1. There was a misty gray cloudiness over Jerusalem this morning, yet on the horizon we were able to see the light of the rising sun. What a joy to be in the city of the Risen Son - the great King!

    • Great is YHWH, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in the mountain of His holiness.

      Psalm 48:1

      Yes, I have set My king on My holy hill, on Zion.

      Psalms 2:6

    • Thank You for Your faithfulness to this city, this nation and Your people.

    • We bless You for restoring Jerusalem to Israeli sovereignty (Luke 21:24b).

    • We stand amazed that we are so privileged to see Your Word come to pass right before our eyes. Thus says YHWH of Hosts: There shall yet be old men and old women living in Jerusalem's streets, each man with his staff in his hand because of old age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in them. (Zechariah 8:4-5)

    • Baruch haba b'shem Adonai - Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord (Matthew 23:39).

  2. Next Tuesday, June 30th, the final deal with Iran and the six world powers regarding Iran's nuclear program is supposed to be signed. While that date might be extended, reports of what's in the deal is mind-blowing. The P5+1 nations are even talking about upgrading Iran's nuclear equipment!

    • Lord, we are seeing an example of this word coming to pass: Judgment is driven back, and justice stands afar off; for truth has fallen in the street, and right cannot enter. Yes, truth fails; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. (Isaiah 59:14-15a)

    • You see this as well, so please watch over Isaiah 59:15b-19: YHWH saw and it displeased Him that there was no judgment. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. So His own arm brought Him salvation; and His righteousness sustained Him. He put on righteousness like a breastplate, a helmet of salvation on His head…the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was covered with zeal like a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay; fury to His foes, deed for deed to His enemies…So they shall fear the name of YHWH from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of YHWH shall lift up a banner against him. (cp. Isaiah 42:13)

    • Abba, we plead with You to intervene and scuttle this deal of appeasement with this evil Iranian regime.

    • Lord, deal with the greed and pride of the nations that are behind this agreement (Isaiah 56:11). Esther the queen answered…If I have found favor in your sight, O king…let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request, for we are sold…to be destroyed, killed, and to perish. (Esther 7:3-4a)

    • Thank You for the US President Obama's former aides who have challenged him and Secretary of State Kerry that the current deal does not reach the P5+1 goals that were set for the negotiations.

    • Thank You also for the Iranian leaders and parliament openly declaring their extreme demands.

    • Let the world powers see that there is no way that they should agree with them.

    • Stiffen the neck of the already reluctant French Foreign Minister to not bow to this dangerous deal.

    • YHWH brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He breaks the plots of the people. The counsel of Jehovah stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.

      Psalms 33:10-11

    • Abba, it is never too late for You (Psalm 124:6-8). Arise - for Your name and Your nation's sake.

    • Lord, if there is a higher purpose You have for letting this deal to go through, we trust You and would only ask that You show it to us so that we can pray in line with Your will (Isaiah 55:8-9; Amos 3:7).

    • Lord, we lift up our Iranian brothers and sisters in Messiah. Wake them up to the seriousness of this hour to the very life of their nation and aid them to intercede in line with Your will (1 John 5:14-15).

    • Show them that their religious and governmental leaders are attacking You (Psalm 83:1-5).

  3. We prayed for Israel to know what to do if and when the final P5+1 deal is signed.

    • God, if You want to use Israel as Your weapon of war (Jeremiah 51:19-24), let there be no hesitation, but let any attack be done in Your timing and with Your tactics.

    • Thank You that even the head of the opposition, Isaac Herzog, is in agreement with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu that this deal is a bad deal.

    • Knit Bibi, Defense Minister Ya'alon and the IDF Chief of Staff Eisenkot into a strong threefold cord.

    • Overshadow all of Israel's security cabinet meetings. Make them like the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times they lived in and wisdom of what Israel needed to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

    • Protect them from a spirit of panic or hesitation.

    • Give to Israel strategies for the attack and strategies for the day after.

  4. On July 4th, the Shabbat Torah portion (Numbers 22:2-25:9), is all about Balaam - the prophet for profit who wanted to curse Israel but was forbidden by God from doing so. That is the portion that covers next week - when the P5+1 deal is supposed to be completed.

    • Lord, as You did in the past, send forth the Angel of the Lord to stop this cursed deal (Numbers 22:22).

    • Speak though animals if need be to get the attention of some of these proud diplomats (Numbers 22:28).

    • Lord, whatever happens, please turn any curse Iran has in store for Israel into a blessing, because of Your love and covenant commitment to this land and people.

    • YHWH your God would not listen to Balaam, but YHWH your God turned the curse to a blessing to you, because YHWH your God loved you.

      Deuteronomy 23:25

  5. We then interceded for Netanyahu and many other Israeli leaders.

    • Lord, thank You for giving Bibi the courage to speak non-politically correct truth.

    • Fill the mouths of all of Israel's representatives with truth (Psalm 81:10).

    • Let Bibi's words to the Jewish Agency representatives be their motto: Do not be politically correct. Just be correct! And help us to apply it to ourselves as well.

    • Make him as courageous to act as he is to speak (Joshua 1:18b).

    • If Israel's prime minister does not know You, Messiah Yeshua, reveal Yourself now (Zechariah 12:10).

    • Anoint Bibi for all that he needs to be at this time in history (Psalm 80:17).

    • Shield him from any and all plans against him. O Lord, how my foes have increased! Many are the ones who rise up against me. Many are saying of my soul, there is no hope for him in God. Selah. But You, YHWH, are a shield for me; my glory, the One who lifts up my head. (Psalms 3:1-3)

    • Raise up a foreign minister whom Netanyahu can trust and who also has an anointing for the post.

    • Thank You for the courage of Michael Oren - to write his book Ally, about the troubled Obama-Israel ties and to rush to have it published now - before the Iranian deal is completed.

  6. There is another 'freedom flotilla' on its way, trying to break Israel's lawful blockade of Gaza - placed there to prevent weapons smuggling. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, of which this is in the same niche, really does not care about the Palestinians - only about how to hurt Israel, or dare we say, the Jews. After all, did the BDS/flotilla groups even protest against Syria's Assad when he slaughtered thousands of Palestinians in the Yarmouk refugee camp several months ago? (Oh, did you not hear about it? Apparently, if Jews are not doing the killing, as far as the mainstream media and Western nations are concerned, then Arabs killing Arabs is not really worth getting worked up over.)

    • Lord, watch over this Word against this flotilla: They see the works of YHWH and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up. (Psalms 107:24-27; cp. Jonah 1:4)

    • Give Israel's naval commandos courage to do whatever is needed to protect this nation.

    • Help Israel's Foreign Ministry to have all of its PR preparations ready for whatever the result of stopping this ridiculous and wicked flotilla. [Why ridiculous? Israel is the nation that is sending in the most supplies to help rebuild Gaza!]

    • For Your sake, do not allow another fiasco like the previous flotilla several years ago. Not to us, O YHWH, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and for Your truth's sake. Why should the nations say, Where now is their God? But our God is in Heaven; He has done whatever He has pleased. (Psalms 115:1-3)

  7. We prayed for Israel's security over Ramadan.

    • Lord, reveal Yourself to many Muslims during this time of fasting and feasting.

    • Thwart all terror attacks that are planned against this nation (Jeremiah 31:10).

    • We ask for special protection for the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be inhabited, as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle in her midst. And I, says YHWH, will be to her a wall of fire all around, and will be the glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:4-5)

    • Impart to all of Israel's security forces alertness, courage, wisdom and protection.

    • Lord, begin to restrain the spirit of violence. Violence will no more be heard in your land, wasting nor ruin within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise. (Isaiah 60:18)

  8. Aliyah - the ingathering of the Jews from exile to Israel - is becoming more of a priority with each passing week, as it is getting very dangerous out there. The spirit of anti-Semitism, masquerading as anti-Zionism, is seeking to devour all the Jews it can. Other than what we see in Esther, the rest of Scripture promises God's protection for His people in His land. Exile is God's ultimate judgment on the nation of Israel for its sins. Also, the Church needs to receive the burden of the Lord to understand that aliyah is central to God's end-time prophetic plans.

    • Lord, what will it take to wake up the five plus million Jews in America to see the need to come home today? Whatever it will be, have as much mercy as possible - yet bring Your people back from the West.

    • Thus says YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I will save My people from the east country, and from the west.

      Zechariah 8:7

    • Lord, use the younger generation to return and provoke their elders to jealousy.

    • Use Michael Oren's book to both wake up and shake up America's mostly liberal Jewish community.

    • Raise up true prophetic voices in the Western Church who will encourage Christians to help the Jews come back and will also warn their nations to not touch the apple of God's eye (Zechariah 2:8).

    • Lord, speak to Messianic Jews that the return to Zion includes them. And the ransomed of YHWH shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10; cp. 51:11)

    • Aid the new Interior Minister Silvan Shalom to open wide the doors of this land to all Jews - regardless of what they believe (Isaiah 62:10).

    • We bless You for the return of the Beni Menashi, Jews from India, as almost 80 arrived this past week. Keep them coming until there are none remaining outside of this land.

    • Bless mightily all of the Christians, churches and organizations that have this burden and are giving of their time, effort and finances to help Your people to return.

  9. We closed our time by revisiting the Iranian negotiations - but this time asking God to give the Israeli Body a burden to pray into this during their meetings over this weekend. Please pray both for that, and ask God to also wake up the believers in your land to this very dangerous deal.

Shabbat shalom and thank you,

The IFI team

Hodu l'Adonai ki tov, ki l'olam chasdo; Give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His covenant-love endures forever

Psalm118:1; 136:1, 26