Praise:
The annual Torah reading cycle begins anew this Shabbat. It starts with the verse that is foundational for the rest of God's Word:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Lord God, as Jeremiah prayed, since You are the Creator (Gen. 1:1), nothing is too difficult for You, and we praise and thank You for that biblical reality (Jer. 32:17; Luke 1:37; 18:27).
We confess, and are so grateful, that since You created the world, it belongs to You (Psa. 24:1).
We agree with David and are thrilled that all of creation declares Your glory (Psa. 19:1; cp. 97:6).
Abba Father, creation is a witness to Your power and majesty and we rejoice that it is also a witness of, to put it in human terms, how artistic You are (Rom. 1:20; Psa. 148:1-14).
Lord Yeshua, as the Torah portion indicates, the reason why Noah was righteous in Your sight (Gen. 6:9) was because of Your grace (Gen. 6:8), and we thank You that this is also why we are saved and seen as righteous in Your sight as well (Isa. 53:11; 2 Cor. 5:21; Eph. 2:8-10).
Government & society:
Israel's national election will be held in 19 days. As we get nearer to that day, the cacophony of opinions and innuendos, half-truths and attempts to manipulate Israel's electorate increases as well. Yet we are continuing to intercede because Israel's elections have vast implications for God's kingdom and the return of Messiah Yeshua.
Abba Father, we say to Israel at this time,
Your God reigns!
(Isa. 52:7b)Lord God, as in the Torah portion when You sent Your Spirit to hover over the chaos in the earth and brought forth light, we ask You to do the same during this season for Your nation (Psa. 43:3a).
King Yeshua, burden the worldwide Body to pray for Israel's next government to be composed of sons and daughters of Issachar and of Zion (1 Chr. 12:32; Zech. 9:13).
Lord God, use the elections to diminish the influence of Israel's "sons of Greece" (Psa. 75:4-7).
Abba Father, as Israelis vote, let Isaiah 46:10b be fulfilled and may Your counsel concerning the next Israeli government be established (Psa. 33:11; Prov. 19:21).
Shepherd of David, guide all of Israel's first-time voters – for Your name's sake (Psa. 23:3b).
Lord, if there is another besides Bibi Netanyahu whom You want to be Israel's next prime minister, reveal it to us because at this time we do not see any politician who can take his place (Dan. 2:21).
Creator, as You separated the light from the darkness in Shabbat's Torah portion – so separate truth from the lies and manipulations rising up against Netanyahu today (Gen. 1:4).
Righteous Judge, watch over Isaiah 1:24-26 and cleanse Israel's judiciary of its unrighteousness.
God of Jacob, let Your fear fall on the ultra-Orthodox [Haredi] political parties that fight only for their own special interests and not for the interests of the nation as a whole (Eccl. 12:13).
We praise You for every ultra-Orthodox/Haredi rabbi who encourages his disciples to join the IDF and ask that they would be as leaven inside the rest of that community (Luke 13:20-21; Gal. 5:9).
Lord, please show the Israeli authorities what lessons they need to learn from the FlyDubai crisis.
Foreign relations:
In scripture, God judges gentile nations based on how they treat Israel. We often pray for believers to know this truth and to intercede for their nation's relations with Israel – especially at this time in history when most nations deal with Israel in an unrighteous, and often, an anti-Semitic manner.
King of Israel, wake up the Body to the grave danger for their nations (Isa. 33:1-2) if they boycott Jews who are living exactly where You are bringing Your people back to (Jer. 32:41-44)
Messiah Lord, anoint Your Body to be more pro-God than pro-Israel when they defend Your nation and Your land, as Israel's restoration is for Your holy name's sake (Isa. 43:5-7, 21).
Lord God, we thank You for the boldness of Israel's diplomats under Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, especially UN Ambassador Danny Danon and US Ambassador Yechiel Leiter (2 Chr. 32:7).
God of Jacob, do not let Israel's next government try to appease any nation, or global entity, in order to win the favor of the world (Isa. 26:13; Matt. 4:10).
Almighty God, with hatred against Israel increasing, move upon Israel to dwell alone (Num. 23:9b), and teach it that You forbid Your nation from being a nation like any other (Ezek. 20:32-38).
King of kings, as You have ordained every world leader today (Prov. 8:15; Jer. 27:5), use them for Your glory as You did with Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and many others (Rom. 9:15-23).
Lord of lords, may Israel's outreach to non-Western nations continue to be fruitful (Isa. 2:3).
King Messiah, impart wisdom to Israel in its close relations to India, and bless India for standing with Israel by saving multitudes in that mostly Hindu nation (Gen. 27:29; Gal. 3:8).
Gaza:
Hamas still refuses to disarm and is actively rebuilding its fighting ability. Yet most of the world does not care – except if Israel kills Hamas terrorists and then they cry out that Israel is destroying the "ceasefire"! Hypocrisy and anti-Semitism have become partners in today's world!
Messiah Lord, as Obadiah 1:11-14 basically describes the Oct. 7th massacre, remove the handcuffs from off the IDF and release it to destroy Hamas (Ex. 17:14-16; Psa. 68:30b).
Abba Father, entangle Hamas in whatever traps they have set for the IDF (Psa. 35:4-8).
Lord of heaven's hosts, fortify Your protection over IDF soldiers in Gaza – against attacks, explosive devices, kidnapping attempts, accidents and friendly fire incidents (Psa. 32:7; 121:4).
Thank You God for the IDF destroying the terror tunnels under the area they now control (around 60%), for finding weapons caches and for eliminating Hamas terrorists (Job 12:22; Psa. 95:4; 139:12).
God, sustain Israel's stance that its buffer zone in Gaza will remain as part of Israel (Isa. 54:2-3).
As recent surveys show that about 80% of Gazans want to leave, Lord God guide Israel to expedite this as swiftly and efficiently as possible (Job 38:13; Psa. 10:16; Jer. 12:14-17).
Abba Father, if the war with Hamas will not end until Israel commits to repossess all of Gaza, move on the next government and many more Israelis to do that (Neh. 2:20; Isa. 44:26; Obad. 1:17-20).
Internal security:
We continue to pray for Israel to extend its sovereignty over all of the land west of the Jordan River and to have great success against any terrorists in God's land. We have seen many answers to both requests, yet the opposition to Israel obeying God's will by expanding its sovereignty has increased, especially from many of its "morally coward" Western "allies."
King Messiah, help believers' to understand, and accept, that all of Your promises to the nation and people of Israel are still binding to this day (Num. 23:19; Psa. 119:89; Matt. 5:18; 2 Cor. 1:20).
Lord Yeshua, move on believers in nations which "recognized" a "Palestine" to cry out for mercy as Your judgment is increasingly released on those countries (Gen. 6:5-8; Isa. 60:12; Ezek. 22:30-31).
Lord God, honor all Israeli politicians who are against a "Palestine" being created anywhere on Your land by gifting them with positions of greater influence in the next Israeli government (1 Sam. 2:30b).
Abba Father, download divine strategy to Israel about the next steps it needs to take to expand its sovereignty over all of Your land available to them at this time (Psa. 32:8; Isa. 30:21; Luke 9:62).
Almighty God, block any fear of man from Israel's current and future leaders as this is what stops many of them from extending Israel's sovereignty over Judea and Samaria (Psa. 118:6; Prov. 29:25).
Thank You that the Jewish population in Judea and Samaria is growing, and we pray for this to also to happen in the Negev, the Galilee, the North and on the Golan Heights (Isa. 49:19-20; 51:3).
God of Jacob, let the next government see how the Palestinian Authority has rejected its obligations to the Oslo Accords, and then have Israel openly declare Oslo "null and void" (Psa. 124:1-8).
Lord of hosts, we thank You for always being awake to guard over Your nation and for answering our prayers for the recent holiday season as there were very few terrorist attacks (Psa. 121:4).
Abba, please aid Israel's human guardians to stay alert and undistracted (Isa. 28:6).
We ask for continued protection against terrorism in Israel as Israelis go to vote on October 27th.
Divine Commander, enable Israel's security forces to war like the prophesied sons of Zion against all Palestinian and Arab-Israeli terrorists (Zech. 9:13-15; 10:3a-7; 12:5-6).
Release Your terror on those in the land who would attack and kill today's sons of Jacob (Gen. 35:5), including the Palestinian Authority security forces who are now a substantial army (Psa. 18:32-42).
Almighty King, increase Your angelic protection over Israeli shepherds and farmers who are being constantly attacked by local Palestinian gangs (Psa. 3:5-8; 23:4).
External security:
Israel is surrounded by countries that reject the existence of a Jewish State. It sits on land that Islam calls "wakf" – areas that were once under Islamic rule and must be brought back by whatever way is needed, usually by jihad – holy war. This is why Israel's peace with Egypt and Jordan is a "cold peace". The Jewish State does have real peace with a few Muslim nations that are not directly on its borders – like the UAE, Azerbaijan, Somaliland, and Morocco.
King of kings, continue using Israel as Your weapon of war against all of Your/their enemies, both near and far (Jer. 51:20-24; Zech. 9:13-16).
Lord of lords, reinforce Your angelic hosts guarding over Israel (Psa. 35:5-6).
Divine Judge, rebuke all world leaders who think they can control Israel's destiny (Psa. 94:2).
All-wise God, improve Israel's ability to gather accurate intelligence, to interpret that data correctly, and to know what to do, including as needed, preempting their enemies (2 Kin. 6:12; Isa. 29:15).
Iran: Messiah Yeshua, lead the Iranian Body as they pray for their nation (Jam. 5:16b).
Abba Father, show Israel how it can help the Iranians overthrow that evil regime (Jer. 49:38b).
King Messiah, hide and protect Israel's spies and collaborators already in Iran (Psa. 138:7).
Creator God, open the earth beneath Iran's remaining nuclear facilities and swallow them up as their goal to annihilate Israel is a clear provocation against You (Num. 16:30)
Lord God, make Hamas, the Houthis and Hizbullah huge deterrents to Iran's plans (Jer. 20:10-11).
King of kings, use Iran's and the Houthis missile attacks against Arab nations to divide the house of Islam, and ultimately to destroy this demonic principality over the Middle East (Mark 3:24-26).
God of Jacob, prepare Israel to fight against Iran alone if America leaves either its current regime or its nuclear facilities still intact when they call it quits (Jer. 51:20-24).
Hizbullah in Lebanon: Fulfill Isaiah 2:12-13 against Hizbullah – today's arrogant cedars of Lebanon.
Almighty, guide the IDF to find and destroy all Hizbullah tunnels in South Lebanon (Psa. 23:3b-4).
God, lead the IDF to destroy Hizbullah's global drug trade and thus severely damage their finances.
King Messiah, separate the Lebanese government and many Lebanese from Hizbullah (Psa. 55:9).
God of Jacob, we thank You that Israel has taken parts of South Lebanon for a buffer zone against Hizbullah attacks on its northern communities, and as that is part of the land promised by You to them, may Israel remain there forever (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 13:2-7).
Other: Almighty God, draw the current Turkish government into Your trap as per Micah 4:11-13.
God of gods, stir up moderate Turks to overthrow Erdogan's wicked reign (Prov. 28:15; 29:12).
All-wise God, expose the wolves in sheep's clothing who now rule in Syria (Jer. 13:23).
King Messiah, wake up Turkish, Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian, Egyptian and Iranian believers to pray for You to protect Israel against the demonic plans of their birth-nations (Deut. 33:29; Psa. 83:1-4).
Lord, wake up US believers to pray for Trump's discernment as he sees many Middle East leaders, as "fantastic," and "strong" – yet most of them are basically terrorists wearing ties (Job 12:12-21).
Aliyah:
God's regathering of His people is for His holy name's sake (Ezek. 36:22-24). Believers who know the Word see this as it is an end-time sign to the nations that God is both faithful and able to fulfill His promises (Num. 23:19). Believers who do not see this – or worse – resist this, are blind to the promises of God to His people and should be openly rebuked (Matt. 16:23; Luke 24:25).
Lord God, speak to believers to tell their Jewish friends of their need to make aliyah (Eph. 4:15a).
Messiah Yeshua, reveal to Your Body how Isaiah 60:3-11 and 16 expects gentile believers to be a vital part of Israel's restoration in these days, and then turn them to seek You about what they can do.
Gracious Lord, pour out much grace, favor, finances and manpower on every believing organization whose focus is to help support the aliyah (Isa. 49:22; Rom. 15:27).
Abba Father, show Jews in captivity that a gilded cage is still a cage (Psa. 142:7a; Zech. 9:11-12).
As a mother eagle tears apart the nest so that her children are forced to learn to fly, so Lord tear apart the false comfort that hinders Your people from coming home (Deut. 32:11-12).
Lord, use the many pro-Hamas demonstrations and marches on Oct. 7th this past week to "celebrate" Hamas' massacre to wake up Western Jews to the real danger that is upon them (Deut. 28:65-67).
King Messiah, turn Jews away from thinking that they are fleeing from danger to see that they are in reality running towards the land of their destiny (Deut. 30:4-6; Isa. 11:11-12).
King Messiah, draw Jews back home with their wealth while they still can leave with it (Isa. 60:9).
Abba Father, teach Your people the history lesson that when Jews live among the gentiles, at some point those nations/gentiles could not, or would not, protect them (Deut. 28:37, 64-67; Psa. 137:3-4).
Lord God, remove any bureaucrat in Israel's Interior Ministry or the Jewish Agency who is basically lukewarm about aliyah, and replace them with Israelis who are as zealous as You (Zech. 8:1-8).
Almighty, release Jews in Iran, India, Ethiopia, and South America to come home (Isa. 43:5-7).
Salvation:
The first time that a hint at the gospel appears in Scripture is in Shabbat's Torah portion:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
(Gen. 3:15)Lord God of Israel, as Jews read this verse may Your Spirit challenged them as to what it actually says and not how most of their rabbis have interpreted it (Psa. 119:99-100).
God, show them that the woman's Seed hints to the virgin birth of Messiah (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23).
Abba, challenge them also with Genesis 5:1-3 which clearer indicates that after Adam sinned all of his offspring were created in Adam's distorted image of God and not how God originally created man.
God of Jacob, use Your creation to draw unsaved Jews unto You (Psa. 19:1; 89:5; 97:6; Rom. 1:20).
Messiah Yeshua, please stop hiding from Your people (Isa. 45:15), and like Joseph, remove Your "Egyptian" garments and let them see that You are in reality their brother and king (Gen. 45:1-3).
Lord God, as with Paul, save many Jews suddenly and dramatically (Acts 2:37; 9:3-6).
King Messiah, remove from gentile believers all fears of sharing who You are You with Jewish people and let those fears be overcome by Your perfect love (1 John 4:18).
Abba Father, use the material support from gentile believers towards Jews as they make aliyah or just live in the land to impact unsaved Jews just like it did with Father Jacob (Gen. 45:26-28).
King Yeshua, anoint believers in Israel to be salt and light – especially at this time (Matt. 5:13-16).
Abba Father, save Holocaust survivors and their families; survivors of terrorism; ex-hostages and their loved ones; IDF soldiers and families; loved ones of soldiers killed or severely injured; Israelis with PTSD; Israeli medical personnel; widows, widowers, orphans, traumatized children; Jewish politicians, judges, lawyers, diplomats; university students, teachers, professors; scientists; rabbis and Jewish anti-missionaries; Jews, including Jewish zealots, in Judea and Samaria; Jews on their death beds; Jews shamed by past abortions; Israeli archeologists and tour guides; Israelis in the nations; Jews who just made aliyah; alcoholics, drug-addicts, hippies, LGBTQ+, new agers; Jews in Iran, Ethiopia, India, Turkey; Jews married to gentile believers; unsaved loved ones of Messianic Jews.
Body of Messiah:
The only reason why believers would be confused by, or even stand against, Israel's restoration, is their rejection of the Tanach as still God's Word today. Regardless of how they came to this anti-biblical conclusion, it maligns that part of God's Word that Yeshua, His early disciples, and all of the New Testament writers, read, loved, and trusted (2 Tim. 3:15-17)!
Lord Yeshua, show the Body that Satan how tempts believers today in the same way he tempted Eve in the Torah reading, having them question Your eternal Word:
Has God indeed said?
(Gen. 3:1).King Messiah, confront believers who for whatever reason reject the Tanach as still being part of the whole counsel of God for today (Jer. 23:29; John 5:46-47; Acts 20:27).
Son of Man, gift Your Body with many more children of Zion who will teach that whole counsel of God – from Genesis to Revelation (Zech. 9:13; Acts 20:27; Eph. 4:8, 11-15).
Abba Father, rebuke believers who do not take Jeremiah 32:41 as seriously as You do.
Almighty God, let the truth revealed in Your Word become the ultimate standard by which the Body judges all that we see, hear and think, and as the foundation for all of our prayers (John 17:17).
King Messiah, teach Your Body how to use the Tanach more often in prayer (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Water:
The weather in Israel has become cooler with light rain falling in some parts of His land. Isaiah 41:17-20 reveals that God's goal in providing water and renewing His land is so that Israelis will
see and know and consider that YHWH's hand has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.
Amen! Please pray with us for God to provide all of the water that Israel needs.
IFI: It is only God's grace that enables us to stay the course. Please ask Him to provide all of His grace that we need to run this race until we cross His finish line. Thank you for your faithful support in so many ways – and bless you for continuing to pray for God's chosen nation of Israel.
Shabbat shalom from Zion
Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team
Psa. 134:3