a how-to guide on praying for Joey in Israel

I just want to say how thankful I am for my faithful blog readers. :) And blessed as I am with all of you, I cannot think of a better opportunity to ask for prayer. I know many of you are already praying for my time here, and I praise God for that, but it is always helpful to give clarity and specificity to our prayers. So here goes:
-That God would fill me with all “joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit [I] may abound in hope.” Please pray that my joy would be deeply rooted in the Person of Christ, rather than in external circumstances and trivial pleasures. It is so easy to get into so much of a monotonous routine that I get to the end of the day and realize that I have wasted an entire day existing rather than living for His glory.
-That God would instill in me a passion for His Word, to never be satisfied with what I have already learned but to always be striving to know God more through His Word.
-That all of this knowledge would not remain in my head, but that it would affect my life and most of all, that God would somehow use what I am learning here to spread His kingdom and glory among the nations. Pray that my zeal for missions and evangelism would not wane but would increase as I live in a different culture among millions who desperately need the Messiah. -Pray for discernment for me. I am constantly having to sift through different teachings and beliefs here, and it is sometimes difficult to discern what is “good and acceptable and perfect.”
-Pray for continued health. Sickness seems to spread faster here. Pray that I would get a good night’s sleep each night so that I can have energy to learn and serve the Lord.
-Pray for wisdom as I seek to encourage the girls here. Many of them are facing doubts and trials I have never dealt with before.
-Pray for my future when I go back to Texas and then California. I will need a job and a roommate. Pray for ministry opportunities, as well.

I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Tomorrow morning I leave for Galilee, where I will spend 7 days learning about the life of Christ, traveling and hiking and enjoying God’s creation. I have been looking forward to this trip for the longest time. I pray that it will be a time of spiritual growth and fellowship.

Lila tov (Good night),
Joey