1. To start, we read the following verses from Shabbat's prophetic portion.
    • If a shofar is blown in a city, will the people not tremble? If there is a calamity in a city, has YHWH not done it? For the Lord YHWH will do nothing unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord YHWH has spoken; who will not prophesy? Amos 3:6-8
    • We praise and thank You who are the King of glory (Psalm 24:7-10).
    • Be exalted, Messiah Yeshua, in our midst. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. (Revelation 5:12)
    • Hallelujah, for the Lord God Almighty reigns (Revelation 19:6b).
    • We give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His mercy is everlasting (Psalm 136:1-3; 26).
    • We are so encouraged that there are never any emergencies in heaven (Psalm 103:19)!
    • We are also encouraged that nothing I hidden from Your sight (Psalm 139:12).
    • Hallelujah! We serve a risen Savior who rules the world today (Matthew 28:18).
  2. As per God's instructions in 1st Timothy 2:1-4, we first interceded for the government. With the current rise in terrorism in Israel, the government is under great pressure to do something more than what they are doing. We are not sure what that could be, but if there is something more that God wants to see from Israel's leaders, then we want that as well.
    • Abba, if there is something more You are wanting from the government, please speak clearly to them and give them the wisdom and courage to carry it out (Romans 13:3-4).
    • We do thank You for what they are already doing to protect this nation.
    • Impart a real strategy from on high - and not just a reaction to each individual terror attack.
    • We thank You that the majority of attacks are unsuccessful (Psalm 121:4).
    • Lord, move upon the government to call this nation to prayer. Call on Me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. (Psalms 50:15)
    • Enable judgement on evil-doers to come much more swiftly (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
    • If house demolitions and removal of citizenship or other privileges is really effective, then let them be increased. If not, then give our leaders other methods of deterrence that will be effective.
    • May Israel's new police commissioner, Roni Alsheich, be all that You created him to be (Isaiah 43:7).
    • We bless You for Israel's physical intercessors - the police and all its other security forces.
  3. As bad as the headlines make Israel's current situation, in reality, this is one of the safest places in the world to live. Yesterday, there were three unsuccessful terror attacks. How many big cities in the West would love to be able to say, "Yesterday, there were only three murders in our city"? Think of what has happened recently in Paris, San Bernardino, Beirut, Mali, etc. Yet Jews in exile are afraid to come home. Both terrorism and random violence are staking the streets of the cities of the world - yet here in Israel we do feel safer than when we travel. So we blessed God for this reality, and also prayed for an increase in aliyah, the immigration of the Jews from exile to Israel.
    • Abba, thank You for although You scattered Israel, You are this very day regathering it and guarding over it as its Great Shepherd (Jeremiah 31:10).
    • Bless You for making Israel safer for Your people today than even in the West.
    • Lord, open up the eyes of the Jews in exile whose only excuse for not returning to Israel is, "But it is dangerous!" Help them see that this is not a realistic excuse anymore.
    • God, for the million or so Israelis who live outside this land, speak deeply to them that now is the time for them and their families to return home.
    • In those days, and at that time, says YHWH, the sons of Israel…and the sons of Judah together…shall seek YHWH their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, facing that way, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to YHWH in an everlasting covenant never to be forgotten. Jeremiah 50:4-5
    • Thank You Lord for an increase in the numbers of Jews returning from France, Belgium, Ukraine and other Western nations. We see this as a specific answer to prayer and bless You for being faithful.
    • May many more return before the hunters of Jeremiah 16:16 multiply.
    • Provoke all the Jews of the former Soviet Union who are now living in the EU to return to Zion.
    • Lord, cut any ties and bondages that trap Your people in a strange land - especially do this with our Messianic brothers and sisters (Isaiah 35:10; 51:11).
    • We thank You for the decision to allow over 9,000 more Ethiopian Jews to come home. If there are more there than that, may all the Jews in that nation be welcomed to Israel.
    • Aid the Israeli government to work economic miracles so that the high cost of living in Your land will be brought down to reasonable levels (Jeremiah 32:41-44).
    • I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you…Behold, I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the corners of the earth… a great company shall return there. Jeremiah 31:3, 8
    • Lord Yeshua, place aliyah as a major burden on the heart of Your Body worldwide (Isaiah 49:22).
  4. As with all nations that are established through immigration from other nations, it is the children of the immigrants who blend together much easier in unity. In Israel, we have a specific place that this happens most often - the IDF - the Israel Defense Force.
    • Lord, we are so thankful that besides being a fulfillment of prophecy (Ezekiel 37:10), the IDF is an excellent 'melting pot' for Israel's many diverse communities to learn about each other and become one.
    • May there be relationships with eternal consequences between many soldiers and the believers who also serve in the IDF (Romans 11:11-14).
    • Lord, watch over the lone soldiers who come to Israel without any family - in order to serve this nation in the army. Thank You thank so many of them decide to stay in Israel.
    • Abba, bring a deep desire to read and know Your Word to Israel's modern-day warriors (Psalm 119:18).
    • I laid down and slept. I awoke, for YHWH kept me. I am not afraid of ten thousands of people who have set against me all around. Arise, O YHWH; save me, O my God… Psalms 3:5-7a
    • Empower our young soldiers to be alert and know who are terrorists and who are innocent bystanders.
    • We bless You for all of the non-Jewish citizens of Israel who are in the IDF to protect this, their nation - the Arab Christians, the Bedouin, the Druze and even some Muslim Israelis.
  5. The chaos once known as Syria was our next prayer item. As more nations get involved and more people die, this is looking more and more like a fulfillment of prophecy - although we are not sure which one/ones. Could it be Psalm 83, or Jeremiah 49:23-27, which might lead to Isaiah 17:1? Or is this an Ezekiel 38-39 foreshadow? It might be all, or none, of the above. Still, praying for Israel and for God to use this to bring the spirit of Islam down, are areas in which we have complete freedom in prayer.
    • Lord, thank You for the clear channels of communication militarily that Israel has with Russia.
    • Protect this relationship - but do not allow Israel to put its trust in Russia (cp. Isaiah 31:1-9).
    • Continue to use Russia's Putin for all that You have created him for - whatever that may end up being.
    • Thank You for Israel's freedom to still target weapons transfers from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon.
    • Use this to break the Shi'ite Crescent - from Iran, through Iraq, Syria and to Hizbullah in Lebanon.
    • Lord, protect Israel - especially those living in the north - from all the chaos in Syria. For YHWH is our shield; yes, our King is the Holy One of Israel. (Psalms 89:18)
    • Continue to confound all those who hate this nation and the Jewish people (Psalm 35:4; 129:5).
    • Continue to drain the strength and determination out of Israel's enemies by having them fight each other.
    • Make Syria the grave of Hizbullah as a terror group. Frustrate and decimate them there (Psalm 35:5-8).
    • Lord, with Muslim fighting Muslim, we remind You that You said a house divided against itself cannot stand (Luke 11:17-18). So use this Syrian mess to bring down the principality of Islam over the Middle East - and set Muslims free, saving multitudes of them.
    • Prevent Israel from getting sucked into Syria - unless it is 101% Your will.
  6. The BDS - boycott, sanctions and divestment - movement against Israel is in reality a war. The word to describe this type of warfare is "lawfare". Yet please know that Israel's international standing is doing very well, with excellent relations with India and China, that is, 40% of the world's population! It also has good relations with many African and East European nations, as well as America and Canada. As God curses those who curse Israel, we could see the economies of nations involved with this boycott sinking. Meanwhile, as Greece, Hungary and possibly Germany refuse to insist on labeling products made in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, and the Golan as "made in Israeli settlements", their economies most likely will be blessed.
    • Thank You Lord, for the strong relationship Israel has with many nations outside of the Western world.
    • Lord, give Israel wisdom to know how to fight this battle (Proverbs 20:18).
    • We ask for an exposing of the Nazi roots of this boycott movement.
    • Bless You for the individual states in America who made it illegal to be involved in boycotting Israel.
    • Abba, deal with the EU's economy and unity as they are coming against Your nation's economy and unity (Numbers 24:9b).
    • Wake up the Church in all nations who are boycotting Israel to see the dangers that their political leaders are leading them into - and to stand in the gap for their nations (Ezekiel 22:30-31).
    • May many Christians start specifically buying "Blue & White" - i.e., Israeli - products.
    • Cause there to be an increased demand throughout the world for products made in Israeli 'settlements'.
    • But 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 23:5
  7. With Chanukah starting this Sunday evening, we finished by praying for this season of light to open the eyes of many Israelis and Jews to the Light of the World, our Messiah Yeshua (John 12:46). Thank you for continuing to pray with us that all Israel will be saved (Zechariah 12:10).
Shabbat shalom and Chanukat sameach, The IFI team
For my eyes have seen Your Salvation which You have prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel. Luke 2:30-32