1. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; to declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night.

    Psalm 92:1-2

    • You are great and You made all things.

    • Thank You for the rain.

    • From the rising of the sun to its going down, the Lord's name is to be praised.

      Psalm 113:3

    • Thank You, Lord that You never change.

    • Thank You that You share Your secrets with those who fear You.

    • You are the great I Am. Nothing is impossible with You.

    • Thank You that You love us no matter what we do.

    • Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not Thy compassions they fail not. As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

  2. Formation of Israel's coalition government (Netanyahu's role)

    The elected parties in Israel's Knesset (parliament) are busy negotiating to form a government. Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been invited to try to put together a government from the Likud (his own party which is the largest in the new Knesset with 31 seats) and other parties. He has 6 weeks in which to form a coalition. Netanyahu needs wisdom and anointing from the Lord to bring the different parties together into a government which will last.

    • May Bibi Netanyahu hear Your voice, O Lord, in the midst of all the clamoring voices around him - the other party leaders: Lapid, Bennett, Livni, Shas; the noise surrounding a visit by President Obama in the near future!

    • Give him wisdom to set clear boundaries which others will accept.

    • Give him grace to negotiate with integrity and without compromising key values.

    • Expose and root out all manipulation in this coalition-building process.

    • May the other members of the Likud party, who are hoping for jobs in the new government, not be a stumbling block to Bibi.

    • Give Bibi a soft heart and the ability to work with others.

    • Make his home and family a place of strength and calm and restoration (Shalom Bayit).

  3. Coalition-forming (Yesh Atid)

    The second largest party following the elections is the Yesh Atid (There is a Future) Party led by newcomer and former TV personality Yair Lapid. Of Yesh Atid's 19 members in the Knesset only one has any political experience. Altogether 48 of the 120 Knesset members have never been members before. In recent days Lapid has said that he would be willing to lead the opposition, expecting to bring down the government and become Prime Minister himself after 18 months. Pride comes before a fall, and while this might be God's plan, it seems to us more desirable for Lapid and his party to form part of the coalition and for Lapid to learn the skills and the understanding required for political life in Israel.

    • May Yair Lapid be willing to receive wise counsel.

    • Power corrupts. Please Lord, protect Lapid and the multitude of other new, inexperienced Knesset members from corruption.

    • Give Your grace for Yair Lapid to negotiate from a place of humility and integrity.

    • Give him a willingness to be taught the skills of political leadership by Bibi Netanyahu.

    • Give all the members of the Knesset, especially the new ones, a sense of awe at the position You have given them. May their ambition and agenda be submitted to an overwhelming desire to serve the nation.

  4. Coalition-forming (Habayit Hayehudi)

    A third party likely to be involved in the new government is Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) Party (12 seats) led by former Netanyahu aide, Naftali Bennett, who is another newcomer in the Knesset. It is understood that Bennett left his former job with Netanyahu on bad terms which may be standing in the way of the kind of political agreement now required between them.

    • May Bennett, as a religious Jew, recognize his responsibility to put things right with his fellow man and to work to mend the breach with Netanyahu.

    • Give them advisors who will speak truth to them, and, if necessary, a mediator to help heal the relationship.

    • Show them both the urgent need to place the good of the nation above their personal issues.

  5. Universal military service

    One of the major issues of the election campaign and with potential to cause great division in Israel is the desire by many to bring more of the ultra-orthodox population into the army and the workforce. The Israeli state supports over 20,000 people who are studying Torah in yeshivas. Much of the rest of the country sees this as inequitable and plainly wrong.

    • Lord cause some to recognize that this arrangement is actually against the Bible.

    • Cause many young ultra-orthodox people to break out of this system which holds them in bondage.

    • Give wisdom and creativity to the political leaders to find ways to heal this breach in Israeli society.

    • Bring Your light into places of darkness and bring many ultra-orthodox to salvation.

  6. Syria and Lebanon

    Last week there was a military strike, widely believed to be from Israel, on a location in Syria thought to include weapons development and transportation. This was probably Israel drawing a clear red line to show that movement of weapons from Syria to Lebanon is totally unacceptable and will continue to bring a military response.

    • Pray for Israel's intelligence sources in Syria and Lebanon to see what the enemy is doing.

    • Thank You Lord that Israel's spies were able to detect what was happening and communicate this information back to Israel.

    • Give wisdom to all Israel's information gatherers.

    • Keep our spies hidden, shrouded by Your cloud of protection.

    • Cause the enemies of Israel to make mistakes and bring their wicked plans into the light.

    • And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, Alas, my master! What shall we do? So he answered, Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see. Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

      2 Kings 6:15-17

    • Lord, reveal what the enemy is doing and give Israel the ability and the will to deal with it.

    • Keep our soldiers on high alert on our northern borders and ready to act when required to do so.

    • May our Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Chief of Staff have no hesitation to act to destroy the enemy's weapons and plans.

    • Expose Syria's chemical weapons and give Israel the wisdom how to neutralize and destroy them.

    • Confuse the plans of Israel's enemies and turn them against one another.

    • Cause an opposition to rise up in Lebanon against Hezbollah.

    • Empower the believers in Lebanon to pray for their nation and to have wisdom when to speak out and when to be silent.

    • Thank You that the US and Europe did not condemn Israel for the attack on Syria last week.

  7. Obama's coming visit to Israel

    It has been announced that President Obama will visit Israel in the Spring. It seems clear that he thinks he knows best what is good for Israel and intends to exert pressure to steer Israeli policy according to his ideas, notably a 2-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians. The President's visit will be prepared by visits from Secretary of State John Kerry.

    • Lord, give backbone to Israel's Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Foreign Minister to be able to withstand the pressure from the American administration.

    • Show Israel's leaders if we need to make ourselves independent of American military aid ($3 bn per year) in order to loose ourselves from American political manipulation.

    • Reveal the truth to Obama and the US administration that the solution they propose simply is not possible.

    • Give a reality check to John Kerry as he visits Israel. Reveal the truth to him and hedge him in against the manipulations which the State Department plans toward Israel.

  8. Egypt and Iran

    Iranian President Ahmadinejad has been meeting with Egyptian President Morsi and wants to visit Gaza. This potential alliance herald immense danger for Israel.

    • Lord, protect Israel's southern borders.

    • Confuse and confound the plans of Israel's enemies.

    • May there be no meeting of minds or hearts and may the hatred between Shia and Sunni Moslem be continued and further inflamed.

    • Make Israel ready for possible hostilities in the South.

    • Hold back the powers of darkness.

    • Protect the Egyptian believers - give them wisdom and ability to flee if needed. Give them authority in their calling to intercede for their nation. Raise up leaders in the Coptic Church who will truly lead their people after You.

    • If Morsi is the cruel master of Isaiah 19:4 then Lord, Your will be done!

    • If Ahmadinejad is over-extending himself and Iranian influence in the Middle East, then Amen, Lord! Have Your way in Your time!

  9. The Body of Messiah in Israel

    • Visit Your people, O Lord as they gather this weekend and throughout the coming week.

    • Reveal Yourself and make Yourself better known to Your people.

    • Prepare us for the times we are in and for the days ahead, that we may know how to respond both spiritually and physically.

  10. IFI

    • Thank You, Lord for an intense prayer conference and tour. Keep us all alert in these days and give us quick recovery.

    • Give us grace to continue to watch out for all You are doing and also to watch each other's backs, that the enemy may not be granted any point of entry which would enable him to undermine Your plans and purposes in and through us!

Shabbat Shalom!