1. Psalm 27:1-6

   The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
   The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
   When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
   My enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell.
   Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear;
   Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

   One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek:
   That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
   To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple.
   For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion;
   In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me;
   He shall set me high upon a rock.

   And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me;
   Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle;
   I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.

   • Thank You, Lord for everlasting life.

   • Thank You, that we may dwell in Your house all our days.

   • Thank You that we may abide in You and You in us.

   • Your judgments are faithful and righteous.

   • You hide us in Your pavilion. Thank You that we can know we are hidden in You!

   • Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki le'olam chasdo. O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. For His mercy endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)

   • The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.

     Lamentations 3:22-23

   • Thank You, o Lord for everyone around the world standing, watching and praying for Israel.

   • Thank You for the power of Your blood, Your name, Your word.

2. Spiritual Government - The Body of Messiah in Israel

   The spiritual government of Israel is the responsibility of those in spiritual authority, that is the believers and particularly those in leadership of the body of believers. The body needs understanding of its God-given authority to stand and to intercede and to live the life of the Lord. So often each little group or congregation is doing its own thing and there is a lack of unity. We need the Lord to bring us into unity around His purposes. Pray:

   • For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

     1 Corinthians 12:12

   • Raise up true leaders with Your authority. Deepen their relationship with You. Protect them from every wind of doctrine (Ephesians 4:14). Give them true discernment. Protect them physically and guard their family lives.

   • Give Your people an understanding of the awesome responsibility of intercession and may we not fear the role You have given us.

   • As those responsible for the spiritual security of our nation, make us watchful and keep us alert to the dangers.

   • Bring Your body into alignment with You and Your purposes.

   • Bring Your body under Your one authority. Guard us against building our own personal kingdoms.

   • Make us ready for whatever You are doing.

   • Bring a culture of honor and respect for one another across Your body.

   • Let there be honor given to ligaments and veins as well as to bones and organs. (see 1 Corinthians 12:23)

3. Political Government

   Recent events, particularly the formation of a "unity government" among the Palestinians have caused fragmentation within the government of Israel. Every faction wants to respond in a different way. There is much criticism of the Prime Minister and threats of bringing down the government. Pray:

   • Move Benyamin Netanyahu, Yair Lapid, Avigdor Liberman, Naftali Bennett and Tzipi Livni into Your divine alignment. Unite them around Your purposes.

   • Rebuke them, o Lord, and stop their bickering.

   • Call them to put the nation first rather than their own narrow agendas.

   • Lord, we don't need another election. Keep the government together.

4. President-elect Reuven Rivlin

   In the midst of an election process filled with allegations of sexual crimes and corrupt financial dealings, Reuven Rivlin was elected this week to be the next President of Israel. See http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/President-elect-Rivlin-loves-Jerusalem-and-Jabotinsky-opposes-Palestinian-state-355902 The media has made much of a bad relationship between Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu. Outgoing President Shimon Peres has meddled in the process of government. We need a President who will respect the proper boundaries. Pray:

   • Thank You, Lord for Reuven Rivlin's election as President. Thank You for appointing a man who loves the people and the land of Israel and does not want to see it divided. (see Joel 3:2)

   • Use Rivlin to restore respect to Israel and to the role of President.

   • Bring about a cleansing of the political system through this new President.

   • During the handover period from Peres to Rivlin, give the new President discernment regarding what to accept from Peres and what to reject.

   • Keep Rivlin in awe of the role he has been given as the representative of the nation which is Your representative on earth.

   • As we often pray for Netanyahu, so we also pray for Rivlin: The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1)

   • Heal any personal rift between the Prime Minister and the new President and equip them to work excellently together.

5. Vatican "Prayer" Meeting

   Last Sunday (Pentecost Sunday in much of the Church) Israel's outgoing President Peres met with Mahmoud Abbas and Pope Francis in the Vatican for a "prayer" meeting for peace. This inter-faith activity is pure humanism and likely to open up Israel to unknown dangers.

   • Lord, have mercy on Israel. Please annul any agreement or principle made at that meeting whether through the words or simply through the presence of the leaders involved.

   • Please hedge Shimon Peres in and prevent him from doing any more damage in the few weeks he has left as the official President.

6. Palestinian "unity"

   In the few days since the formation of this new "unity" government, there has been factional in-fighting on the streets of Gaza over salaries unpaid to Hamas workers. A rocket has been fired from Gaza into Southern Israel. Many of the dominant political voices in the world have been rushing to recognize the new government and Israel's government has been wobbling over a lack of clear response. Meanwhile it is perfectly clear that if this a unity government between Fatah and Hamas, then Hamas is surely involved in everything it does even though the people in the government are not Hamas members. Pray:

   • Lord, expose the charade of this "unity" government.

   • Give some voices in the world who will speak the truth.

   • Keep Israel's government strong in its resolve not to negotiate with this new government.

   • Give the leaders of Israel Your wisdom how to respond to renewed attacks from Gaza.

   • Give Israel's government a united and bold response to the current situation.

   • Bring Your purposes into being through this.

   • For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:9) We thank You for this, Lord!

7. Jerusalem Festival of Light

   The Old City of Jerusalem is currently drawing thousands of visitors in the evenings to its annual Festival of Light. Pray:

   • Protect all these people and keep them alert to any dangers seeking to attack the crowds.

   • Give wisdom to the security forces and keep them watchful.

   • Thank you for the beauty of the displays. May Your light be reflected more and more in public events in Your city!

   • Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights.

     James 1:17

8. Tel Aviv Festival of Darkness

   This week has been designated "Pride" Week in Tel Aviv. The gay community is seeking to make Tel Aviv one of the main venues in the world for "gay tourism". 25,000 or more additional tourists have descended on Tel Aviv for this week whose program of gay events is focused on the Gay Pride Parade taking place even as I am writing. The Tel Aviv municipality has fully endorsed and paid for much of this program.

   • Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

     1 Corinthians 6:9-10

   • Lord, have mercy on this nation in the face of this willful rebellion against You.

   • Please protect children, the young and weak and vulnerable from being seduced and sucked into this obscenity.

   • Protect any believers who have been tempted in the past or are vulnerable to this area of sin.

   • Expose this deception for what it is.

   • Put a wall of fire around Tel Aviv to protect Jerusalem and the rest of Israel being further impacted by the events of this week.

   • Call Your people, especially in Tel Aviv to recognize the authority You have given to confront this evil in prayer and even through their witnessing.

   • The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

     John 10:10

   • Expose the thief and show Yourself, o Lord!

   • Lead many to the true freedom which is in You.

   • Blow the wind of Your Holy Spirit on Tel Aviv and bring truth. (John 16:13)

9. The Church in the nations

   Jeremy, one of our directors just returned from a trip to South Korea, giving thanks for their heart for God and the openness of many to understanding more of God's purposes for Israel.

   • Lord, please grant to Your Church throughout the world more awareness of what You are doing in and through the land and people of Israel in these days.

   • Raise up those You want to send out to share this understanding of Your truth.

   • Give revelation of Your heart, o Lord.

   • Thank You for Your people in Korea - please strengthen them!

10. Benyamin Netanyahu

    Having started our time of prayer this morning in Psalm 27, we ended with a prayer from it specifically for our Prime Minister.

    • In the midst of all the pressures, all the accusations coming against Mr Netanyahu in these days would You be his light, his salvation, the strength of his life. May he have no fear because he is aware that You are indeed with him. May he hide in Your pavilion. May he truly know You. Amen.

Shabbat Shalom!