1. Praise: Shabbat's Torah portion reveals that the God of Israel is not only sovereign over, but also Possessor, Owner, of heaven and earth. Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'I have lifted up my hand to YHWH, God Most High [El Elyion], Possessor of heaven and earth, (Gen. 14:22)

    • Abba Father, we rejoice and are encouraged that You are totally sovereign over all of the earth as well as the rest of creation (Psa. 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; 103:19; Isa. 52:7b; Matt. 11:25; Acts 17:24).

    • Lord Yeshua, we glorify You as we perceive that You already fulfilled Daniel 7:13-14, as not only did You constantly called Yourself the Son of Man, but You also told Your disciples that all authority in heaven and on earth have now been passed into Your hands (Matt. 28:118; Acts 10:36)!

    • All of the above helps us to trust You Lord concerning Israel's current situation as nothing can take You by surprise and You have already planned Israel's escape (Psa. 124:7-8; Isa. 46:9-10).

    • God Almighty, we bless You for Melchizedek, a foreshadow of Yeshua, our High Priest, who also served to Father Abraham a foreshadow of communion – bread and wine (Gen. 14:18).

    • Lord God, we praise You that You will do that which You have spoken (Num. 23:19).

  2. Government & society: Israel is being pushed into a corner by US President Trump and his administration who are basically telling it what it can and cannot do in relation to its security. We are praying for PM Bibi Netanyahu and his coalition to know how to lead God's nation at this time and when to just say "No" to that American pressure.

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

    • Lord God, direct all of Israel's political leaders to read Isaiah 40:31 in Shabbat's prophetic portion and impart to them the faith to believe it and to practice it (Isa. 25:9).

    • Abba, please protect and give wisdom and unity to Israel's current coalition as they walk through the diplomatic mine-field that both its "friends" and its foes have placed before it (2 Chr. 20:6-7).

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

    • God, surround him with wise and godly advisors and a few real friends (Prov. 17:17; 18:24; 27:6).

    • King Messiah, set Bibi free from his obviously politically motivated court trails (Psa. 38:12; 91:3).

    • Lord Yeshua, promote more sons and daughters of Zion throughout Israel, and use their wisdom and insight to make them very effective (1 Chr. 11:10; Obad. 1:21; Zech. 9:13; 12:8).

    • God, expel the spirit of lawlessness from Israel's society (Matt. 24:12 [Gk; iniquity = lawlessness]).

    • Forbid Lord, a spirit of bitterness from infecting any part of Israeli society (Heb. 12:15).

    • Lord Yeshua, comfort, save and heal all ex-hostages and their families of the mental and emotional trauma they are still dealing with (Psa. 30:2-3; 147:3; Isa. 61:1-3).

    • God, Shield of Abraham (Gen. 15:1), shield these hostages from being used by both the media and left-wing groups against Israel's current leadership (Psa. 47:9; 59:11; 91:4).

  3. Foreign relations: The focus of our intercession today is Israel's relationship with the US. It is distressing to watch Israel's #1 ally treat God's nation as a protectorate or a 51st state. Trump has even threatened Israel that if it annexes Judea and Samaria, which is God's will at this time, it will lose all American support. Thus he has openly opposed what God is doing with all of His heart and soul (Jer. 32:41). We do pray for believers in America to see this for how serious it is and to stand in the gap for their nation (Ezek. 22:30-32). Meanwhile, we are called to be watchmen over Israel (Isa. 62:6-7).

    • Lord God, as we intercede for Israel and the nations, please help us to keep in mind that Your goal is the manifestation of Your kingdom and Your glory here on earth (Psa. 33:10-12; Isa. 55:8-9).

    • King Yeshua, again we confess Psalm 9:19-20 and 33:10-11, Isaiah 8:9-10 and Lamentations 3:37 in relation to the world's plans, including President Trump's, for Your land and Your people.

    • Abba, let Israel's leaders hear Your voice louder than the world's voices (Job 33:14-18; Psa. 29:3-9).

    • King of kings, impart to Bibi and all other Israeli leaders wisdom and courage to deal boldly with Trump and his administration – including using biblical verses (Psa. 23:1; Isa, 30:21; 55:11).

    • Lord God, also use Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon, Minster of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli and other Israeli diplomates to speak Your truth against the other global threats and lies that are being spread against Your nation (Prov. 2:11-12).

    • God, show Israel which Western leaders today, who are so-called "friends," are more dangerous than its sworn enemies and download wisdom concerning how to relate to them (Psa. 12:1-2; Prov. 27:12).

    • 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).

    • God of Jacob, let the world's pressure push Israel to be that nation which dwells alone (Num. 23:9b), and show Israelis that You forbid them from being like any other nation (Ezek. 20:32-38).

  4. Gaza: The IDF is the only one who can disarm Hamas. The US or its Arab "allies" cannot do it, and in fact the Arab nations openly refuse to do it. Israel has never asked for other nations' soldiers to die for them – just for allies to support Israel so that the IDF can do its job. This is still all that Israel really wants, yet Trump strives to be known as a "man of peace" and thus he ends up micromanaging Israel to enforce his terrible ceasefire deal in Gaza.

    • Almighty God, based on Psalm 33:10-11, we pray that Your plans over Gaza will prevail despite what any other nations, or NGO's decide – even what Israel decides as well (Psa. 103:19).

    • Lord God, as Trump is resisting You by blocking Israel from doing what needs to be done for its security, like extending sovereignty and destroying Hamas, we pray for You to have mercy on him and America and totally change his current mindset (Prov. 19:21; 21:1).

    • Abba, let the US administration see that there is no ceasefire today as Hamas continues to violate their agreements daily – whether with the hostage remains or the killing of IDF soldiers (Psa. 55:21).

    • Lord God, watch over and fulfill Isaiah 41:10-16 in Shabbat's prophetic portion specifically against Hamas which continues to war against Israel today (Psa. 37:20).

    • God of prophecy, fulfill that which You threatened against Gaza in Amos 1:6-7 (Psa. 125:3-5).

    • Thank You for the split among Arab nations as to who will contribute to Gaza's future and who will not, and we ask You to use this to divide the house of Islam in the Middle East (Luke 11:17).

    • Lord God of heaven's armies, enable the IDF to be fully prepared, both physically and mentally, for the future battles against Hamas in Gaza (Psa. 18:34; 144:1).

    • Shield of Israel, prevent any more deadly friendly fire or other accidents (Psa. 32:7; 121:4).

    • Creator God, arise and swallow up Hamas' underground tunnel network (Num. 16:31; Isa. 13:9).

    • God, forbid that any terrorist who was just released from Israeli prisons, from returning to their evil ways, and since You are merciful, Lord save some of them (Psa. 76:10; 83:16-18; Matt. 5:44-45).

    • God of Israel, show Israelis that You gave Gaza to the tribe of Judah as part of its inheritance and that repossessing Gaza should be Israel's ultimate goal (Josh. 15:1, 47; Judg. 1:18; Prov. 16:9).

  5. Internal security: This week's Torah portion begins to tell the story of Father Abraham, and like in Deuteronomy, so in Genesis we read again and again of God promising to give His land to Abraham and his seed (Gen. 12:7; 13:14-15; 15:7, 18; 17:7-8). Since God's promises are much more trustworthy than the nations' threats, we press on and ask Him to guide Israel as to the way and the timing to extend its sovereignty over all of the land – from the River to the Sea!

    • Lord, as Your promise in Genesis 17:7-8 to be a God to Abraham and his descendants is called an eternal covenant that includes the land for an everlasting possession – use these verses to cause faith to rise up in Your people's heart and let them obey You and not man (2 Chr. 14:11; Psa. 20:7-9).

    • Abba Father, if Israel must choose between expanding the Abraham Accords or keeping Your covenant with Father Abraham, turn it to choose Your covenant (Gen. 12:1-22:18; Neh. 2:20).

    • We thank You God for revealing in Isaiah 60:21 that Your reason for giving Your land to Your people is so that You will be glorified; therefore hasten its completion (Isa. 55:11; 60:22).

    • Again, Lord, we praise You for the Knesset approving the extension sovereignty over Judea and Samaria recently and ask You to arrange the details to make this a sudden reality (Psa. 105:1-11).

    • Messiah Yeshua, burden more believers to pray for Israel to possess its inheritance (Obad. 1:17), showing them that is not political, but prophetic, and for Your name's sake (Ezek. 36:34-36; 37:14).

    • In Your jealousy Lord God, arise and erase the "two-state solution" idol (Ex. 34:14; Ezek. 36:5-15).

    • Lord God, impart to America's Israeli Ambassador, Mike Huckabee, boldness and wisdom if he must warn Trump against preventing Israel from extending sovereignty over Your land (Joel 3:1-2).

    • King Messiah, continue to use with great success Israel's "Operation Iron Wall" against terrorist enclaves, especially in refugee camps under the Palestinian Authority, in order to destroy all terrorist cells, to find and eliminate their weapons caches as well as their manufacturing sites (Psa. 44:4-8).

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

    • Lord of hosts, extend Your divine wings of protection over all Israel's security forces as they war against Arab terrorists in Judea, Samaria and all of the rest of Israel (Psa. 17:8; 91:4; 141:9-10).

    • Father God, we bless 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 as well (Gen. 31:1-2).

  6. External security – Middle East [ME] and beyond: Trump's main Arab "allies" are actual enemies of Israel. Turkey and Qatar openly desire the Jewish State to be destroyed and why Trump is blind to this is hard to fathom. So let's pray for God to guide Israel for His name's sake (Psa. 115:1-3), and for the Jewish State to resist anything that the world wants it to do that is against His will.

    • King of Abraham, You are the God of whom Moses and Israel said, YHWH is a man of war; so arise and defend Israel against all of its modern-day adversaries (Ex. 15:3a; Psa. 68:1, 30).

    • Lord God, if the global hostility against Israel is You fulfilling Zechariah 12:2-3 and 14:1-2, please speak to our hearts and clearly guide us as to how You want us to pray (John 10:27).

    • All-wise God, enhance Israel's ability to gather accurate intelligence, to interpret that data correctly, and to know whether or not to respond against its ME enemies (2 Kin. 6:12; Isa. 29:15).

    • God of Jacob, stop Your nation from agreeing to a treaty with either Syria, Lebanon or Saudi Arabia based on what the US administration wants if it is not in line with Your will (Psa. 29:11).

    • Messiah Yeshua, as You have answered our prayers and decimated Iran's economy, so do the same with Qatar's extravagant riches and greatly humble its leaders (Hag. 1:6; Jam. 5:1-3).

    • Almighty God, prepare Israel to be used by You to deal militarily with any Iranian attempt to further its nuclear weapons program, with or without US support or approval (Isa. 31:1; Jer. 51:20-23).

    • God Almighty, Your prophesied destruction of Iran's leaders (Jer. 49:38b) would be a huge mercy for most Iranians, Israel and the majority of ME nations – so arise and do it quickly and suddenly.

    • Lord God, use the theological hatred between Turkey's Sunni leaders and Iran's Shi'ite leaders to divide them and to contribute to the fall of the Islamic spirit over the ME (Psa. 40:14-15; 55:9).

    • Abba, let Turkey's President Erdogan's curses against Israel and Netanyahu, come back to haunt him, and let him see how that is linked to his hatred of Your nation (Num. 24:9b; Gal. 6:7).

    • Abba, thank You for the increasingly aggressive stance Israel has taken with Hizbullah in Lebanon and we ask that each and every attack would be supernaturally magnified (Eph. 3:20-21).

    • Almighty One, as priests (1 Pet. 2:9) we pray for You to fulfill Joel 2:17-21 and drive Hizbullah far off from Israel's northern border (Isa. 41:11-12).

    • 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 allowing the increase of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism in nations where Jews thought it was safe to live to show them that their time in those nations is over. This is the story of the Jews in whatever nation they resided – that at some point, they were no longer welcomed or even protected. We pray for His people learn this lesson from their own history.

    • Abba Father, we are blessed to watch You fulfill that which You prophesied – the regathering of Your scattered people back to their land (Jer. 31:8-10; Zech. 8:1-8).

    • God of Jacob, open up Jewish eyes to perceive that although Israel is not 100% safe, it is safer than living in the captivity – including in the West – at this stage of history (Psa. 121:3-4).

    • Lord God, as Israel has now received 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).

    • God, bring back a huge remnant of Jews who live in the so-called third-world nations (Isa. 43:5-7).

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

    • Abba Father, use Your hunters to make Your fishers even more effective (Jer. 16:16; Rom. 8:28).

    • You God, promised that You would marry Your people to Your land (Isa. 62:4-5), so do that today with every Jewish person who is part of the remnant who returns and settles it (Isa. 10:20-22; 11:11).

    • Lord God, replace the rabbinical definition of "who is a Jew?" with Your definition (Psa. 119:116).

    • Show Israel the need to speed up the processing of new immigrants into Israeli society (Psa. 119:60).

    • God of Israel, revive in the thinking of Israelis today that aliyah was the number one biblical and Zionistic reason for Israel's re-creation – and it still is (Isa. 43:5-7; Zech. 8:1-8).

    • Lord Yeshua, show Your Body how aliyah is a literal answer to the 2,000 year old prayer that God the Father's name be sanctified by His will being done on earth (Ezek. 28:25-26; Luke 11:2).

  8. Salvation: Genesis 15:5-6 in the Torah portion is a wonderful example of faith, and not works, causing someone to being seen by God as righteous: God brought [Abram] outside, and said, 'Look towards heaven, and count the stars if you can…So shall your seed be'. And [Abram] believed in YHWH; and He reckoned it unto him for righteousness. (cp. Rom. 4:3; Gal. 3:6; Jam. 2:23).

    • Lord God, as Your people read this over Shabbat, quicken to them that it is faith which pleases You and causes them to stand before You as righteous (Heb. 11:6; cp. Psa. 73:28; Isa. 7:9b).

    • Loving Father, impart a "holy dissatisfaction" upon the minds and hearts of many Jews and turn their attention to all of the Tanach – and not just the Torah (Psa. 80:3, 7; Jer. 15:16; Luke 24:27, 44-47).

    • God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, turn Your people away from humanistic rabbinic thinking to feed on Your Word instead and through that create in them a biblical mindset (Psa. 80:3, 7, 19: Jer. 15:16).

    • We thank You how Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:15 that the Tanach has all the truth needed to prove that Yeshua is Messiah, and we ask You to reveal Him to many Jews who do read Your Word.

    • God, gift Jews back in the land with that new heart and new spirit, as well as Your Spirit, as You promised in Ezekiel 36:26-27, and then let the fruit of repentance be seen (Ezek. 36:31-32).

    • Lord of the harvest, we ask You to send out laborers into the Jewish harvest fields – especially into the various Haredi [ultra-Orthodox] sects residing in Israel (Matt. 9:37-38).

    • [Ask God about any particular groups of Jews He wants you to pray for this week.]

  9. Body of Messiah: The Torah portion starts with God's initial call of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). This includes the promise of a land, a great name, to be a blessing, and God's protection by blessing those who bless and cursing those who denigrate, ignore, or curse his seed. God does this in order that through Abraham and the Jews gentiles might also come to know Him (Gal. 3:8).

    • Lord Yeshua, reveal to Your Body their spiritual link to God's promises to Abraham and the Jews and how a lack of gratitude towards them must grieve Your Spirit (Rom. 11:11, 18-22; 15:27).

    • Burden believers to ask You how they can more effectively provoke Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11).

    • God Almighty, as You do not change (Mal. 3:6) let the Body perceive that what You said to Pharaoh about Israel being Your son, Your firstborn, is still true today (Ex. 4:22-23; John 17:17).

    • Lord God, strip the Body from the curse of generational anti-Semitism (Num. 14:18b; Jer. 17:14).

    • King Messiah, thank You for the remnant of the Body that does stands with and pray for Israel, and who see Israel's role in Your plans and desire for You to be glorified in Your people (Isa. 43:7, 21).

    • Lord, let those in the Body who do undersatnd this be like spiritual leaven and influence many others in their fellowships and in their wider believing communities (Luke 13:20-21).

    • King Messiah; encourage, increase and use the Israeli Body for Your name's sake (John 15:16).

  10. Water: Please pray along with us as we ask God for the early rains to drench Israel's dry land (Psa. 68:9; Isa. 41:17-20; Matt. 5:45b).

  11. IFI: At this time, it is only what we read in God's word that prevents us from being discouraged and feeling like all our efforts in prayer are a waste of time. Yet He encourages us to trust in Him and not in our own understanding (Prov. 3:5), or in any man. Thank you for holding our arms up in prayer and may God encourage you as well as you read and trust in His word.

Shabbat shalom from Israel

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Psa. 134:3