1. We started by looking at the following verses.

    • The wilderness and the desert shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the honor of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD and the majesty of our God.

      Isaiah 35:1-2

    • We praise You for Your glory and majesty.

    • We bless You for Your omniscience - that You do know the end from the beginning.

    • Thank You for being so faithful to watch over Your word (Isaiah 55:11; Jeremiah 1:12)

    • We love You because You first loved us (1 John 4:19), and have placed the love of God in our hearts through Your Spirit (Romans 5:5).

  2. The Israeli government is trying to draft a law for universal conscription. Most of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and Israeli-Arab men do not serve this nation in any capacity. Israelis who do serve - usually through the IDF - want this to change so that those who get the benefits of being Israeli citizens will also shoulder some of the responsibility. Yet some political parties in the current coalition are only trying to protect their own supporters and are resisting what is best for the nation. This places Prime Minister Netanyahu in a precarious position.

    • Abba, give to our prime minister the wisdom and courage he needs at this time (Joshua 1:6-7).

    • Do not allow Netanyahu to cave in to any unrighteous demands of any of the other parties.

    • Give Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon much wisdom in dealing with this issue.

    • Enable those who are meeting over this to present a bill that is both righteous and equitable. He has shown you, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you, to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

    • Press the ultra-Orthodox rabbis who are supportive of this concept to speak out boldly.

    • Initiate a move among ultra-Orthodox youth to want to serve and contribute to Israel's well-being.

    • Make us one in Your hand as You promised in Ezekiel 37:19.

  3. We turned our attention in intercession towards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    • Lord, protect him from all dangers - especially any assassination attempts.

    • May his family life be full of Your shalom. You will keep him in perfect peace [lit: shalom, shalom], whose mind is stayed on You; because he trusts in You. (Isaiah 26:3)

    • Enable him to say with King David, He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. (Psalms 23:3)

    • Watch over these verses for Bibi: There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of the LORD shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21); The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD. As the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will. (Proverbs 21:1)

    • Increase his knowledge and trust of Your Word.

    • Reveal the fullness of Your Son, Messiah Yeshua, to Bibi and all his family.

    • Enable him to delegate so that he can concentrate on the vital issues that are facing Israel.

    • Deliver him from any ungodly dependence on America or any other nation or person.

    • Protect Netanyahu, and all of Israel, from Hillary Clinton's visit next week.

  4. We continue to stand our watch over Iran.

    • Now that the P5+1 [the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany] negotiations have proven to be useless in stopping - or even slowing down - Iran's progress in developing nuclear weapons, Israel's leaders need wisdom on what to do.

    • Raise up the 'sons of Issachar' in the government and military leadership - men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do… (1 Chronicles 12:32).

    • If Israel needs to attack, (which seems more likely with every passing day), impart to the responsible leadership the timing and the strategy.

    • Help the IDF's in all of its preparation and plans.

    • Overrule events in Syria so that whatever the final result will be - it will go towards weakening Iran's ability to dictate events in the Middle East.

    • Anoint Israel's agents inside Iran to communicate clear and up-to-date intelligence information.

    • Arise, O God, judge the earth; for You shall inherit all nations.

      Psalms 82:8

  5. We next prayed about the tragic situation in Syria that does not seem to be heading towards any type of reasonable conclusion in the near future. It is possible that what we are seeing is God watching over Jeremiah 49:23-27, a prophetic word against Damascus.

    • Abba, have mercy on the Syrian peoples - whatever they believe.

    • Use this situation to bring many to Yourself through dreams and visions of Messiah Yeshua.

    • Lord, protect Your sheep, the true Church in Syria.

    • Reveal to our brothers and sisters there what they should do, where they should be and to whom they should speak. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (John 10:27)

    • Prepare Israel to know how to respond to either a full-fledged civil war breaking out on its northern border - or an influx of Syrian refugees looking for a safe place to flee.

    • Use this terrible infighting of Muslim vs. Muslim to wake up the Western Church to the true face of Islam.

    • [Israel has warned that if Syria tries to transfer any of its huge stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon, Israel would attack and destroy the weapons.] Lord, enable Israel to have all of the accurate intelligence to know if this happens and then have the courage to stop it.

    • We thank You for causing Israel's enemies to fight one another and see this as an answer to prayer. Let them all be confounded and turned back who hate Zion. (Psalms 129:5)

  6. The Egyptian situation also requires our watchful intercessions.

    • We thank You that the Muslim Brotherhood challenge to overturn the ruling military leaders concerning dissolving the lower parliament was overturned by Egypt's Supreme Court.

    • Abba, enable the West to see that for their own sake, for Israel and for most of the Arab peoples - especially the women and children - military dictatorships are preferable to Islamic fundamentalist rule.

    • Hinder Hillary Clinton from pressuring the military to loosen its grip on overall rule.

    • In fact, may this trip to Egypt be a turning point for her. Enable some Egyptian women to have a real heart-to-heart talk with the US Secretary of State about the reality of their life under Islam.

    • Give to the true Church in Egypt strength, wisdom and opportunities to know what to do and how to share the good news of Messiah Yeshua.

    • If You, Lord, are watching over this prophetic word against Egypt, please do so with the most amount of mercy to the Egyptians: The burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and comes into Egypt. The idols of Egypt shall tremble at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in its midst. And I will set Egyptian against Egyptian; and they shall fight each man against his brother, and each against his neighbor; city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it, and I will destroy its wisdom. They shall seek to idols, and to enchanters, and to mediums, and to future-tellers. And I will shut up Egypt into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, says the Lord, LORD of Hosts. (Isaiah 19:1-4)

    • Keep Israel's security forces alert on our southern border with Egypt.

  7. One of the prophetic events happening in the world today is aliyah - the immigration of Jews from exile to Israel. Since this is clearly declared to be for God's glory, and therefore His will, we can pray with much assurance that He will do this (1 John 5:14-15).

    • Fear not; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not keep back; bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth; everyone who is called by My name; for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yes, I have made him.

      Isaiah 43:5-7

    • We bless You for the recent increase in aliyah.

    • Thank You for Nefesh b'Nefesh - this great organization that has made a way for many young families in America to be able to immigrate to Israel. Bless them and supply all of their needs.

    • We ask the same for believing organizations that are facilitating aliyah, like Ebenezer Emergency Fund.

    • Thank You for the commitment of the Israeli government to bring home all of the remaining Ethiopian Jews. Hold them to that and enable them to do it quickly.

    • Remove all stones of stumbling from the path of Messianic Jews to return. Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return and come with singing into Zion; and everlasting joy shall be on their head. Gladness and joy shall overtake them; sorrow and mourning shall flee away. (Isaiah 51:11; cp. 35:10)

    • Abba, wake up French Jews as there has been a marked increase of anti-Semitic attacks in France.

    • Use the recent German court decision that circumcision is illegal to wake up the Jews who have settled in Germany that they need to return as well to the Jewish State.

    • Do the same with British Jews as they read about the recent Church of England decision to support the Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel.

    • For those who have already come, enable them to stay despite all of the difficulties and trials. …says the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 31:9)

    • Draw home all of the yordi'im, the Israelis who are living outside this nation.

    • I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you [Israel] have profaned in their midst. And the nations shall know I am YHWH, says the Lord YHWH, when I shall be sanctified in you [Israel] before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all lands, and will gather you into your own land.

      Ezekiel 36:23-24

  8. As many of you know, the next verses in Ezekiel 36 declare that once Israel is resettled, then God pours out His Spirit and all Israel is saved. So we finished our time praying for Israel's salvation.

Thank You for your consistent prayers and intercession for this nation and its people. Although Israel seems to be surrounded with satanic forces that grow stronger each day, her so-called friends - the Western nations - and many of her spiritual family - those grafted into Israel's olive tree - press Israel to compromise with these demons and forsake its God-given inheritance for the sake of 'world-peace'. We take great comfort from Psalm 124, knowing that it is as true today as when David first wrote it. If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalms 124:1-8)

You too can claim this wonderful promise if you find yourself in a trap with no human way to escape. God today is the same as He was yesterday - and He will be the same tomorrow (Malachi 3:6).

Blessings.

Shabbat shalom,

The IFI team