1. We began with Psalm 118:24.

    • This is the day which YHWH has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

    • We do bless and thank You for this day - even in the face of all the challenges we face personally and all the dangers that face the nation of Israel.

    • Yeshua, we are so grateful that You are the Light of the world and have given us the light of revelation to understand who You are and to know God our Father personally.

    • We recognized that the next verse, Psalm 118:25, which is a cry of desperation, is very appropriate for what Israel faces today. Save now, I beseech You, YHWH; YHWH, I beseech You, cause us to prosper now. (Psalms 118:25)

  2. Budget: Finance Minister Yair Lapid has been working on a budget for the next couple of years for Israel. With all the various issues Israel needs to take into consideration - security, economy, poverty, etc. - we prayed for a budget through which God could be glorified.

    • Abba, help Lapid present a righteous budget that will be passed by the Knesset (Proverbs 14:34).

    • Lord, give us a budget that will help to further Your will and priorities for this nation.

    • Use this budget to continue to confound the experts by as Israel's economy remains strong.

    • Messiah, as the government is ultimately on Your shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7), we ask for You to overrule all decisions that are not in line with Your will.

    • Direct all areas where cuts are needed to be made and all areas where an increase in budget is necessary.

    • Be very precise in overruling all cuts or increases in the defense budget.

    • We ask that an increase in aliyah - the immigration of Jews from exile back home - would be one very positive result of the final budget.

    • Silence the left-wing, ultra-liberal media that presents Israel's economic situation as worse than it really is - all because of a hatred for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his policies.

    • Abba, raise up the next Bank of Israel president who will take Stanley Fisher's place. Make him a man of great wisdom and courage (1 Chronicles 12:32).

    • YHWH your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will do you good [prosper you], and multiply you above your fathers.

      Deuteronomy 30:5

  3. Laws: There are several pieces of legislation that are being prepared that can have a very favorable effect on how this nation is run. The first one we prayed about was the raising of the threshold for a political party to enter the Knesset from the current 2% to 4%. In effect, this would limit parties who would need to have five seats to become part of the government. It also includes legislation defining in a much better way, when non-confidence motions can be brought forth. Right now, it has become a free-for-all with non-confidence motions being presented by the opposition almost weekly, yet hardly ever being successful. They just waste time and resources.

    • And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. (Isaiah 1:26) Lord, we ask for any and all legislation that will bring Israel closer to that which You promised in this verse.

    • By Your mercy, enable this bill to pass quickly.

    • May the legislators who are working on this have an ability to clearly present this to the people of Israel.

    • We thank You that we can ask for this legislation to pass - confident that if it is not in line with Your will You will not answer (1 John 5:14-15).

    • Surround those working on this bill with wise counselors (Proverbs 15:22).

  4. Referendum: The next proposed legislation is that any 'peace' deal with the Palestinians would be put to a national referendum. We see this as an excellent move - giving the people of Israel the ultimate decision on what to do with their God-given inheritance.

    • Lord, we believe this is a godly way to approach this very contentious issue - so we ask for it to pass.

    • Again, we ask for You to surround those working on this bill with wise counselors.

    • May this bill pass in the Knesset by a wide margin of Knesset members.

    • Bless Netanyahu's strong stance in this area.

    • Use this referendum to safeguard that which You have given to this nation and people.

    • Abba, we ask that no peace deal that requires us to divide this land will ever be agreed to by Your people.

    • The land shall not be sold forever; for the land is Mine. For you[Israel] are strangers and pilgrims with Me. (Leviticus 25:23)

  5. Terrorism: A Jewish settler was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist this past week. He was a young father of five - with his oldest being only seven years old. Some settlers have reacted with violence against Palestinians. They are frustrated and in some sense, feel betrayed, because attacks in Judea and Samaria have been increasing without a strong response from the Israeli security forces. So we prayed for the settlers and the security forces to do that which is right in the eyes of God.

    • Save now, I beseech You, YHWH…

      Psalms 118:25a

    • Abba, enable the settlers, many of who believe in You, to remember that You said, If I sharpen My glittering sword, and if My hand takes hold in judgment, I will give vengeance to My enemies and will reward those that hate Me…Rejoice, O, nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance to His foes and will be merciful to His land, to His people. (Deuteronomy 32:41,43)

    • Lord, we know that even the New Testament tells us to leave vengeance in Your hands: If it is possible, as far as is in you, being in peace with all men. not avenging yourselves, beloved, but giving place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord'. (Romans 12:18-19; cp. Revelation 6:10).

    • Yet Yeshua, we do ask You to defend the innocent among the settlers and among the Palestinians and to repay the wicked quickly.

    • Lord, use the IDF and security forces to put out the flames of this potential 3rd intifada which seems to be increasing in intensity daily (Romans 13:3-4).

    • Protect all of Israel's collaborators in the Palestinian Authority.

    • Give Israel wisdom on how to deal with terrorists who are captured alive.

    • If Israel needs to start using the death penalty that is already part of Israeli law, give them the courage to do it. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man; for He made man in the image of God. (Genesis 9:5b-6)

    • Abba, cause this terrible murder to work out for Your glory as per Romans 8:28.

    • Overshadow and draw the widow and her children closer to Yourself through a revelation of Messiah Yeshua.

  6. North: We continue to see those who hate Zion being confounded, fighting and killing each other. The focus of our intercession was on the threat of the Iranian backed Hizbullah terrorist group which is operating in Syria in support of President al-Assad and, of course, operates freely in Lebanon as part of the current Lebanese government. Hizbullah has an international outreach and is responsible for many deaths in attacks throughout the world.

    • We thank You for setting those who hate Zion against each other (Psalm 129:5).

    • Let them be confounded and put to shame, those who seek after my soul; let them be turned back and be brought to confusion, those who plot evil to me… Let destruction come upon him, he will not know; and let his net which he has concealed catch him, let him fall in it, into destruction.

      Psalms 35:4, 8

    • Give Israel precise intelligence about any transfer from Syria to Hizbullah of chemical and/or biological weapons.

    • If that happens, give Israel's leaders all of the wisdom and courage to do whatever it takes to stop it.

    • Empower the IDF on all of Israel's borders to be super alert - to watch and not sleep.

    • We thank You for never slumbering or sleeping as You watch over Israel (Psalm 121:4).

    • Again we ask that You would have mercy on Lebanon by totally destroying Hizbullah.

    • Use the reports of Hizbullah fighting in Syria to open the blind eyes of EU officials to finally declare that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization.

    • Although Syria as a nation is under the curse of Genesis 12:3, I will curse them that curse you [Abraham's descendants] we do ask for mercy on multitudes of Syrians who are caught up in this horrific hell on earth.

    • Do not allow anyone to interfere in any of these areas in which You are doing the judging.

    • Messiah, how grateful we are that You prevented any deals of trading back the Golan for peace with Syria from ever taking place.

    • Continue to protect this area for Your holy name's sake (Psalm 68:15; Jeremiah 50:19. Note - biblical Bashan is where today's Golan is located.)

    • Let the priests, the ministers of YHWH, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Save Your people, YHWH. Give not Your inheritance to shame, for a proverb among the nations. Why should they say …Where is their God? Then YHWH will be jealous for His land and pity His people. Yes, YHWH will… say to His people, Behold, I will send you grain, wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied with it. And I will no more make you a curse among the nations. But I will remove the northern army far from you, and will drive him into a barren and deserted land…His stench…and his ill odor shall come up, because he was doing great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice. For YHWH will do great things.

      Joel 2:17-21

    • God, in some ways we thank You for the lack of will and courage among the world's leaders to deal with this Syrian crisis. Use this to help Israel's leaders see that we have no one on whom to depend other than You and what You have done in restoring and raising up Israel's army to be a mighty weapon in Your hands (Isaiah 41:10-16; Jeremiah 51:19-24; Micah 4:11-13; Zechariah 9:13-16)

  7. Iran: A report from America's Defense Department says North Korea is developing an ICBM - a missile capable of striking America with a nuclear warhead. Since North Korea and Iran are allies, this is not good news for Israel or the world. We continue to pray for God Himself to intervene directly in Iran - or, if He wants Israel to deal with this - for Israel to depend on Him and no one else.

    • YHWH reigns; let the peoples tremble. He sits between the cherubim; let the earth quake. YHWH is great in Zion; and He is high above all the peoples.

      Psalms 99:1-2

    • Continue to shake the very ground under all of their nuclear facilities and destroy them by Your hand. So says YHWH of Hosts: Behold, I will break the bow of Elam [ancient Iran]… (Jeremiah 49:35)

    • Help Israeli planners to see that depending on America is foolish - as the US has been trying to stop North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons for 20 years or so, and we see they fruit of their labor is total failure.

    • Give to Israeli weapon manufacturers new, cutting edge weapons that will shock Iran - and all of the rest of the surrounding Middle East Arab/Islamic nations.

    • If Israel does attack, may it be so overwhelmingly effective that the fear of Israel's God permeates the whole of this area (Exodus 14:14, 25)!

    • Overrule the Iranian elections this June so that the results will be a step closer to seeing Jeremiah 49:38 come to pass: And I will set My throne in Elam, and will destroy the king and the rulers from there, says YHWH.

    • Raise up the Iranian Church to stand with Your will for their nation, and for Israel.

  8. Interior Ministry: It is often a shock when suddenly something we have prayed much about is answered. We have prayed for a clean sweep of the Interior Ministry - the gatekeeping ministry of Israel. Today, this ministry, which was ruled over by the anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox Shas party, is under Netanyahu's Likud party and being run by Gideon Sa'ar - who from all that we know now - is a righteous man. Recent visits there have reported a lighter atmosphere!

    • Abba, for this change, we give You all the praise and glory.

    • Continue to work in Sa'ar life and make him a righteous gatekeeper for this nation (Isaiah 1:26).

    • Help him to clear out from this main gate of Israel all that is not of You. Go through, go through the gates; prepare the way of the people. Raise up! Raise up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a banner for the peoples. (Isaiah 62:10)

    • Use this man to increase the number of Jews returning to Israel.

    • May all Israelis living in exile become homesick for Zion. If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. (Psalms 137:5-6)

    • Lord Yeshua, wake up the Church to see what Your will is in this area (Isaiah 60:9-12).

Shabbat shalom, and blessings from Zion

The IFI team

He who testifies these things says, Yes, I am coming suddenly, Amen. Yes, come, Lord Yeshua.
The grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah be with all of you. Amen.

Revelation 22:20-21