We began by affirming that for us to pray in line with God's will (1 John 5:14-15), we need to know His will and that means to know His word. We are very concerned that so many believers today see "doctrine" – which basically means "teaching" – as only for theologians or pastors. Yet, it was a top priority to the early believers.
Then those who gladly received [Peter's] word were immersed in water…about 3,000 souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:41-42Abba, thank You for Your Word – both the written and the Living Word, Messiah Yeshua (John 1:1).
Your Word is truth (John 17:17). How we thank You for being very clear about the truth in these days
What a blessing to have Your Word in our hearts (Psalm 40:8; Jeremiah 31:33) and in our hands.
Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.
Psalms 119:105For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.
Psalms 36:9Because of who You are, we know that Your Word is the same – yesterday, today and forever.
Amen!Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.
Mark 13:31
We interceded for Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu (1 Timothy 2:1-4). This past week, the influential Herzliya Conference has been held in Israel, and many of the speakers – politicians, both past and present, and ex-IDF generals – have bashed Netanyahu as being the reason why Israel is doing so poorly at home and internationally. Although "doing poorly" is a factual lie, these poisonous arrows must have a negative impact on Bibi. So we stood in the gap between him and the arrows in prayer.
Lord, we thank You for raising up Netanyahu to lead Israel at this time (Daniel 2:21).
While Bibi is far from perfect, we bless You for the overall good job he has done to guide this nation.
We also bless Netanyahu in the name of his Messiah – Yeshua, Israel's true King (Proverbs 18:10).
Lord, [Netanyahu's] foes have increased! Many are rising up against [him]. Many are saying of [his] soul, 'There is no help for him in God'. Selah. But You, Lord, are a shield for [him]; the glory, and the One who lifts up [his] head.
based on Psalms 3:1-3Abba, protect his heart from the demonic arrows of the enemy of his soul (Psalm 57:1-4).
Use these attacks to draw Bibi to Messiah.
Hide not Your face from Your servant; for I am in trouble; hear me quickly. Draw near my soul; redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies.
(Psalms 69:17-18).Do not allow these unwarranted accusations distract him from the real dangers Israel is facing today.
Surround Netanyahu with encouragers and wise counselors (Deuteronomy 3:28; Proverbs 11:14; 15:22).
Provide him with a deep shalom at home (Isaiah 26:3-4).
Protect and heal Netanyahu completely – body, soul and spirit.
Enable him to have this type of response to this past week's attacks:
If possible, as far as is in you, live in peace with all, not avenging yourself, but giving place to anger, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord'. Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For in so doing you shall heap coals of fire on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:18-21)
Most Israelis have seen through both the media manipulation and political mudslinging, and understood the reality that Israel faces. Yet a continual onslaught of witchcraft and lies can eventually seep in and distort this truth. So we prayed next for the people of Israel.
Amen!Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What God has worked!
Numbers 23:23Abba, continue to give to Your people wisdom to discern truth from lies.
Help them to read beyond just the headlines to the rest of the story.
Wake up more Israeli rabbis to warn their sheep about the deceptive dangers that are attacking Israel.
Israel,
Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen on you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but YHWH shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.
(Isaiah 60:1-2)Pour out that biblical fear of Yourself on this nation this weekend.
The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverbs 1:7)
It grieves us that ex-IDF generals, who once worked very amicably with Netanyahu, leave their position and, maybe with an eye on getting into politics or making a name for themselves, turn on and speak against Bibi as if he were the greatest danger to the very life of this nation. This must also distract current IDF leaders from fully focusing on their jobs, especially when these ex-officers are saying that Israel is not now facing any existential danger or a threat of war.
Lord, help Israelis to reject this dangerous flip-flopping of ex-army officers (Jeremiah 8:11).
Keep all of the people of Israel alert to respond to either terrorism or wars in an appropriate manner.
Help Israelis be prepared but not frightened (Isaiah 41:10-14).
Do not allow this to make active IDF officers become double-minded.
Expose all transfers of game-changing weapons to any of Israel's enemies – like Hizbullah or Hamas.
Tear down in the minds of those responsible, all false ideas about what Israel's enemies are planning.
In that day I will make the governors [allufim – in modern Hebrew – generals] of Judah like a hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among cut grain. And they shall devour all the peoples all around…And Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her place, in Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:6
The evidence on the ground is that the current group of IDF officers sees the real dangers and is doing whatever it takes to prepare to deal with and defeat them. Right now, major terraforming is happening on Israel's northern border, specifically with Lebanon, to make it much harder for Hizbullah to attack Israel's north. And the IDF is considering building a concrete wall along the Gaza border in the south that is proposed to be both above and deep below the ground.
Almighty Lord of hosts, aid the IDF to fight the next war – and not the last one (Isaiah 41:15-16).
May all the preparation, both north and south, that needs to be done – be done in good time.
May all the preparation that does not need to be done – be halted and all the time, efforts and finances be used for the needed preparations.
By Your Spirit, be active in all IDF deliberations concerning the protection of this nation.
The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but safety is from YHWH.
(Proverbs 21:31)Prepare Israeli civilians living on the borders as well
But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
(Nehemiah 4:9).Abba, please send angelic protection to guard our borders and to prevent any kidnappings, shootings or terrorist attacks from being successful (Psalm 35:5-7).
Whatever is lacking in Israel's terror tunnel detection system, help quickly to fill that lack.
Blessed is YHWH my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.
Psalms 144:1
We prayed for more prayer groups along all of Israel's borders. As in most of the West, so in Israel, the hardest meeting in congregational life to draw people to is the intercessory prayer meetings. There were some other issues that came up as we interceded of Messiah's Israeli Congregation.
Lord Yeshua, place a burden to intercede on the hearts and minds of the Israeli Body's elders.
Call on Me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
Psalms 50:15May we do that which You told us to do – watch and pray (Mark 13:33-37).
Show us clearly that our prayers do indeed delight the heart of the Father.
The sacrifice of the wicked is a hateful thing to YHWH, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
(Proverbs 15:8)Protect Messiah's Body from all end-time deceptions that infiltrate Israel's spiritual scene (Mark 13:5-6).
Help Your Body to see that one of the most loving things we can do is to test the spirits (1 John 4:1)!
Do not despise prophesying. Test all things, hold fast to the good.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21
The recent Orlando terrorist massacre has exposed a number of disturbing issues. As opposed to focusing on the real threat – Koranic Islamic fundamentalism – most Western leaders and many in the Church are diverting attention away from this to other issues. They focus on gun-control, or homophobia, or Donald Trump, or the Israeli occupation. Hardly anyone states the truth that today the West is in a war. Instead, folks say almost anything to avoid offending the very people who are trying to convert or kill all infidels and conquer the world for Allah. Another issue is the global acceptance of a gay lifestyle as something normal and even pleasing to any god who is loving.
Lord, Your Body needs help to steer through these dangerous rapids of political correctness and to have the courage to speak Your truth in love.
Lord, aid us
so that we be no longer infants, tossed to and fro, carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit. But that [we], speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up unto Him who is the Head, even Messiah;
(Ephesians 4:14-15)Impart to Your Body the courage to be biblically correct in all things (John 17:17).
Strip the love of money from Your Body, so that we dare not say that which is politically incorrect for fear of losing our tax-exempt status or even losing many in our congregations (1 Timothy 6:10).
Replacement theory brings a curse on those who spread it – since they are cursing Israel (Genesis 12:3). Lord, cleanse Your Body from this and restore the truth about Israel and Your promises to it.
[Church,] do not boast against the branches [the people of Israel]. But if you boast, it is not you that bears the root, but the root [God's promises to the forefathers (Romans 15:8)] bears you.
Romans 11:18Bring believers back under the plumb line of Your Word (Psalm 33:4; 119:43; 2 Timothy 2:15).
Pour out upon us the boldness of the early believers:
But Peter and John answered and said to them, 'Whether it is right before God to obey you more than to God, you judge. Yet we cannot but speak of the things which we have seen and heard'.
(Acts 4:19-20);And now, Lord, behold their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your Word,
(Acts 4:29)Give us grace to deal with all sinners – whatever their sexual preference, their religious background, etc. – in the same loving fashion in which Yeshua dealt with the sinners in His days (Matthew 9:10-13).
Today is another Islamic day of prayer in Ramadan, their holy month. So far, this month has been a terror-filled, blood-filled "celebration" for them. If this is how Muslims honor in their god…
Lord, hover over Jerusalem this day and fight for it (Isaiah 31:5).
Give much wisdom and courage to Israel's security forces for the rest of Ramadan.
Yeshua, as You did in the time of Your earthly sojourn, walk upon the Temple Mount again – revealing Yourself to the huge number of Muslim worshippers who will be there today (Matthew 21:14).
Abba, we thank You for the reports of the Muslims who have come to Yeshua recently. During this month, pluck many more from the power of darkness into the Your Son's Kingdom (Colossians 1:12-13).
Use the recent attacks in Paris, Brussels, Tel Aviv, San Bernardino, Orlando, Damascus, Beirut, Bagdad, etc. to wake up "moderate" Muslims to finally see that this is not a god whom they want to serve.
Open up eyes and deliver all Jews and Christians who think and say that the Allah of the Koran is the same as the God of the Scriptures. Tear down this blasphemous lie against Your Word and character.
We also prayed about the Brexit referendum that is being held in the UK next Thursday, the 23rd. We asked God to aid the UK Church to know how to pray and how to vote. We also asked Him to prepare Israel for the day following as whatever happens, it will impact the globe.
Much blessings and thanks from Zion
Shabbat shalom
The IFI team
Blessed be YHWH out of Zion, who dwells at Jerusalem.
Psalms 135:21
Hallelujah!