The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident. One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.

Psalm 27

We praise You Lord for who You are and Your mercy towards Your people. Thank You that You are so good to us, thank You that even though we have distress in our life, we have You to keep us safe in Your temple. You are our refuge and shelter in good times and in bad.

  1. We will have a government in a couple of days

    This government is a compromise brought on in large part by Israel's electoral system that has never been able to give us a majority government.

    Shlomo Engel a columnist for the Israeli paper Yediot wrote:

    Back in 1867, Bismarck said that "politics is the art of the possible." This statement is true for 2009 as well: Politics is not the art of the desirable and good, but rather, of the possible and less harmful. Politics of all or nothing is proper only for arenas of debate and discussion and for Torah lessons at yeshivas. It has no place around the government table and in our practical public life.

    I too believe in the people of Israel's full right for the entire Land of Israel and in the foolishness of the Oslo process and all its derivatives. However, this position is a minority view even in the current Knesset, which is rather rightist. Through Netanyahu's art of the possible, we're supposed to see a government with a very wide spectrum of Land of Israel loyalists. Their vast majority does not accept the interpretations of the National Union or Jewish Home.

    In reality the government has to find a way, a tricky and dangerous path in many ways and reach solutions that will not (more than what is already the case) bring the nations down on us precipitously. In reality in diplomacy, what is done is more important than what is said. For example, Shamir (a right-wing minister) went to the Madrid "peace" conference because he wanted to delay pressure against Israel. The right wing brought Shamir's government down and we ended up with Rabin and Oslo.

    Moreover, Netanyahu signed an agreement with Arafat at the Wye conference in the USA. Netanyahu knew that Arafat would not keep to his part of the agreement and therefore he knew that Israel would not be held responsible. Nevertheless, the right-wing government brought him down; they did not understand what Netanyahu was doing. Instead of Netanyahu we got Barak as P.M. and the disastrous and shameful abandonment of Southern Lebanon and Hezbollah's rise in power.

    • Let us pray that the government we have, will be the government that we need at this critical time.

    • Their nobles shall be from among them, and their governor shall come from their midst; then I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach Me; for who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me?' says the LORD.' You shall be My people, and I will be your God.'" Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD

      Jeremiah 30:21-22
    • "Father anoint Netanyahu to be a leader, to bring his government together, that it would be truly the government that Israel needs for this time. Give Netanyahu wisdom for those that he has put in place. Please Father give him the wisdom and understanding of what you want for Israel."
    • "Father draw this government closer to You that they may seek Your Face. May it be a government that hears from You and obeys.

  2. Pray for the Likud party

    Netanyahu made many promises to his own party (the Likud) that he will not be able to fulfill because he gave most of the important government ministries to other parties.
    • Pray that the Likud will recognize the dangerous times that we are in, and that they will support Netanyahu.

    • "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD.

      Jeremiah 23:3-4
    • "Father, we ask You, that this government will have an emphasis on Aliyah. This government needs to be the shepherds that bring the flock back. Please make this government open the gates for the influx of Your people from all the lands of the earth.

  3. We need to pray for the Defense Minister and the Foreign Minister

    The Defense minister we need to pray for is Barak. Barak has been a very poor Defense Minster in both the present government and the one he led as both Prime Minister and Defense Minister. He ran away from Lebanon we got a powerful Hezbollah in the North. Again, during the Gaza War, he stopped the offensive without completely destroying Hamas infrastructure. On the other hand, he is the most decorated soldier for bravery and courage in the Israeli army. Therefore, he is very brave in battle and yet in politics he is very timid. We need to pray for him to have wisdom and courage, that he would remember what being a soldier is all about. A soldier is called to stand in the gap between the enemies of the nation and the people.

    The Foreign Minister we need to pray for is Lieberman; he is a Russian immigrant, smarter than he looks and acts, but his comments are already inappropriate for a foreign minister. For example, he said that if Egypt goes to war with Israel he would bomb the Asswan Dam. This is a very clever thing to do, but you do not say these kinds of things in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament). In response to Mubarak's (President of Egypt) refusal to visit Israel, he told him to "go to hell". This is a very bad start! We know that all the nations will come against Jerusalem, but we need to pray that that will happen at the right time, and not prematurely.

    • "We pray Father that Barak will not be manipulated to do what is contrary to your will. We pray that You will strengthen him against our enemies. As it says in Your word, all Israel's enemies will be ashamed. We also pray that he will not be corrupted by politics."
    • "We ask You for Lieberman that he will be "wise as a serpent, but gentle as a dove". That he will not overreact or speak out of the flesh. Put a muzzle upon Lieberman, help him to speak the truth, but in a way that people will be able to receive it."

  4. Pray for Mossad and Military Intelligence services

    Now the king of Syria was making war against Israel; and he consulted with his servants, saying, "My camp will be in such and such a place." 9 And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying, "Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are coming down there." Then the king of Israel sent someone to the place of which the man of God had told him. Thus he warned him, and he was watchful there, not just once or twice. Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was greatly troubled by this thing; and he called his servants and said to them, "Will you not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?" And one of his servants said, "None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom."

    2 Kings 6:9-12

    We heard that Israel took action against a convoy in Sudan, with weapons coming from Iran to the Palestinians. We need to ask the Almighty to give us the necessary information to prevent attacks from our enemies. In the past our kings knew what the enemies was thinking in their bedrooms through the help of God.

    • "Father we pray for our governments that they will have this prophetic gift of knowing what the enemy is doing before it actually happens. Our intelligence services need divine inspiration to be able to protect Israel. Give us intelligence like You did at Entebbe. Please, Abba give the intelligence services the wisdom and the understanding that they need to find out, for example, where the locations, weak points and who they have to eliminate to destroy the Iranian nuclear facility. You have brought Your people to dwell safely in the land, in the flesh these problems are unsurmountable, but with You all things are possible.

  5. Let's pray for the finance minister

    There is the possibility that Netanyahu himself will be the finance minister. And he will appoint a deputy finance minister to help him. He actually has done a very good job at it in the past. All the other nations of the world are suffering much more severely the economic melt down than Israel. We know the difficulties that Netanyahu will be facing because of this and the fact that the economy is predicted to get even worst. People are loosing jobs, industries are closing, and people are going bankrupt. Our government needs a plan to know how to deal with the economy in this country. We need to ask the Lord for divine inspiration to know how to shelter those that are going to be the hardest hit. He is a God of order and an economist, so ask that He will give our government wisdom on how to deal with the economy.

    • Pray for the person that will be the next Finance Minister, for the people of Israel, for those that are going to loose their jobs, go bankrupt or have financial difficulties. The Lord has promised that this Land will be a fruitful land; it needs to be attractive to Jewish people from all over the world.

    • And I said to them, "according to our ability we have redeemed our Jewish brethren who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?" Then they were silenced and found nothing to say. Then I said, "What you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies? I also, with my brethren and my servants, am lending them money and grain. Please, let us stop this usury! Restore now to them, even this day, their lands, their vineyards, their olive groves, and their houses, also a hundredth of the money and the grain, the new wine and the oil, that you have charged them." So they said, "We will restore it, and will require nothing from them; we will do as you say." Then I called the priests, and required an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.

      Nehemiah 5:8-12

      "Father we ask You that the finance minster will be like Nehemiah. That he will receive wisdom on how to deal with the poorest of society, to see were the imbalances are to be able to help his brother and sisters to return to Israel.

    • Father You gave Joseph not only the ability to interpret dreams, but the plan to survive the famine for 7 years. Give us the plan to survive the scarcity that is coming.

  6. Pray for Gilad Shalit

    We prayed for him last week and we are going to continue praying for him. This soldier has been captive for more than 1,000 days. Hamas is demanding 1,000 prisoners in exchange, in their list there are 450 terrorists with blood on their hands. We know from experience that if these murderers are released there will be more Israeli blood shed. The press is pushing to bring him back whatever the cost. This would be wrong and irresponsible for the wellbeing of the Nation, because many of the murderers will just go back to terrorism and killing more people. We need to pray in three ways, first of all, we would like Gilad to come back to us but not through a massive release of murderers. We would like to see a miracle happen here, where God would supernaturally release him like He did with Paul when he was in prison. Secondly we pray, that the Lord reveal where Gilad is. This would enable the army to go and rescue him. And thirdly, that the Almighty would strengthen him and give him what he needs whilst in captivity. That God will reveal Himself to him and comfort his family. And fourthly, that the coming Knesset will set up clear guidelines about what to do in case of kidnapping. For example, the USA does not negotiate with kidnappers.

    • "Father we ask that You would open the doors for Gilad to be able to walk out. You have done it before and You can do it again. Or, that You would give the intelligence to our army of his whereabouts so that they can rescue him."
    • When he was captured we prayed for his salvation, Father come to him so that he is comforted. Father bring him out in Yeshua's name. We pray for a miracle to blind his captors, we pray for mercy in this situation.

  7. Aliyah

    Praise the Lord that we can see his promises fulfilled at this time, with all the Jewish people that have come back from all the countries of the world. It is the realization of God's promises that are true and amen. However, there are 500,000 Israelis living in New York and California alone.

    • "Abba thank You for those that You have brought back, we still plead with You to bring all of the Jewish people back, You've said in Your word that You were not going to leave anybody behind. This is their homes; this is the place where they are going to be safe. Please Father; give the Ministry of Absorption the vision to encourage Aliyah, regardless of what their persuasion is. We pray for the new minister of interior Eli Yishai (the present Shas leader). That You will soften his heart, especially regarding the Messianic Jews. Make him Father a righteous gate keeper. That he would know who to allow in and who to keep out. Give him the knowledge and the wisdom to seek out the Jews from all the nations and gather them as a shepherd does the sheep. Remove the fears that Your people have in returning to the land of Israel, fears that they will not be able to make it financially, fears of the language barrier, etc. You Father make a way, where there is no way.

  8. Pray for the Messianic Body in this land

    First of all, that sound doctrine will be preached, and secondly that the Holy Spirit will visit the congregations.

    • "Father we ask that You will touch hearts, remove bondages, that your people (the people that have been bought by the blood of the Lamb) will be freed. We ask Abba that they will not follow the traditions of man, but the pure infallible Word. We pray that Your Word will be preached and taught that we might be prepared to do Your will.

The IFI Team
Jerusalem