1. To begin, we read the following verses from Shabbat's prophetic portion:
  • But do not fear, My servant Jacob, and be not afraid, Israel. For, behold, I will save you from afar off, and your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return and be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Do not fear, Jacob My servant, says YHWH, for I am with you. I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, but I will not make a full end of you, but correct you in measure; yet I will not leave you wholly unpunished.
Jeremiah 46:27-28
  • Thank You for being faithful to fulfill Your Word (Isaiah 55:11; Jeremiah 1:12).
  • We bless You for telling us so often to Fear not!
  • And we thank You for so often giving us the reason for not fearing: You are with us! (Matthew 28:20b).
  • Blessed righteous and holy God, we trust You to do that which is best for Your glory. Father, glorify Your name! …I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. (John 12:28)
  • Hallelujah! Your grace and goodness are renewed to us every morning (Lamentations 3:222-23).
  • We know that nothing takes You by surprise - so we rest in Your sovereignty (Psalm 103:19).
  • Thank You so much for answering only those prayers that are in line with Your will (1 John 5:14-15).
2. While Israel is blessed to have as its leader Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, after him it has a lack in real leadership. Yet God has made promises that that will not always be the story.
  • And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. Isaiah 1:26
  • I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and will bring them again to their fold…and I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them. They shall fear no more, nor be afraid; nor shall they lack anything, says YHWH. Jeremiah 23:3-4; cp. 3:14-15
  • Lord, please raise up in Israel more statesmen and less politicians.
  • We do thank You for Netanyahu and ask for Your richest blessings and guidance upon him. The king's heart is in the hand of YHWH as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will. (Proverbs 21:1)
  • Abba, surround him with all the godly counselors he needs at this time (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22).
  • Thank You for Dore Gold, the Director General of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
  • Protect the close relationship between Gold and Netanyahu and use it for Your glory.
  • As per Your word in Ezekiel 34, remove all the false shepherds abusing Your people - and do it soon.
  • If in fact Arye Deri does resume his post as head of the Interior Ministry, hedge him in.
  • If this is not Your will, use the Israeli Supreme Court to make a righteous judgement to keep him out.
  • If Deri will be a stumbling stone in the path of Your people - remove him. (Isaiah 62:10).
3. Today is when sanctions are to be removed from Iran. It will receive about $150 billion in sanctions relief in the very near future. It has not mattered to the nations that Iran tested ballistic missiles or had a nuclear weapons program, or that it captured and humiliated 10 US Navy sailors. All that matters is for Iran to be welcomed back into the global community. Yet insanity has overtaken the nations as just when Iran is having sanctions removed, more nations and organizations boycott Israel! We asked God to give Israel's leaders wisdom and guidance on how they should respond to this dangerous threat.
  • Lord, help Israeli leaders to know what to say and what not to say (Psalm 141:3).
  • For all those responsible for Israel's security, we pray over them:There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of YHWH shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21)
  • Impart to Israel's leaders a godly boldness and remove all pride.
  • Abba, do a miracle and bring all of Israel's responsible leaders into one accord (1 Chronicles 12:38).
  • Aid Israel's spies, collaborators and its intelligence gathering devices, to gather accurate, actionable intelligence and to know to whom it should be given.
  • Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His… He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.Daniel 2:20-22
  • Lord, as You own all the silver and gold (Haggai 2:8), please oversee the distribution of the funds Iran will get so that it goes to those Iranians who are in great need and block it from furthering the Iranian leaders plans to increase their military might and sponsorship of terrorism worldwide.
  • We thank You for answering our prayers for Iran's leaders to make major geo-political mistakes - yet obviously, we forgot to ask that the world would actually respond in a righteous manner to them.
  • So Lord, wake up the world's leaders to Iran's nefarious plans and its testing the limits of what it can do.
4. We prayed for Israel's security - especially in the north. Remember, we pray into this because for all Israel to be saved - they need to be alive!
  • Abba, You said in Joel 2:17-21, as we cry out for You to spare Your people, You then deal with the threat from the north. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice. For YHWH will do great things. (Joel 2:21)
  • Expose all the details of Hizbullah's arsenal in both Lebanon and in Syria.
  • Send a plague upon its armaments - mechanic failures, computer errors, and erosion of parts.
  • Confound these haters of Zion and set them upon each other (2 Chronicles 20:22-23; Psalm 129:5).
  • Arise and scatter Your enemy who are continually cursing Your people (Numbers 23:8-9; Psalm 68:1).
  • You who love YHWH, hate evil; He keeps the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.Psalms 97:10 Amen!
  • Continue to give the Israeli Air Force the ability to attack all game-changing weapons transfers from the Syrian battleground to Hizbullah (Isaiah 31:5).
  • Show Israel if the rumor that Russia is giving Hizbullah access to all of its weapons is true or not - and if true, what Israel needs to do about it.
  • Against the 100,000+ rockets and missiles Hizbullah has pointed at Israel, we pray, You shall not fear the terror by night, or of the arrow that flies by day…A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; yet it shall not come near you.(Psalms 91:5, 7)
  • Against Hizbullah, we pray, God, make them…like stubble before the wind. As fire burns a forest, and as flame sets the mountains on fire, so pursue them with Your tempest, and make them afraid with Your storm. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, YHWH. Let them be ashamed and troubled forever; let them be put to shame, and perish - so men may know that Your name is YHWH, that You alone are the Most High over all the earth. (Psalms 83:13-18)
  • Lord, forgive Israel for retreating from Southern Lebanon, a part of the Promised Land.
  • We Israelis confess that this was a grievous sin in Your sight, and ask that the next time Your return it to us, You would make it impossible for us to give it away again.
5. Aliyah and klitah - the immigration and absorption of the Jews in exile - was our next prayer target. While there is an increase in Jews returning home, the struggle to find jobs, homes and to learn the language is a real battle that needs to be surrounded by the intercession of the saints.
  • Lord, we thank You for the increase in aliyah (Isaiah 43:5-7).
  • You are in truth, building Jerusalem and gathering her outcasts (Psalm 147:2).
  • We are so blessed to see the streets again full of both the aged and the children (Zechariah 8:4-5).
  • Abba, we ask for another increase in aliyah in 2016.
  • Place a supernatural love for this land in the hearts of many Jews in exile (Isaiah 62:4-5).
  • Place a deep desire to return to Zion on the hearts of the next generation of Jews (Jeremiah 50:4-5).
  • As Jews this Shabbat worship You in synagogues or Messianic Assemblies, speak to them these verses: How shall we sing YHWH's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. (Psalms 137:4-5)
  • Lord, please increase the aliyah from Ukraine, Ethiopia, and the EU. [Pray for your own birth-nation.]
  • Use the results of the next US presidential elections to cause many American Jews to move here!
  • Lord, give much wisdom to the Israeli government on the best way to aid in the klitah process.
  • Help Israelis develop and approve real plans to lower the cost of living and increase salaries.
  • Clear out all bureaucratic stones of stumbling from Jews returning to Israel who struggle to have their college/university degrees recognized here.
  • Open wide the doors for them to work in their trained profession.
  • Remove all false expectations from the new immigrants (Job 17:11; Psalm 34:7).
  • Help them to understand and accept that they are moving their life here - not their lifestyle.
  • For all Israelis who are now living in exile - bring them back home.
  • Remove the effects of trauma suffered by many of them -by war, terror, economic struggles, etc.
  • If you are driven out into the outermost parts of the heavens, YHWH your God will gather you from there, and He will bring you from there. YHWH your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. And He will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers. And YHWH your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love YHWH your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. Deuteronomy 30:4-6
  • We bless You for all the Christian organizations who You have raised up to carry Your people back home (Isaiah 49:22).
  • Abba, as Ebenezer Emergency Fund is having their 25th anniversary conference this week in Jerusalem, we simply ask for You to speak clearly to them and bless their time here abundantly.
6. This past week, the Methodist Church in America voted to boycott all Israeli banks. This is one more sign of that end-time falling away from the faith that God warns us of (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Not only is this a falling away from God's Word, it is also a departure from the faith and theological outlook of John and Charles Wesley, the Methodist Church's founders. They were Zionists who saw clearly that the Jews needed to return to Israel before the return of Yeshua to earth [http://tinyurl.com/zj46rp2].
  • Lord, isn't this enough? Speak to the true believers still in denominations that curse Your people that now is the time to Flee Babylon and live (Jeremiah 51:6).
  • Unless You direct them to stay, may the default position of all true believers be to leave all groups and churches that turn their back on Israel.
  • Cut all bondages of denominations and false loyalties to all but to the King of the Jews, Yeshua.
  • Abba, aid believers to see that there is often another Jesus, another gospel and another spirit preached in churches that reject Israel's restoration today and/or preach replacement theology (2 Corinthians 11:4).
  • As these church groups try to hurt Israel's finances, deal with their finances (Genesis 12:3a).
  • Some are real believers who believe this lie. Set them free (John 8:32; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).
7. We ended by praying about Israel's internal security situation. While things have calmed down a bit, there are still daily attacks against Israelis by knife-wielding terrorists. Occasionally, weapons fire is also used against the Jews.
  • Lord, thank You for protecting Israelis lives (Psalm 121:4).
  • Thank You for aiding the security forces to be better at stopping terrorists (Isaiah 41:10-16).
  • Continue to give the security forces wisdom and discernment to tell the difference between terrorist and innocent Palestinians and Israeli Arabs.
  • Lord, expose and stop all Jewish Terror groups before they blaspheme Your name by acts of terror.
  • Enable Israel's security forces to do their job efficiently so that citizens do not feel that they need to take the law in their own hands (Ecclesiastes 8:11; Romans 13:3-4).
Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion The IFI team
For YHWH has chosen Jacob to Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure. For I know that YHWH is great, and our YHWH is above all gods. Everything YHWH pleased, He did in the heavens and in earth… Psalms 135:4-6a