, Zimbabwe

Have a look at the lives you changed in Chatikobo:

• 9,904 Patients Received Care
• 1,223 People Received Dental Care
• 1,819 Eyeglasses Distributed
• 120 Families Received LifeStraw® Water Filters
• 1,220 Children Attended the Zehra Kids Program
• 1,333 School Children Experienced Zehra in Their School
• 4,351 People Visited the Spiritual Care Ministry
• 235 People Received Yeshua 
• 288 People Requested Congregational Follow-up

Thank you for sending us to Chatikobo, Zimbabwe, for another Jewish Voice Medical Outreach.

Chatikobo is in the Masvingo Province of Zimbabwe, where we’ve been before but never to this location.

We received a hearty welcome that included a visit from the local Lemba chief addressing the people on our opening day. His presence went a long way in establishing the community’s trust in us. Whereas we typically care for around 5,000 to 6,000 people at a new location in Zimbabwe, in Chatikobo, we treated almost 10,000 patients.

More than 40 percent of those you helped provide medical care also chose to visit the Spiritual Care Ministry tent, where they shared their burdens and received prayer. More than 200 prayed to accept Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah.

Many of the Lemba in Chatikobo already believed in Jesus, and 50 people wanted to publicly profess their faith with an immersion ceremony. Indigenous ministry leaders participating in the Outreach assisted, and the Messianic Jewish Lemba choir celebrated during each person’s immersion, filling the air with the sounds of their original worship music. It was glorious!

These responses speak to the Chatikobo community’s readiness to be a part of worshiping together from their Jewish origins. Two new Messianic Jewish congregations have formed since the Outreach in May, and area Lemba leaders are also following up with hundreds of people who want to learn more about Jesus.

Thank you for making all this possible. Your gifts to Jewish Voice brought physical and spiritual care to so many. Through your faithful monthly gifts, you are also providing discipleship to new Believers, the training and nurturing of local pastors and support for congregations that will continue bearing fruit in Chatikobo for years to come.

Your gift today will also help local Messianic Jewish Believers follow up with patients who expressed interest in learning more about Jesus, offering them another opportunity to hear the Gospel, accept Jesus, and receive biblical discipleship.

Equipping and Inspiring Messianic Jewish Leaders in Africa

Your prayers are still needed for our current Zimbabwe Medical Outreach, but will you also agree with us in praying for our upcoming Messianic Leadership Training programs in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe?

Several of our key leaders, Messianic rabbis, will serve at the Zimbabwe Outreach and then travel to Ethiopia and back to Zimbabwe to conduct these leadership trainings. The program is specifically designed for leaders of the Messianic Jewish congregations with which we are aligned in those nations. It will be an excellent time of teaching and impartation.

Please use our 24-7 Prayer Watch calendar to sign up to pray from home for these critical times of instruction and relationship building, happening Sunday, July 21, through Tuesday, July 30, including travel days.

The program helps congregational leaders both theologically and practically. At the leaders' request, a key element in this year’s Messianic Leadership Training will focus on ways to incorporate Jewish identity and legacy into the lives of individual Jewish Believers in Yeshua (Jesus) and the beliefs and practices of their congregations.

Here are some specific ways you can pray:

• Health, safe travels, and protection of all kinds, including for our traveling rabbis’ families at home
• The Lord to prepare the leaders’ hearts to receive a new level of understanding and revelation regarding effectively leading Messianic Jewish congregations
• The anointing of the Holy Spirit on the teaching, on every word that is spoken and received
• Dynamic teaching times that will encourage, excite, and equip
• The leaders to experience a deeper and richer connection with the people of Israel as a result and with Yeshua, the Messiah, who personifies the God of Israel
• The leaders to leave with hearts stirred, many questions answered, and a fresh anointing on ways they can take their congregations deeper into theology, practice and life in the Jewish Messiah, Jesus

Let’s Pray

Lord, the leaders of the many small congregations of Messianic Jewish Believers in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are groundbreakers and trailblazers. They are part of a growing movement in their nations as they lead Jewish Believers in following Yeshua according to their Jewish identity. What exciting times! Your Spirit is moving and stirring Your Chosen People to learn and grow in You. Bless our teaching rabbis and all those who will be trained by them as well as all those that the leaders will go on to disciple and equip. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.

DON’T FORGET: Join us in praying for the last portion of our Zimbabwe, Outreach. See the dated Prayer Points here.

The Zehra Kids Program has been a fantastic way to minister to children during our Medical Outreaches in Africa. However, as we saw the young ones having so much fun, hearing about Yeshua (Jesus), and learning about their identities as precious to God, we recognized that there was a set of kids with different needs: teenagers. So, JVMI staff developed the Zehra Teens Program for kids aged 13 – 18.

Zehra Teens

Zehra Kids and Zehra Teens classes run in conjunction with our Medical Outreaches. While parents are in line or receiving care, groups of about 20-25 kids join a session lasting about an hour. The experience is similar to a day camp, with each group enjoying an age-appropriate lesson and activities. The Zehra Teens program differs from Zehra Kids in that the teens sit in a circle for a more conversational, devotional-style lesson encouraging interaction. They engage in fun games that involve trust, listening and following to reinforce the lesson’s main points.

Zehra Teens officially launched in October 2023 in Hosanna, Ethiopia, and ministered to 415 teenage boys and girls during the five-day Medical Clinic there.

A message that resonates

The curriculum for Zehra Teens is based on the life of Nehemiah. Nehemiah’s family was taken captive when Babylon conquered the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and he was born into slavery in the land where they’d been exiled. He’d never seen his homeland, but when he heard that Jerusalem’s gates and walls were broken down, it grieved his heart. The people remaining there were vulnerable to attacks by the neighboring peoples.

Though Nehemiah was a slave, he received a vision from God that he could be an instrument of change. He prayed, walked in the strength of his identity, and worked to carry out the vision of repairing Jerusalem’s wall.

The story of Nehemiah shows Zehra Teens kids the truth that no matter their circumstances, God has a plan and a vision for each of their lives. With God, they have the ability to do good and make a positive difference in their environments and the lives of the people around them.

The Gospel is woven into this hope-filled message during one-to-one time with the teens who are offered the invitation to place their faith in Yeshua (Jesus) as Lord. The program sessions also create the opportunity for teens to have a personal encounter with God, opening their hearts and hands in prayer before Him, believing He will speak to them with a vision for their lives.

The responses have been overwhelmingly positive. The teens in attendance leave inspired and hopeful for their future. They walk away lifted up, strengthened, and encouraged that they are loved, valued and have a purpose. Hear what some of them said afterward:

“This is the first time I heard that God cares for me and has a vision for my life. It makes me want to tell all my friends to also receive this opportunity. I feel like I can reach my goals even though I am starting from nowhere, God will provide a way.”

“Nehemiah was a slave, not important, but became someone important. The same is true for me.”

“We go through so many things here in Ethiopia and hear so many bad things. War in our region and all over our country. But after hearing about the life of Nehemiah, that he was young and prayed because he believed God told him, means I should too. Even if I'm young, God hears my prayers.”

“Now I know God can use me even if I'm young. He respects me and can use me. God can use me equally as much as Nehemiah.

Jacob’s story

After the lesson, a 13-year-old boy named Jacob approached Jewish Voice’s Children’s Education Program Manager. Through an interpreter, he asked if he might return with his only school notebook and go through the class again because he wanted to write down the lesson. He didn’t want to forget the inspiration he received but wanted to have the material to read again and again.

The Program Manager gave Jacob printed copies of the lesson in both English and Amharic, his native Ethiopian language. She and some local Zehra Teens leaders sat down with him to pray, asking if there was anything specific he’d like them to pray for. He explained that his grandmother lives in the poorest house in Hosanna, and his vision is to buy her a nice home that is safe. Such love and thoughtfulness touched their hearts, and it was clear that this young man was already a leader.

Would you pray with us for Jacob and all the teenagers who have gone through the Zehra Teens program on various Outreaches in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe? Your support of Jewish Voice enables the Zehra Teens Program to reach these young ones at such a critical time in their lives, offering them the hope and love of Yeshua. Thank you!

Here are some points you can pray:

• The Lord to draw those who don’t yet know Him into faith in Jesus the Messiah
• Each one to know God’s deep love for them
• The Lord to encourage them with His vision and plan for their lives – that they would know He can use them as He did Nehemiah
• God to motivate them with the confidence and will to be agents of good, carrying out His purposes in their circles of influence

We are headed to Gokwe, Zimbabwe, again! Although we held a successful Outreach there just last fall, we believe the Lord has “unfinished business” for us there among the Lemba Jewish people and their neighbors. On the last day of that previous Clinic, we had to leave many potential patients unseen. So, we can’t wait to return and treat more of those in such great need. And even though new congregations were planted last year, we believe there is an opportunity for even more.

Several other noteworthy elements of this Outreach include:

• A larger than usual number of Jewish Voice Ministries staff members are going
• Several “next generation” teens are also going to serve, whose parents are engaged in Messianic Jewish ministry
• A team of about a dozen people from a ministry in Israel will be ministering together on this Outreach
• About two dozen first-time Outreach volunteers are joining us, along with another dozen who have been with us before
• In total, this will be our largest team of international Outreach Partners since before COVID-19

We’re excited to see what the Lord will do during this second Outreach to Gokwe, Zimbabwe. And we are very excited to include YOU on the Outreach team – through your prayers. We take nothing for granted but bathe everything in prayer. Please join us.

Ways to Pray for the Gokwe Zimbabwe Outreach

You can use the daily prayer guide below as you pray. And please commit to a specific time slot to pray for us from home during the Outreach. SIGN UP HERE on our Prayer Schedule, referring to the dates below.

Here are the ways you can pray for us on this Gokwe, Zimbabwe, Outreach, July 11 – 21, 2024.

Before the Outreach

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

— Isaiah 40:3 NKJV

Wednesday, July 3 through Wednesday, July 10

• That all preparations, such as VISAS and medical supplies, are entirely in place and received with favor by local leaders
• Campsite and Clinic readiness (the conditions will be rustic), team unity and community relationships
• Word to get out regarding the return of our Medical Clinic so that right from the start on Sunday, July 14, we will serve as many as possible each day
• An important request: The Lord to prepare our way through tremendous and lasting favor with local officials and community leaders

• Spiritual forces of darkness to flee, making way for the King of Glory to come with salvation, healing and deliverance as the Lord prepares the spiritual atmosphere and hearts of the people

Thursday – Friday, July 11 – 12

• Protection, health, safety and favor as our team and partners prepare and travel
• Family members back home and all that pertains to them
• Smooth travel and all luggage to arrive on time in good condition
• Safe travel, especially during the rugged six-to-seven-hour drive to the Clinic location on Saturday
• Fellowship and unity to begin and deepen during these first few days, including the Erev Shabbat dinner on Friday night

Saturday, July 13

• All medical resources to be fully set up and ready for patients in the small, primitive clinic we will be using
• Clear and effective trainings and orientations for the medical and dental personnel, as well as Outreach and Spiritual Care Ministry partners
• The Lord to oversee the weather throughout the week — it will likely be warm during the day and cool at night

During the Outreach

“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,”

— Luke 4:18

Sunday, July 14

• Everything to be in place and for a smooth “opening day” as we begin to serve the community Sunday, with many being quick to come and receive care so our lines are full all week
• Local workers, chosen by the Lord, to not only be a blessing as they serve but to be blessed and saved
• Many from the community to come for care and receive salvation as well
• The Word of God to go forth swiftly, accompanied by miracles, signs and wonders

Monday, July 15

• The Lord to give our team wisdom, favor, discernment, and protection regarding any local or unique factors pertaining to this location, conditions, or time frame, including some darker elements in the local spiritual climate
• Great unity, love and fellowship among all team members and partners that testify of Yeshua (Jesus) to all in the community
• For the Messianic Jewish Believers who will be speaking with and praying for people in the Spiritual Care Tent to be used by the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) in seeing salvations, healing and deliverances
• The Zehra Kids Program — both at the Clinic site and during school visits — to leave a lasting and eternal impact on the community’s children and families through truth, joy, salvation, and love

Tuesday, July 16

• Protection, strategy, and divine encounters for the Living Waters team as they bring LifeStraws® and the Good News of Jesus to nearby communities and schools
• The wonderful and weighty presence of the Lord to anoint and refresh our whole team during daily morning prayer times
• Divine encounters in the community leading to openness to the Good News and many salvations
• The Lord’s mighty protection covering the entire Outreach and all involved from any spiritual or natural interference

Wednesday, July 17

• Glorious worship times with the Lemba choir, especially during the Wednesday evening service, bringing renewal to the team, delighting the Lord, and sending the powers of darkness to flight
• The Lord to move powerfully through the Gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit
• Effective medical and dental care and healing to take place, including supernaturally as a testimony of God’s power and love

Thursday, July 18

• The ability to treat as many patients as possible on the last day of the Outreach, which is planned as a half-day
• Order and shalom to reign as we pay local workers and close the patient lines
• Safety and efficiency in closing the Clinic and packing up equipment and supplies

Friday, July 19

• Safe travel once more on rough roads
• A relaxing day celebrating all the Lord has done and ending the week in fellowship with one another
• Each one to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
• A blessed Erev Shabbat dinner with testimonies of the Lord’s goodness

After the Outreach

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of [Messiah] Jesus.

— Philippians 1:4–6

Saturday – Sunday, July 20 - 21 and beyond

• Safe travels home and a special outpouring of grace for everyone who served through this Outreach by honoring the Lord and loving the Gokwe community
• The Lord to continue breaking ground for the Good News of Yeshua in the Gokwe region, bringing a great movement of His Holy Spirit among these dear people
• Effective and timely follow-up to all who want to hear more about Jesus
• The Lord to continue establishing His Kingdom in Zimbabwe and developing healthy congregations

Let’s Pray

Lord, thank You that You are the God of second chances! Even though our first Outreach in Gokwe was effective, we truly sense that You have more work that You desire to do through us to bring blessing in this region. Pour out Your Spirit and bring great and lasting evidence of Your saving, healing and delivering power. You do mighty miracles, and we pray that Your power displayed in Gokwe will bring eternal fruit. In Yeshua’s name, AMEN.

Praying for “groups” of essential people

We recently had a great time of prayer with our staff here at Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI), covering some of our strategic outreach efforts. The Lord prompted us to pray for different “groups” of people who are critical to these Kingdom initiatives that are part of fulfilling the vision and mission He has given us. Would you join your prayers with ours?

Please pray for:

LEADERS

• Jewish Voice leadership to hear clearly from the Lord as to which scattered Jewish communities, He is opening the door to, as well as when, where and how to reach out to them
• Governmental and local community leaders to show favor toward Jewish Voice as we present our vision to serve, apply for permissions, and ultimately come to their area to bless and minister
• Messianic Jewish congregational leaders in the areas we serve to hear from the Lord regarding the places to where He is calling them to reach out and how Jewish Voice can partner and support them in these efforts. Also, for His help as they share the Good News, disciple new Believers, and start new congregations while continuing to edify and encourage existing congregations
• Local area religious leaders to welcome our presence and ministry and see them as evidence of the Lord’s graciousness in caring for their communities’ needs

STAFF

• U.S.-based Global Outreach staff as they plan, travel and facilitate our Outreaches, which is often an arduous and intense ministry. Pray for their spiritual, physical, mental and emotional well-being. Pray for their families and all aspects of their everyday lives, especially when they are away from home
• Traveling members of our Congregational and Leadership Development team who visit the international congregations we support to equip them with encouragement and training, building up the Messianic Jewish body in each area. Pray for their families and home lives as well
• Indigenous JVMI team members who provide on-the-ground insight, resourcing and logistical support for our Outreaches. May the Lord strengthen them
• Our U.S.-based team of support staff, who undergird all our front-line efforts and use their equipping, training and giftings toward the vision and mission the Lord has called us to

PARTNERS

• The Lord to continue to bless and inspire our financial partners with His heart for Israel and the Jewish people, enabling them to give, whether a mite or a million, toward seeing all Israel saved and blessed
• Our Prayer Partners, including you, who diligently pray for not only Israel and the Jewish people but for Jewish Voice, our leadership, staff, Outreaches and initiatives. May the Lord meet with each one of you as you watch and pray
• Committed and qualified Outreach Partners who put their love for the Jewish people into action and accompany us to diverse locations, believing with us that “no Jewish person is too far away, either spiritually or geographically, to experience God's hope and salvation”
• Medical and dental professionals who take time out of their busy lives and practices to love and care for Jewish people and their neighbors on our Outreaches, in the name of Yeshua (Jesus)
• Board members who sow their time, wisdom and experience into the Lord’s work through Jewish Voice by serving on our U.S., Canada, and U.K. boards

LOCALS

• Local indigenous Believers who serve faithfully and joyfully in various capacities during our Outreaches, ministering the love of the Lord in so many ways
• Local outreach workers, whom we hire temporarily for various tasks, to ensure that our Outreaches are fully supported. They are grateful for the short-term work, but our heart's desire is that they would be eternally blessed by coming to know Yeshua themselves through working with us and being exposed to the Good News in both words and love in action.

The Lord is using so many people to understand His heart and purposes for Israel and the Jewish people and to put that understanding into action through service, reaching out, giving, and prayer. Let’s pray for all those He is using, as it’s more critical than ever to see all Israel saved and strengthened in the Lord!

Let’s Pray

Lord, please bless those who are working together to bless Your Chosen People and bring glory to You!

Doors are opening. We invite your intensified prayers.

Together, we have seen incredible answers to prayer. You have prayed us through so many Outreaches! Some of you might even know by heart the types of things we ask you to pray.

In terms of prayer requests, some things bear repeating. This is a general reality, but it also rings particularly true for us in this season. As we’ve been telling you, we have been praying for open doors to minister to Jewish people around the world. We’re seeing the Lord begin to answer those prayers, and we’re preparing to follow where and when He leads.

However, 1 Corinthians 16:9 reminds us that with open doors come adversaries. With that in mind, we invite your intensified prayers. We know we are engaged in a battle between darkness and Light, and we want to ensure that we receive the Lord’s specific Kingdom assignments and strategies and operate under His favor and protection. Prayer prepares the way for us as we walk through the doors He opens.

Please pray through these powerful Scriptures regarding open doors.  Pray for:

THE LORD’S PRESENCE AND GUIDANCE

• Exodus 33:14–15 – The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.
• Psalm 32:8 – I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

US TO DO ALL THE LORD’S IS TELLING US TO DO

• Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship––created in Messiah Yeshua for good deeds, which God prepared beforehand so we might walk in them.
• Acts 20:24 – However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me––the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

PROTECTION

• 2 Corinthians 4:18 – So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
• 2 Kings 6:16-20: “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha….
• Nahum 1:7 – The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him.
• Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from Me,” declares the Lord.
• Psalm 23
• Psalm 91

FOR PROVISION, PEACE, POWER

• Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in the [Messiah] Jesus.
• Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you for your prayers! They are critical. Join us now in praying for the Lord to prepare the way in the hearts of those around the world He wants to reach.

Let’s Pray

Lord, You tell us to pray for those who will be sent out into the harvest fields. Thank You for those You have already prepared and made willing to go on Your behalf through Jewish Voice Ministries. And thank You for making the harvest fields ready by preparing hearts to be eager recipients of the Good News! Our trust is completely in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Shavuot is associated with two invaluable gifts in the Believer’s life: God’s Word and His Spirit.

The Rabbis teach that fifty days after leaving Egypt on the Passover, the Israelites found themselves at Mount Sinai, where God gave them the Torah. It was on the day that He had commanded to be the Feast of Shavuot once they entered the Promised Land. Thousands of years later, on Shavuot (also called Pentecost), the Lord poured out His spirit, causing the blinders to come off thousands and enabling the bold proclamation of the Gospel. With these incredible gifts, we can know the God who loves us, is always with us, and sent His Messiah to draw us near Him.

A closer look at the gift of God’s Word

The Torah, in its most technical use of the word, refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), but the word itself also means “instruction.” So, as we commemorate Shavuot and God’s gift of the Torah, we also celebrate the entirety of His Word as His gift, revealing more of who He is.

Join us for a devotional excerpt from the Jewish Voice resource "Portions: A Weekly Devotional for Drawing Near to the Lord", which is based on the annual Torah reading cycle that Jewish people follow worldwide. After the excerpt, we’ve included a bonus list of some benefits Believers receive from the Scriptures.

Portion 46

Deuteronomy 7:12 – 11:25

Hanging on Every Word

"...He fed you manna…in order to make you understand that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of Adonai.

— Deuteronomy 8:3(TLV)

Before Jesus began His public ministry, He fasted and prayed in the wilderness. After 40 days, Satan tempted Him in three ways. One was with food. Though certainly hungry, Jesus replied by quoting a verse from this week’s parasha (Matthew 4:3 – 4).

Looking at Israel’s 40 years in the wilderness, the Lord explained that He gave them manna to

teach them that their lives depended on not only physical food but also on God’s provision and on God’s promises.  The New Testament tells us to cling to God’s Word as “the word of life” (Philippians 2:16a) and let it richly dwell in us (Colossians 3:16).

God wants us living off of and hanging onto His every word as if our lives depend on them. He wants us to give His Word our rapt and avid attention — be enthusiastic for it, absorbed by it, eager for it. Yeshua said we should strive harder for spiritual food that gives eternal life than we do for tangible food that sustains our physical lives (John 6:27, 58). God wants us to crave hearing what He has to say.

Why? Psalm 119 gives us a glimpse of how nourishing and sustaining God’s Word is. Its writer describes what it means to him. He calls it wonderful, good, just, faithful, his counsel, and sweeter than honey. God’s instruction sustains him, restores his life, reveals wonders, and gives him hope and comfort.

The psalmist also showed an example of our right response to the Lord’s Word by noting that he treasures, observes, speaks, loves, trusts, meditates on and stands firm in it. He asks God to teach him His Word, revive him with it, be gracious to him by it, give him discernment through it, and help him keep it. (See Psalm 119.)

How do we come to crave God’s Word? We must read it to see its worth. As we experience its nourishment, we’ll grow hungrier for it. Start with an act of discipline, setting aside regular time to read Scripture. Ask the Lord to increase your appetite for His Word. As you feast on it, you’ll discover for yourself the wonderful things Psalm 119’s author found in it — and more.

Parasha Takeaway

I will pray for God to help me recognize I need His Word to strengthen and sustain me — as much as natural food nourishes my body.

God’s Word:

• Instructs us how to live lives pleasing to God (2 Timothy 3:16b, Hebrews 11:6)

• Conveys His love for us (Romans 5:8, Ephesians 3:17–19)
• Strengthens us by reminding us of His power within us (Philippians 4:13)
• Lifts our spirits when life is hard, reminding us that He has overcome the world (John 16:33)
• Assures us that He has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Encourages us that He makes all things beautiful in time (Ecclesiastes 3:11) and turns all things good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28)

Your gift to Jewish Voice today will enable new Jewish Believers in Africa and elsewhere to discover the invaluable gift of God’s Word with a Bible of their very own. In many of the remote places where Jewish Voice ministers, Bibles are too expensive and hard to come by for Believers to acquire. Your gift to Jewish Voice today will supply Bibles to Believers and do much more to meet practical needs and bring the Good News to Jewish communities worldwide.