1. The prophetic portion this week is found in Isaiah 54:11-55:5. We used the verses from chapter 54 to inspire us to praise and thank our very faithful God.

    • "O you afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Behold...I will make...all your borders of pleasant stones. All your children shall be taught of LORD [YHWH], and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established. You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear - and from terror, for it shall not come near you. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by Me. Whoever shall gather against you shall fall for your sake...No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of LORD, and their righteousness is of Me, says LORD.

      (Isaiah 54:11-17)

    • We trust You to watch over this word of promise to the children of Israel.

    • Thank You for such great promises to both this nation and Your Body.

    • Yeshua, we bless You for choosing us to bear fruit for Your Father's glory through the ministry of intercession (John 15:16).

  2. The concluding verses of this Shabbat's prophetic portion are about salvation. Therefore, we next prayed for the salvation of the Jewish people.

    • Ho, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that has no money, come, buy, eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen to Me. Eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me. Hear, and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander...Behold, you shall call a nation that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run unto you because of LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified you.

      (Isaiah 55:1-5)

    • Abba, give this nation a hunger and thirst for Your Word. Open My eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law. (Psalms 119:18)

    • Lord, we ask for You to fulfill this word very soon:

      And I will pour upon the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon [lit. "unto"] Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

      (Zechariah 12:10)

    • Wash Jewish hearts with the promised water of Your Spirit. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. (Ezekiel 36:25)

    • Open up the eyes of Orthodox Jews that the One whom they have been waiting for has already come!

    • Save multitudes of IDF soldiers. Appear to them as they guard this nation and reveal Your true identity as their Messiah, Redeemer and Lord.

    • Abba, look upon the Iranian Jews - whether they are still in Iran or out among the nations - and redeem a significant remnant for Yourself.

  3. The Church is God's anointed and chosen vessel to bring the good news of Messiah Yeshua to the Jews, as well as the rest of mankind. And just because the history of the Church with the Jewish people has been horrific, does not mean that God has changed His mind.

    • Lord, what You said through Paul to the early church in Rome, still applies today: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes - to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)

    • Yeshua, help Your Body understand what it means to provoke the Jews to jealousy (Romans 11:11).

    • We bless You for that remnant in the Church in the West that does see the place of Israel in Your plans and intercedes for that plan to come to pass.

    • Lord, open the eyes of the many in the Western Church who are blind to Israel.

    • Remove all false prophetic voices from Your Body and cleanse Your temple.

  4. Aliyah - the immigration of Jews back to the land of Israel - continues to make headlines this week as a planeload of 107 olim - new immigrates - arrived from the UK.

    • LORD builds up Jerusalem: He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.

      (Psalms 147:2-3)

    • Thank You for those UK Jews who had the wisdom to see the rising anti-Semitism in their nation and the courage to do something about it. Please settle them here with much success.

    • Please bring the remaining 250 Jews in Yemen home to Israel. We say to that government, In the name of Yeshua - let God's people go!

    • Open up the doors in Israel so that the remaining Ethiopian Jews can come home.

    • And there is hope in your end, says LORD, that your children shall come again to their own border.

      (Jeremiah 31:17)

    • Thank You for sustaining Israel's economy in the midst of the global financial shakings.

    • Raise up more believers who have a burden to see Your people come home and are willing to carry, pay and pray to see it happen. Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up My hand to the Gentiles, and set up My banner to the people: and they shall bring Your sons in their arms, and Your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. (Isaiah 49:22)

    • Lift up your eyes...and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see... your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto you, the forces [or wealth] of the Gentiles shall come unto you.

      (Isaiah 60:4-5)

    • Lord, let the Messianic Jews rise up and come home. Give them a heart like Joshua and Caleb who completely followed You - and not like the other 10 spies who would not make aliyah because of the giants in the land (Numbers 13:30-33; 32:12).

  5. Israel's water crisis continues although there is some encouraging news.

    • We bless You Lord that July's water consumption was lower than June's - a totally unexpected event. Do the same in August as well.

    • Abba, whether that was because of the rise in water prices or the realization by Israelis that we need to be more conservative - we thank You.

    • We also thank You for the heavy dew Israel have been receiving lately.

    • Still, Israel has a real need of a fresh, abundant supply of water. So we ask You to watch over Your word to perform it:

      When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none...I LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 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, the hand of LORD has done this, the Holy One of Israel has created it.

      (Isaiah 41:17-20)

  6. This past week saw the conclusion to the first Fatah conference in 20 years. Fatah, the largest Palestinian party in the PLO, is headed by Abbas and runs the Palestinian Authority. It is the organization with which Israel has had "peace" negotiations. Fatah is supposedly more "moderate" than Hamas, the group that kicked them out of Gaza. Yet all that is a deception as the only difference between them is that Hamas is Islamic and Fatah is secular. Both want to destroy Israel. The results of the conference showed that.

    • LORD is righteous: He has cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

      (Psalms 129:4-5)

    • Abba, we thank You for hardening the hearts of Israel's enemies so that even "moderate" Fatah is not willing to compromise on any issue whatsoever.

    • Thank You for exposing the true heart intent of those the world is forcing us to deal with.

    • Thanks for removing Abbas' sheepskin and revealing his wolf nature (Matthew 7:15-20).

    • Help Israel's government know what to say and how to deal with Fatah from now on.

    • We ask for godly wisdom and guidance for PM Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Lieberman, Defense Minister Barak and all the other minister and advisors in the current coalition.

    • Thank You that our non-politically correct FM Lieberman, clearly said that with Fatah's new platform, peace is further away now than before the conference began.

    • Please remind Netanyahu of how quickly his previous government fell after he gave away Hebron to the PA. And thank You that he has publicly said it was a huge mistake.

    • Use the new Fatah platform to awaken the Israeli public to the reality that there is no peace partner on the other side. Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say...yet they have not prevailed against me. (Psalms 129:1-2)

  7. There is a lot of saber rattling between Hizbullah in Lebanon and Israel. Thanks to the terrible job of the UN force in Lebanon, Hizbullah is in a stronger position militarily than even before the 2nd Lebanon war in 2006. And to our south, Hamas is re-arming themselves while the world does essentially nothing. Actually, the world has done something - accuse Israel of war crimes for defending herself in the war in Gaza. Israel is surrounded by enemies and the world is tying her hands. So what else is new?

    • If it had not been LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us...Blessed be LORD, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of LORD, who made heaven and earth.

      (Psalms 124:1-8)

    • Lord Yeshua, You who are the Commander of the Hosts of heaven (Joshua 5:13-15; Revelation 19:11-16), arise and defend this nation for Your holy name's sake.

    • Protect all of Israel's soldiers and prevent any successful kidnapping attempts. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper... (Isaiah 54:17a)

    • Thank You for the new "gadgets" the IDF has announced this week that make fighting in an urban setting that much more efficient.

    • Lord, expose all the plans of the enemy so that Israel knows what they will do before they do it (Luke 12:13). And if Israel needs to pre-empt, give our leaders the wisdom and courage to just do it.

    • Release the archangel Michael to do battle again against the prince of Persia and deal with Iran in a way that breaks the back of the Spirit of Islam and brings You much glory.

Intercessors For Israel is in the process of organizing next January's International Prayer Conference in Jerusalem. We need and appreciate your prayer support. We would also love to see many of you here - standing with us on Jerusalem's walls. For more information please contact Sonia: <sonia@ifij.org>

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion,
The IFI team