1. Praise:

    This Shabbat is in the midst of the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths – Sukkot in Hebrew. The prophetic portion is the 14th chapter of Zechariah as verse 16 refers to Sukkot after the Lord's return. It shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up yearly to worship the King, YHWH of hosts, and to keep Sukkot. (Zech. 14:16)

    • Thank You Lord that even in the Tanach – the Old Testament – Zechariah 14:16 and other verses clearly reveal that the coming Messiah will be YHWH in the flesh (Isa. 9:6; Jer. 23:6). [For an in-depth study on this]

    • Abba, we bless You that the gospel of John tells us that the Word of God came to dwell, that is to "tabernacle," among us, revealing God's grace and truth (John 1:14, 18).

    • Yeshua Lord, we praise You that by Your Spirit and in Your grace You have imparted to us faith to trust in You and thus as You said on the last day of Sukkot, that great day of the Feast, out of our inner most beings flow rivers of living waters (John 7:38-39).

    • You are often seen as a God of judgment and wrath in the Tanach, yet when telling Israel how You want it to celebrate Sukkot, You command it to rejoice (Lev. 23:40; Deut. 16:15)! Hallelujah!

    • Despite the angst we feel seeing the nations coming against Jerusalem today, yet we rejoice that this is a definitive sign that Your return, Messiah Yeshua, draws near (Zech. 12:2-3; 14:1-4; Rev. 22:17).

  2. Government & society:

    Many in Israel question, or like me, are very concerned with, US President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza, yet all Israel wants to see the hostages returned. The ceasefire was approved by Israel's government late last night and so within the next few days, we are supposed to see all of the 20 living and 28 dead hostages returned. I will believe it after it happens.

    • Lord Yeshua, You have all authority on the earth today (Matt. 28:18), and we trust You – not Israel's leaders – so please continue guiding us as we intercede (Prov. 16:9).

    • God, we are unsure of this Trump deal, yet use it to rejoin the hostages with their loved ones (Prov. 13:12), and remove the snare of the hostages from off of Israeli society (Psa. 124:1-8).

    • Lord God, with a ceasefire having been agreed upon, force all those people and nations who pressed Israel to do this to now press Hamas to release all of the hostages without delay (Isa. 49:24-26).

    • Forbid Hamas from using the corpses of hostages to again manipulate Israeli society (Psa. 18:26b).

    • Prepare all of Israel's medical personnel who will deal with the living hostages who return, as well as dealing with the families who receive back only corpses (Ex. 15:26b; Psa. 6:2).

    • Abba, we pray for protection, wisdom, and unity for Israel's current coalition as they maneuver through this diplomatic mine-field that both its "friends" and foes have set for it (2 Chr. 20:6-7).

    • God of Abraham, be a shield protecting Israel's leaders from deception (Gen. 15:1; Deut. 33:29).

    • Lord, give them wisdom when to speak and more importantly, when to be quiet (Eccl. 9:17).

    • King Solomon wrote that there is a time for everything under heaven and therefore we ask You, Lord God, to be the One who determines the time for Israel's next elections (Eccl. 3:1, 17b).

    • Almighty King, You have placed PM Bibi Netanyahu as Israel's leader today (Dan. 4:32), so anoint him and lead him to do Your will – yet nothing else (Ex. 31:3; Psa. 80:17; Prov. 21:1; Phil. 1:6).

    • Lord God, bring around him wise and godly advisors and real friends (Prov. 17:17; 18:24; 27:6).

    • King of kings, increase the impact of Israel's children of Zion – politically, diplomatically militarily, commercially, educationally, and in all the rest of society (Prov. 25:11; Eccl. 12:10; Isa. 22:22).

  3. Foreign relations:

    Netanyahu's agreeing with Trump's plan to end the war against Hamas is still being questioned as to whether it was the right move. Yet we now know that Israel's leader did not have much of a choice, especially as Israel still depends on America for diplomatic backing and weaponry. And so we pray.

    • As more reports come out revealing the kind of intense pressure Bibi was under from Trump to do what Trump said – or else – we pray for You to forgive Bibi and teach him, and all Israel, how to look to You to deal with world leaders from now on (Isa. 31;1-5).

    • Lord God, we again confess over Trump's plan Psalm 9:19-20; 33:10-11 and Lamentations 3:37.

    • King Yeshua, confirm all the points of this plan that are of You and remove all others (Isa. 8:9-10).

    • God, forbid any further manipulation of Israel from either Trump or anyone else concerning this plan or other issues that Israel must move ahead with – like its extension of sovereignty (Num. 23:23).

    • Abba, may Israel's leaders hear Your voice clearer than the voices of the world (Psa. 29:3-9).

    • King of kings, teach Israel's representatives to use Your Word, and as they do anoint Your Word to impact both those hearing it as well as those proclaiming it (Isa. 55:11; Jer. 23:29).

    • Lord God, please watch over Isaiah 17:12-14 in relation to that wicked anti-Christ UN!

    • Lord God, show Israel which nations, especially non-Western ones, want its help and respect it and let Israel increase its outreach to them (Deut. 4:7; 26:19; Psa. 141:9-10; 148:14; Isa. 62:12).

    • Lord Yeshua, lead believers in any nation that just "recognized" a "Palestine" to ask You for mercy as Your judgment becomes more evident on those countries (Gen. 6:5-8; Isa. 60:12; Ezek. 22:30-31).

  4. "Operation Gideon's Chariots II," IDF's war in Gaza, has been switched from an offensive war against Hamas to a defensive stance as Israel waits to see if the ceasefire agreement which was signed leads to the hostages being released. Our educated guess from last week was correct as Hamas said "yes" to Trump's plan but wants to negotiate many of the points, and are supported in this by Qatar, Egypt and Turkey. Why Trump has agreed with this, which makes him come across as a man who threatens but does not follow up, is beyond belief. Still, he now boasts about bringing peace to the whole Middle East. Israel is trapped with no way out except for God's intervention.

    • Lord of hosts, as we revisit our prayers from weeks before Trump's plan was released, we bless You for how You have answered much of what we asked as Israel holds to its basic demands that the war ends once all hostages, living and dead, are released; Hamas is disarmed; Gaza is demilitarized; and "friendly forces," but not the Palestinian Authority, oversee Gaza's future (Psa. 44:4).

    • Lord God, reinforce Israel's righteous demands and strengthen it to not compromise (Job 17:9).

    • God, stop Israel from releasing terrorist-murderers for innocent civilian hostages (Num. 35:16, 17).

    • King of Israel, use Hamas' overconfidence in Allah to bring them into total shame and ruin, yet in Your mercy and grace save some of them (Psa. 83:16-18; 109:29).

    • Arise God, scatter Your enemies and let this war end only in Your perfect timing (Psa. 46:9; 68:1).

    • God of hosts, with the IDF in a defensive mode, increase Your protection over them (Psa. 3:5-8).

    • Lord God of justice, once again having Deuteronomy 32:41 come to mind, we ask You to render vengeance unto Your enemies who hate You (Psa. 83:1-4), specifically Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

    • Abba, thank You that Israel now views Qatar as a hostile-state, yet Trump is still blind to this which is dangerous for both Israel and America, therefore open his eyes to perceive Qatar's diabolic schemes and it total backing of Hamas and hatred of both Israel and the US (Est. 8:3; Prov. 21:1; Luke 12:2).

    • Lord God, set Your land free in Gaza from all demonic spirits (Num. 35:33; Psa. 10:16).

    • King Yeshua, continue building Your Body in Gaza and reign as Gaza's true King (Matt. 16:18).

  5. Internal security:

    In Deuteronomy, Moses says over 80 times that Israel should possess all of the land west of the Jordan River which God has promised them. Therefore we persist in prayer asking God to fulfill His Word (Jer. 1:12) and to plant the truth of His gift of His land to His people firmly in the minds and hearts of Jews throughout the earth.

    • We thank You for exposing in Isaiah 60:21 Your reason for giving Your land to Your people – so that You will be glorified; therefore hasten Israel's extension of sovereignty at this time (Isa. 60:22).

    • Abba Father, if Israel needs to choose between keeping the Abraham Accords or Your Covenants to Father Abraham, may all Israel decide for Your Abrahamic Covenants (Gen. 12:1-22:18; Neh. 2:20).

    • We praise You Lord that Jeremiah 32:44 describes all of the land You are planting Israel back in (32:41), and it cover all of the territory from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea!

    • God of Israel, let Your promises encourage Israel to spread its tent pegs over the land You have sworn to give them, despite what other nations or NGOs might say or do (Psa. 105:5-12; Isa. 54:2-3).

    • Lord God, anoint Finance Minister Smotrich and Defense Minister Katz in their efforts to increase the building of Israeli facts on the ground in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley (Amos 9:14-15).

    • Abba Father, with so many in Israel now totally against a Palestinian State, lead them on to the next logical step – the extension of Israeli sovereignty over all of the land (Judg. 2:1-4).

    • King Yeshua, bring Psalm 37:9 to pass before our eyes today.

    • God, release Your angelic hosts to protect Your people during the remainder of Sukkot (Isa. 31:5).

    • Father God, we praise You for always being awake to protect Israel (Psa. 121:4), and ask You to keep Israel's security guards at checkpoints and other posts alert and awake also (Gen. 31:1-2).

    • God Almighty, as You say in the prophetic reading, confound Your enemies and set all terrorists, and terrorist groups, against each other (Zech. 14:13).

    • Lord, help Israel to collect all intelligence data it needs to stop all terrorist attempts (Job 12:22).

    • Abba, aid the IDF to uncover and stop arms smuggling attempts into Israel (Job 28:11b; 42:2).

    • King Messiah, save many Palestinians and uproot the spirit of Islam out of Your land (Psa. 125:3a).

  6. External security – Middle East [ME] and beyond:

    The recent UN meetings show that it is not just Israel's ME neighbors, but most other nations, including Western ones, who hate the Jewish State and thus hate Israel's God! Living in an enemy nation which fakes being an Israeli ally today, whether you are a Jewish or gentile citizen, is a very precarious situation as anti-Semitic attacks kill Jews and others, and anti-Israel riots shut down whole nations. The Body needs to take Numbers 24:9b to heart and persistently intercede about this real and present life or death issue!

    • Lord God, if this global animosity against Israel is that which You spoke by the prophet Zechariah (12:2-3; 14:1-2), then calm our hearts and be very clear as to how You want us to pray (John 10:27).

    • God, when the Egyptians saw You fighting against them in defense of Israel, they fled – and we ask You to do the same to Israel's modern day ME enemies – both near and far (Ex. 14:25).

    • Great God, provide Israel with accurate actionable intelligence of its enemies plans, and help it interpret that data and know if and when it needs to response (Psa. 59:10; Prov. 15:3).

    • God of Jeremiah, strengthen Bibi against Western leaders, especially as he openly rebukes them much more often today (Jer. 1:8-9, 17-19).

    • Lord of hosts, as more nations forbid Israel's military industries from being involved in their annual armament shows, let Israel secretly develop even more effective defensive and offensive weaponry and not share it with any of them (Psa. 18:10-15; 31:20; Isa. 39:1-7; Mic. 4:11-13).

    • Almighty God, prepare Israel to deal militarily with any attempt by Iran to advance its nuclear weapons program – with or without American support (Isa. 31:1).

    • King of kings, guide Israel as to what it needs to do as Russia has just agreed to build eight nuclear power plants in Iran (Psa. 21:8; 89:22-23).

    • Lord God, fulfill Jeremiah 49:38b and destroy Iran's political, military and religious leadership.

    • Abba Father, may the Lebanese and Iranian civilians, who are being held hostage by Hizbullah and the Iranian regime respectively, be set free and recognize Your hand in this (Psa. 146:7).

    • Arise, God, against the Houthis and send Your Angel to fight against them (Psa. 35:1-6; 68:1).

    • Lord God, use the talks of de-escalation between Israel and Syria to weaken Turkey's influence, both in Syria and throughout the rest of the ME (Ezek. 29:15).

    • Abba Father, use Israel's ties with the Druze and the Kurds in the ME for Your glory (Mal. 1:5).

  7. Aliyah:

    God is regathering His people for His name's sake (Ezek. 36:22-24). Believers should be supportive of this as it is an answer to the first part of the Lord's Prayer: Our Father in heaven, may You name be sanctified…may Your will be done on earth as it is in eternity (Matt. 6:9-10).

    • Almighty God, hasten the fulfillment of Ezekiel 28:25-26 so that we see an increase in aliyah, the destruction of Israel's enemies, and along with both of these, all Israel coming to Messiah Yeshua.

    • Abba, use the terror attack in Manchester England on Yom Kippur to shake up the British Jews to finally see that it is past time to come home (Jer. 16:16).

    • Lord, let the Jews in the West interpret the signs of the times correctly as a British Jew said in response to that attack, that they were shocked but not surprised (Matt. 16:2-3).

    • God of Jacob, enable Jews to finally comprehend that while Israel is not 100% safe, it is safer than living in exile – including in the West – at his stage of history (Psa. 121:3-4).

    • God, confront Jewish pride which states that, "They will not chase us out!" and show them that it is You who are both chasing and drawing them back home today (Prov. 16:18; Isa. 43:5-7; Jer. 31:3-5).

    • Lord God, use Your hunters to make Your fishers even more effective (Rom. 8:28).

    • Abba, as Israel hopefully receives back most its hostages, show Jews in the nations that they are also "hostages" in the captivity – and turn their hearts homeward (Psa. 137:4-6).

    • Father God, close doors to every other nation against Jewish immigration, but fling wide open the doors in Israel to graciously and generously receive them all (Isa. 43:5-7).

    • Lord God, bring a tsunami of applications of Jews who want to make aliyah and so overload Israel's bureaucratic system that they wash away all unbiblical stones of stumbling from the path of Your people (Isa. 62:10).

    • Abba Father, show gentile believers how You are calling them to help carry Your Jewish sons and daughters back home today – physically, financially and through prayer (Isa. 49:22).

  8. Salvation:

    Each feast of the Lord is a wonderful time to pray for all Israel to be saved. At this time, please pray for Yeshua's promise made during Sukkot to be manifest in the lives of many of His people: In the last day, that great day of Sukkot, Yeshua stood and cried, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the Scripture [i.e. the Tanach] says, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. (John 7:37-38)

    • Father God, at this time, put inside Your people a deep thirst for a relationship with You (Jer. 29:13-14), and turn them to open the Tanach and find in there refreshing living waters (Isa. 12:3; 55:1).

    • Lord, when Your people read Zechariah 14:3-4 in Shabbat's prophetic portion, quicken them to ask You that if You are a spirit, then how will Your feet physically stand on the Mount of Olives.

    • Lord Yeshua, we ask You to direct every Jewish person who was saved during these fall feasts to the specific place in the Body which You have prepared for them (1 Cor. 12:18).

    • Messiah Lord, may they be baptized in water and in Your Spirit sooner rather than later (Acts 1:5).

    • Lord, erase from believers the idea that sharing the good news with a Jew is offensive (Luke 9:26).

    • [Ask God about a specific group of Jews whom He wants you to stand in the gap for this week.]

  9. Body of Messiah:

    Under aliyah, I referred to the verse where Yeshua confronts the Jewish rulers about their inability to perceive the signs of the times (Matt. 16:2-3). What might He say to His Body today when so many are ignorant to literal prophecy being fulfilled concerning Israel?

    • Lord Yeshua, teach the Body how planting Israel back in its land is of central importance to You (Jer. 32:41); and then turn them to intercede for this – Your will – to be done on earth (Luke 11:2).

    • Abba Father, reveal to the Body how Israel's modern resurrection and its salvation is central to the preparation for Your Son's return in glory (Zech. 12:2-10; Matt. 23:37-39; 24:30).

    • God Almighty, as Israel is the pupil of Your eye, let believers see the full repercussions of this, which is that You view the world through the lens of Israel (Zech. 2:8b)!

    • Also King Messiah, show them that their birth nation's destiny is tied in with how it deals with Israel (Num. 24:9b; Jer. 2:3; 10:25; 30:20; 51:24; Zech. 2:8-9).

    • God the Son, cause Your Body to renounce every proud and racist attitude towards Jews or Israel, and instead to bless Your people and Your nation (Prov. 8:13; Isa. 37:23; Rom. 11:17-18, 22).

    • Lord, raise up more sons and daughters of Zion as elders in Your Body (Zech. 9:13; Acts 20:27).

    • Divine Physician, heal Your Body of its biblical anorexia and prophetic illiteracy by injecting it with a hunger to "eat" all of Your Word (Jer. 15:16; Amos 8:11; Acts 20:32; 2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:13-14).

  10. IFI:

    This has been a very difficult week in which to pray. Seeing Trump's plan as actually giving Hamas a chance to declare victory – which they will do if they survive – and yet wanting to see the hostage noose removed from off of Israel's collective neck makes praying difficult. That is why your continual prayer support for us to know how to pray means so much to us.

Thank you, Shabbat shalom, and hag Sukkot sameach from Israel

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Isa. 12:1-6