Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign

Prayer Letter for July 2026

Dear Prayer Partners,

The Hebrew month of Tammuz is the fourth month on the biblical calendar. It marks the beginning of the long, hot summer in Israel. The harvest season is drawing to a close, and the nation turns its attention toward the fall feasts still ahead. Historically, Tammuz has become a month associated with spiritual vigilance, repentance, and mourning over the consequences of turning away from God. It calls us to guard our hearts, stay faithful to the Lord, and stand in intercession for His purposes.

One of the defining themes of this month is spiritual vision. As Paul reminds us: “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) Tammuz puts that truth to the test. When the wait grows long or circumstances feel uncertain, it is easy to let what we see become louder than what God has spoken. David prayed that the Lord would turn his eyes away from worthless things and revive him in His ways. This month invites us to ask: What are we looking at, and how is it shaping our faith?

Tammuz is also linked to the warning against idolatry. The only place the word Tammuz appears in Scripture is Ezekiel 8:14, where the prophet sees women mourning for a Babylonian deity within the Temple courts. Idolatry had taken root in the very place dedicated to the Lord. During this season, the Torah portions also recount the account of Balaam and Balak. Unable to curse Israel directly, Balaam advised another strategy: entice the people into idol worship and immorality. The people were drawn away from the Lord to other gods, removing their divine hedge of protection, and judgment followed.

The seventeenth of Tammuz carries deep significance in Israel’s history. Jewish tradition holds that Moses descended from Mount Sinai, saw the golden calf, and shattered the tablets of the law. The people could not wait for God’s timing and sought something visible they could control. Centuries later, on the same date, Jerusalem’s walls were breached by Babylon and later by Rome, beginning the Three Weeks of mourning that culminate on Tisha B’Av, the Ninth of Av. Yet Zechariah 8:19 contains God’s promise that these fasts will one day become seasons of joy and gladness.

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” (Proverbs 25:28) The breaches in Jerusalem’s walls remind us of the importance of guarding what God has entrusted to us. Yet the Lord who allows walls to fall is also the One who restores them. Moses did not withdraw after Israel’s failure; he stood before God and interceded for mercy, to great avail.

Lamentations 3:40 gives us the posture of this season: “Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord”. And Psalm 139:23 gives us the prayer: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties”. May we come before Him with humility, guard what He has entrusted to us, and stand faithfully in prayer for Israel and the nations.

Blessings from Jerusalem,

Joshua B. Gooding
Head of Prayer Department
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem

PS: Our next day of prayer and fasting for the Isaiah 62 Prayer Campaign will be on Wednesday, 1 July 2026. Also, please join our daily Global Prayer Gathering at 4:30 PM (Israel time) to pray for the nation of Israel. So, please join us there at on.icej.org/ICEJGlobalPrayer

And let us hear from you about your needs and how God has answered your prayers! Send a short email to prayer@icej.org to let us know you are praying and fasting with us.