1. We started with praise because our God is great.

   • You reign supreme.

     The LORD has prepared His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.

     Psalms 103:19

   • We trust You in the midst of all the shaking that is in the earth today.

   • God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah…The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved. He uttered His voice, the earth melted. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations He has made in the earth. He makes wars to cease… Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the land. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

     Psalms 46:1-3,6-11

2. We prayed for the situation in Japan, asking God for mercy and for our brothers and sisters in Messiah to be all God wants them to be at this time.

   • Abba, have mercy on the Japanese people.

   • Reveal to them Yeshua and save multitudes in the midst of this crisis.

   • Ask of Me, and I shall give You [Messiah Yeshua] the gentiles for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession.

     Psalms 2:8

   • Lord, bless Your Body there with wisdom and strength to be Your witnesses at this time.

   • Enable them to comfort and bring hope to their neighbors.

   • Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

     1 Peter 3:15

   • Give the authorities wisdom to know how to deal with their the nuclear facilities.

3. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is continually under pressure from both inside and outside of Israel. Even many believers question his every move. We see him in a different light. He has been raised up by God to be Israel's PM at this time. He is not a believer as far as we know. To expect him to make every decision in line with what the Bible says is to live in fantasy land. Yet he has said and done many things that are pleasing to God. Also, there is no one else electable that can take his place. All of the real other choices will be much worse than what we have now. Our job is to pray for him so that God's will will be done.

   • With the feast of Purim being celebrated this Sunday, there are some verses in the book of Esther that are appropriate to Israel's current situation.

   • As Bibi reads the scroll of Esther this weekend, quicken Your Word to him.

   • Let him be another Mordecai and not bow to any world leaders.

   • We prayed Esther 4:14 for Bibi.

     For if you hold your peace at this time, then shall enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place…and who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

   • Lord, strengthen Bibi and anoint him to know how to lead Israel at this time.

   • Use Sarah Palin, who is in Israel this week, to be an encouragement to Netanyahu. Since she is a sister in the Lord, quicken to her a verse, or three, to give to Bibi.

   • Watch over Proverbs 16:9 in Bibi's life.

     A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps.

   • You promised to restore to Israel her judges as of old (Isaiah 1:26). Therefore, as in the book of Judges, let Your Spirit come mightily on Netanyahu.

4. Last Friday we prayed for Israel's security. Later that evening there was a horrific terror attack in the settlement of Itamar in which five members of a family were brutally slaughtered. Yet also last week, Israel's navy captured a ship that was heading to Gaza which had weapons from Iran and Syria that would have made Israel's overall security situation much worse.

   • Lord, comfort Your people in Itamar.

   • Continue to protect all of Your people, especially those in Judea and Samaria, whom You are planting back in Your land (Jeremiah 32:41; Amos 9:14-15).

   • Protect the settlers from rage and bitterness and from taking the law into their own hands.

   • Help Israel's security forces find and capture the terrorists who did this.

   • Abba, we ask for You to send angelic protection over this nation during this very unstable time in the Middle East.

   • Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

     Psalms 129:5

   • We bless You for enabling Israel to stop that weapons ship.

   • As Israel reveals the weapons on it, may the world wake up to the fact that Iran and her allies really want to destroy this nation.

   • For, behold, Your enemies make a noise. They that hate You have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people… They have said, Come, let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For… they are confederate against You.

     Psalms 83:2-5

   • Protect Israel from any enemy attacks - especially during Purim.

5. Although we had some excellent rains and snow this past week, Israel is experiencing a heat wave today, and we still need a lot more water.

   • Thank You for all of the rain and snow You have sent to Israel recently.

   • Please do not allow this hot spell over Israel last a long time. Break it Abba.

   • We are asking You for rain in this time of the latter rains (Zechariah 10:1).

   • Abba, we plead with You as Moses did in Exodus 32:11-13. What will the nations say if You do not supply the water that Your people need - the people whom You are bringing out of captivity back to Your land.

   • We appeal to You based on Your Word and Your character - and not on who the Jewish people are. Remember that You said, Israel has not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts - even though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. (Jeremiah 51:5; see also 50:19-20)

   • Again, we ask You to supernaturally multiply what You have given in the natural.

6. One of the lessons of Purim is that Jews in Persia were there only because they did not return to the land of Israel with Ezra and Nehemiah. They were in exile, yet God's will was for them to come home. He had only decreed 70 years for the exile and that time was up. Although God protected His people, yet He remained hidden from them. This is shown by the fact that the name of God is not mentioned at all in the book of Esther.

   • Lord, the Jews in exile are in danger because most of them are living outside of Your will.

   • For Your holy name's sake, wake up, shake up, and bring back Your people to Your land (Ezekiel 36:23-24).

   • As they read the scroll of Esther this week, by Your Spirit warn them of the danger of being assimilated.

     Behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

     Numbers 23:9

   • Thank You for protecting the Jews - and the redeemed in Messiah Yeshua - even when we find ourselves outside of Your will. You remain faithful (2 Timothy 2:13).

   • As You protect Israel time and again, also save multitudes of Moslems (Esther 8:17).

7. We finished by praying for all of us. In this time of intense shakings - which seems to get more intense and more frequent, just like the birth pangs of a women - we, as His intercessors, need to have discernment to know what God is doing. If not, we could find ourselves praying against His will instead of supporting it.

   • Lord, we bring before You Your declaration in Amos 3:7:

     Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.

     Amos 3:7

   • Abba, we are not claiming to be prophets - but since the prophets were often intercessors, we ask that You would reveal to us that which You are doing today.

   • Give Your intercessors - in fact, give to all of Your Body - the ability to discern the signs of the times, just like the children of Issachar, who were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do… (1 Chronicles 12:32)

   • We often do not know how to pray. We bless You for giving us the Holy Spirit to lead us in praying in line with Your will (Romans 8:26).

   • Circumcise our ears to hear what You are saying (see Jeremiah 6:10).

   • Yeshua, help us to recognize the false prophets that You said would plague Your people in the last days. Give to us the gift of the discerning of spirits to aid in this.

   • Tell us… what shall be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the world? Yeshua answered… Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Messiah; and shall deceive many… And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many… For there shall arise false Messiahs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before.

     Matthew 24:3b-5, 11, 24-25

Todah rabbah, Shabbat shalom and hag Purim sameach.
Thank you very much, Shabbat shalom and have a joyous Purim.
The IFI team

Watch therefore: for you know not what hour your Lord comes.

Matthew 24:42