1. Enter His gates with thanksgiving:

   • "I will extol You, my God, O king; and I will bless Your name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless You; and I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Great is LORD [YHWH], and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honor of Your majesty, and of Your wondrous works. Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts: and I will declare Your greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Your great goodness, and shall sing of Your righteousness."

     (Psalm 145:1-7)

   • "LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works."

     (Psalms 145:8-9)

   • Thank You for who You are - that Your nature never changes.
   • We bless You for Your faithfulness.

2. We are in a war against the Hamas terrorist regime in Gaza. Yet our government is again - like it did in Lebanon - being wishy washy about fighting for total victory.

   • "Blessed be LORD my strength, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: My goodness, my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, He in whom I trust; who subdues my people under me… Bow Your heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out Your arrows, and destroy them. Send Your hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood."

     (Psalm 144:1-2,5-8)

   • Arise Lord and defend the Israelis in the south of the country.
   • Arise Lord and defend the innocent people in Gaza.
   • We bless You for the very few casualties Israel has sustained under the rocket barrage from Gaza.
   • We thank You for the accuracy of the Israeli attack - that relatively few civilians have been killed.

3. We next asked God to use this situation to cause Israelis to cry out to Him.

   • "Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me."

     (Psalms 50:15)

   • Abba, use this crisis to drive Israelis unto Yourself - those in the South under attack and those in the North who must be having flashbacks of the 2nd Lebanese War.
   • Lord, may the families of IDF soldiers also call out to You.
   • Messiah, many Palestinians are also terrified. Show them that Allah - Islam's god - is not protecting them and have them call out to You as well.
   • Use believers in both Gaza and the southern part of Israel as strong witnesses to the peace we have when we believe in the Lamb of God.

   • "Do not be anxious, but in all things, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God. And God's peace, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Messiah Yeshua."

     (Philippians 4:6-7)

4. Israel's current government is divided between continuing to press the battle against Hamas and trying to get a cease-fire now. The latter will be seen by both Hamas and the rest of the Arab world as an Israeli defeat.

   • Give Israel's government clarity, wisdom and courage to see this war through to victory.
   • Remove from Israel's current political leaders all manipulations for political gain. May what is best for this nation be what directs their thinking.
   • Make Israel's weak government like the sons of Isaachar "who were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do…" (1 Chronicles 12:32)
   • Move Israel's leaders to be concerned about an entrance strategy than an exit strategy.

5. We next prayed for the leaders of the Israel's Defense Forces - the IDF.

   • "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are His everlasting arms - and He shall thrust out the enemy from before you; and say, Destroy them. Israel then shall dwell in safety alone… Happy are you, O Israel: who is like unto you, O people saved by LORD, the shield of your help… Your enemies shall be found liars unto you; and you shall tread upon their high places."

     (Deuteronomy 33:27-29)

   • Abba, anoint the IDF's Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi and the head of the Southern Command, Yoav Galant, to know what the army needs to do and how to do it.
   • Give the IDF godly strategy and tactics to soundly defeat this wicked enemy.
   • Restore the boldness of the days of old - both biblically and historically - to the IDF.

   • "In that day will I make the generals of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, like a torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people round about… Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem."

     (Zechariah 12:6)

   • Place the right stones in the IDF's hand to behead this modern day Goliath in Gaza.

   • "Then said David to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to you in the name of LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day will LORD deliver you into my hand. I will smite you, and take your head from you…that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all [Israel] shall know that LORD saves not with sword and spear: for the battle is LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."

     (1 Samuel 17:45-47)

   • Rout out from their underground bunkers the army of Hamas.
   • Use the elite forces to throw the enemy into confusion and disrupt their plans.
   • Make Israel's soldiers strong and courageous in the heat of battle.
   • Overrule any plans of the enemy to stir up Hizbullah on Israel's norhtern border at this time - unless it is Your will for the IDF to defeat them now as well.

6. We prayed briefly for what we want to see when the battle is over.

   • Abba, at a minimal, may Israel retain control of the Philadelpi corridor between Gaza and Egypt to be able to stop the constant smuggling of weapons into Gaza.
   • Forbid any more successful kidnapping attempts and may we see the successful release from captivity of Gilad Shalit. "There is hope...says LORD, that your children shall come again to their own border." (Jeremiah 31:17)

7. We had a wonderful rainfall - and even some snow - all starting when the IDF started to deal with Hamas. Coincidence? We think not.

   • Bless You for the rain You have provided up to this time.
   • Thank You for the snow on Mt. Hermon.
   • We ask for more Lord - even for the miracle of seeing the Kinneret (the Sea of Galilee) filled to overflowing during this season.
   • Please protect the desalination plants within rocket range of Gaza.
   • May the next government make the water situation a very high priority.
   • May Israelis be much more aware of saving water.

   • "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water…That they may see, and know, consider, and understand, that the hand of LORD has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it."

     (Isaiah 41:18,20)

8. The Israeli elections - as of this time - are still scheduled to take place Feb. 10th.

   • Lord, do not allow there to be any delay of this election. May it take place on Feb. 10th.
   • Give the Israeli public wisdom as to who to vote for.
   • Also let them remember that it is this current government's policies - through the Gaza disengagement - that have brought us to this situation to where we are at war with Gaza in the first place.
   • Humble both Kadima and Labor and their leaders during this next election.
   • Give favor to Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu and let them win overwhelmingly.
   • Raise up godly leaders as You have promised Israel (Jeremiah 3:15; 23:3-4).

9. The Intercessors For Israel International Prayer Conference is coming up very soon - from the 19th - 26th of this month. We really appreciate your prayers for us.

   • Bring all who are supposed to be here and do not allow this war in Gaza keep them away.
   • Provide for all the finances that are needed for both the congregation and for IFI.
   • Protect and anoint all participants - especially the leadership team.
   • Give much wisdom in preaching and in leading in corporate prayer.

We thank you and expect that in 2009 we all will be drawn closer to our King of Kings and Lord of all - Yeshua the Messiah.

The IFI Team