1. We looked at the final two verses of this week's prophetic portion as we started our time in praise to Him who is Lord of all.

    • For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

      Isa. 9:6-7

    • Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…

      Rev. 6:12a

    • Thank You Father for sending Yeshua (Matt. 10:40; John 3:17).

    • Thank You Yeshua for sending the Holy Spirit (John 15:26).

    • Our God reigns in heaven and on earth (Psa. 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1)!

    • We bless You for a wonderful prayer conference and prayer tour.

    • Lord, now give us the grace, strength and wisdom to continue to persevere in intercession this year - for Your holy Name's sake (Psa. 115:1-3).

  2. Rain is falling over many areas of Israel today. January was a record breaking month for rainfall, for which we are most grateful. Yet this land still needs much more water.

    • We bless You for all of the rain and snow You have given to Israel this season.

    • Lord, You know how much more we need. Please provide all of Israel's needs.

    • Give Israel a very wet end of winter and early spring.

    • Thank You for enabling Israeli scientists to develop desalinization plants to supplement the water we receive directly from heaven.

    • Continue to help Israelis conserve water.

    • Lord, this nation is weary from all the tensions that we live under each day - both internally and externally. Therefore, please watch over this word at this time:

      You, God, sent plenty of rain, whereby You did confirm Your inheritance, when it was weary.

      Psa. 68:9

  3. Israel's northern border bears guarding over in prayer. Syria is imploding and Hizbullah in Lebanon is threatening to attack Israel if Syria is attacked by any other nation. There is also the distinct possibility of Syria's President Assad attacking Israel to divert pressure from himself, from both the Arab world and other nations. Russia and Iran are also supporting Assad - even as he kills literally thousands of his own people. Israel's army - the IDF - needs to be alert and prepared.

    • The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.

      Prov. 21:31

      Amen. Enable Israel's 'horse' to be prepared!

    • Lord, we lift up the IDF Chief of Staff, Benny Gantz and the Northern Commander to You. Empower them with courage, strength, wisdom and sound thinking at this time.

    • Abba, as You have promised, defend this nation (Psa. 121:4; Isa. 41:10-16; Jer. 31:10).

    • Give to all who need to make military decisions in this nation wise counsel.

      Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.

      Prov. 20:18; 24:4

    • Totally confuse Syria and Hizbullah into making stupid mistakes (Psa. 129:5).

  4. We spent a significant amount of time praying into the Iranian threat during the Prayer Conference. And until that threat is dealt with, we need to continue praying. Recently, Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini gave theological and legal reasons as to why Israel needed to be destroyed within the next few years. He called Israel a 'bacteria' in the Middle East. That reminds us of Nazi propaganda portraying Jews as sub-human. This is a very serious situation.

    • Lord of hosts, You hear the threats against Your nation and people. Arise God, and bring down this wicked Iranian regime (Psa. 68:1; 83:1-4,15-18)!

    • Send massive confusion and division into this anti-God regime (Psa. 55:9; 129:5)

    • Thank You for the current discord between Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Parliament. Increase it and use it for Your purposes.

    • Hook their jaw. Bridle them and drag them into the trap of Your making (Psa. 7:15-16).

    • Use the current international pressure on Iran to push them into making a huge mistake - like closing the straits of Hormuz.

    • Incline Your ear LORD, and hear. Open Your eyes LORD, and see…all the words of [Khameini and President Ahmadinejad who]…reproach the living God…Now therefore, LORD our God, save us from [their] hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are LORD [YHWH], even You alone.

      Isa. 37:17-20

  5. We prayed for the IDF's preparation in the likely event it will be called on to attack Iran, to deal with this threat to Israel.

    • Thank You Lord for raising up the IDF - a literally fulfillment of Your prophetic Word (Deut. 33:27; Isa. 41:14-16; Jer. 51:19-24; Ezek. 37:9-10; Mic. 4:11-13, etc)!

    • Give courage and wisdom to all of Israel's leaders to know what Israel needs to do and to know the timing (1 Chr. 12:32:14:14-15).

    • Bring unity to all who need to make these crucial decisions.

    • Lord of hosts, go with Israel's armies and send the 'hailstones' from heaven (Josh. 10:11)!

    • Protect all of Israel's mechanical systems from failure and at the same time, mess up the weapons systems of the enemy.

    • Enable Israel's reservists - the bulk of her army - to be in the right place at the right time.

    • Remind Israel of how You have helped her in both biblical and modern times - and let multitudes put their trust in You.

      Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

      Psa. 20:7

    • Make it very obvious that You are fighting for Israel (Ex. 14:25; Psa. 44:1-8).

  6. We prayed for Israel's home-front, that it would be prepared as well. It will likely be hit by both missiles and terror attacks.

    • Lord, inspire Your people to be ready and not to look to the government for every need.

    • We stand against a spirit of fear and panic from coming on this nation during war.

    • Yet use the coming crisis to cause the people of Israel to cry out to You.

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

      Psa. 50:15

    • God, send angelic and other types of protection (Psa. 91:1-16).

    • Give unity of heart and mind between the leaders and the people (Psa. 133:1).

    • Cause Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, and other leaders, to seek You.

    • Anoint Bibi and Israel's representatives in the nations to express Israel's positions clearly.

    • Hedge in the media from spreading panic or division.

  7. We also prayed for the Body of Messiah - both in Israel and in the nations - to be ready.

    • Lord Yeshua, may the response of Your Body to Israel's defense against her sworn enemies be a Holy Spirit response and not some humanistic garbage!

    • Use the situation to reveal the wolves who have crept into the flock (Acts 20:28-30).

    • Give to all of us discernment concerning prophetic words that will most surely come.

    • Open the eyes of more members of Your Body to the literal fulfillment of Your Word that this end time restoration of Israel represents (Jer. 30-33; Ezek. 35-39; Zech. 12-14, etc.).

    • Enable many to intercede in line with Your will, regardless of what the headlines scream.

    • Have much mercy on our Iranian brothers and sisters. Lead them to be in the right place and the right time and know how to pray for both their nation and for Israel.

    • Use the believers in the IDF. May the supernatural gifts of Your Spirit be very evident in their lives - and use them to speak words of truth to their fellow soldiers (Rom. 11:14).

  8. Knowing what happened after the 1967 Six Day War and what was happening during the 1st Gulf War - when tens of thousands of Jews came home - we prayed that this next year would see a huge increase inaliyah - Jewish immigration to Israel.

    • Hear the word of the LORD, O gentiles, declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and guard him, as a shepherd does his flock.

      Jer. 31:10

    • Abba, you have scattered us. Please continue to gather us in huge numbers this year.

    • If anti-Semitism is one of the results of an Israeli attack on Iran, use that to chase Your people home - especially those who are too comfortable in the West (Jer. 16:16).

    • Wake up the better than 5 million Jews in America that they need to be in Israel - soon.

    • Open wide the gates of Israel so that regardless of what Jews believe, they can enter.

    • Bring home the 25,000 Jews living in Iran and whatever small remnants are left in all the other Middle East Arab nations.

    • In line with Isaiah 49:22, raise up more in the Church to help carry Your people home.

  9. We finished by praying for God to intervene in two other areas:

    • There is a nationwide Histadrut [labor union] strike in Israel that has shut down the post office, banks, garbage collection and even the airport [for a short period of time.] It is not right for a labor union to have that kind of power. We asked for the strike to end, for a fair settlement to be arrived at, and for this kind of power to be removed from the Histadrut.

    • In March, Bethlehem Bible College will hold a conference called Christ at the Checkpoint. This is an anti-Zionist, pro-Palestinian, pro-replacement theory meeting that impacts way too many believers. We prayed for protection and revelation of the true aim of this anti-biblical gathering. We declared that Yeshua is Lord over both this conference and over His birthplace - Bethlehem!

Thank you for your fervent and effective prayers for Israel and for us (Jam. 5:16b).

Shabbat shalom,

The IFI Team