1. This morning, we started by singing Great is Thy Faithfulness.

    • It is by YHWH's kindnesses that we are not destroyed, because His mercies never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Your faithfulness.

      Lamentations 3:22-23

    • We thank You that You never change. We never need to wonder about Your steadfast love for us and Your commitment to Your word.

      For I am YHWH, I change not. Because of this you sons of Jacob are not destroyed.

      Malachi 3:6

    • We bless You for Your amazing grace.

    • Even our ability to walk by faith is a grace-gift from You (Ephesians 3:8).

    • I will call on YHWH, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies… YHWH lives; and blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

      Psalms 18:3, 46

  2. The budget has been approved by the cabinet - although not yet the Knesset - Israel's parliament. There were places where the budget needed to be cut. One ministry was Israel's Home-front Command which is responsible for citizens during times of crisis or war. We prayed for this ministry's chief in the Knesset, Gilad Erdan, and his IDF counterpart, Maj. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg, to be proactive in knowing what Israel needs to do to protect and prepare its citizens for whatever the future holds.

    • Lord, with a decreased budget, please give these men and their advisors wisdom on how to use every shekel to the best advantage.

    • Enable Erdan and Eisenberg to work closely together and have wisdom from on high (Proverbs 15:22).

    • If need be, let them think out of the box and do things in a surprising - yet effective - manner.

    • Provide the finances for all Israelis and tourists to have the gas masks, antidotes, or whatever else is needed in the case of biological or chemical attacks.

    • Lord of hosts, supervise the placement of the Iron Dome and Israel's other anti-missile defenses in the perfect places to defend this nation.

    • Ultimately, we thank You that You are watching over this nation day and night (Psalm 121:4).

    • Hear the Word of YHWH, O gentiles, and declare it in the coastlands afar off. And say, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep/guard him, as a shepherd keeps his flock.

      Jeremiah 31:10

  3. We used Isaiah 41:10-16 as a foundational promise to intercede for the Israeli Defense Forces - the IDF.

    • Fear not; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness. Behold, all those who were furious with you shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing. Those who fight with you shall perish. You shall seek them, and not find them… For I, YHWH your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, Fear not; I will help you. Fear not, worm of Jacob and men of Israel; I will help you, says YHWH, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

      Isaiah 41:10-14

    • God goes on to explain how He will help Israel to defeat its enemies:

      Behold, I make you a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains, beat them small, and make the hills like chaff. You shall winnow them. The wind shall carry them away, and a tempest shall scatter them. And you shall rejoice in YHWH and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

      Isaiah 41:15-16

    • Thank You for the new sharp 'teeth' You are giving to the IDF.

    • Provide them with all the new weapons and weapon systems that will be needed for all present and future conflicts.

    • If/when the IDF needs to go to war, as per this prophetic promise, go before them and help them to make the enemies' weapons like chaff before a hurricane.

    • We plea with You to provide miraculous help to Israel's army in times of war.

      Asa cried to YHWH his God and said, YHWH, it is nothing with You to help, whether with many or with him who has no power. Help us, YHWH our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. YHWH, You are our God. Do not let man prevail against You. And YHWH struck the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah. And the Ethiopians fled.

      2 Chronicles 14:11-12

    • Thank You for the huge improvement the IDF has made since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

    • We bless Israel's soldiers, these physical intercessors, in the name of Israel's King and Messiah Yeshua.

    • As the IDF has also had its budget cut, help Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Ganz to cut out the fat but not to touch any of the healthy muscle in the army's make-up.

    • Continue to supply all the finances the IDF really needs to be Your weapon of war (Jeremiah 51:20).

    • Impart Your divine intelligence to all those in Israel's military intelligence.

      A man's heart plans his way, but YHWH directs his steps.

      Proverbs 16:9

    • Release the IDF's leadership from all false assumptions concerning our enemies and their capabilities.

    • Move upon the IDF's planners to prepare to fight the next war - and not the last one.

    • Whatever the IDF accomplishes, we look for the fruit of it to be exactly what You said in the above verses:

      And you shall rejoice in YHWH and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

      Isaiah 41:16b

  4. We briefly prayed for those interceding for Israel - that God would keep all presumption away from us and open our eyes to see and our ears to hear exactly what He wants to impart at this time (John 10:27).

  5. PM Netanyahu made a quick trip to Russia this past week to meet with Russian President Putin. The aim was to pressure Russia from selling to Syrian the S-300 anti-aircraft missile which is seen to be the most advanced such system on the planet. From all accounts, the trip was not successful - although whether Russia goes ahead with transferring the weapons is still questionable.

    • Abba, put Your fear into the heart of Putin and Russia's military leaders to recall how often in recent history, Israel has deal a severe blow to Russian military equipment - in Egypt, Lebanon and elsewhere.

    • Lord God, stop this deal. Use international pressure or some other way - but block the transfer of these weapons from Russia to anyone in the Middle East.

    • Messiah, help Israeli research scientists come up with ways to neutralize the S-300.

    • Enable the IDF to have the tools and knowhow to both blind and destroy it.

    • Strengthen the cooperation between Israel and Cyprus - which already has the S-300 in their arsenal.

    • Lord, we remind You of another one of Your promises concerning the IDF:

      Now also many nations are gathered against you, who say, Let her be defiled, let our eyes look on Zion. But they do not know the plans of YHWH, nor do they understand His counsel. For He has gathered them like the sheaf to the floor. Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hoofs bronze; and you shall crush many peoples. And I will give their gain to YHWH, and their wealth to the Lord of the all the earth.

      Micah 4:11-13

  6. News came out of Cairo this week that Palestinian President Abbas' Fatah faction and Hamas, Gaza's terrorist overlords, have agreed to form a unity government within three months.We've lost count on how many times these two enemies of Israel have tried to become united. Yet might it be to Israel's advantage for this to occur? Since Hamas has not backed off one iota from its goal to destroy the State of Israel, if Mr. 'Moderate' Abbas joins forces with them, his sheepskin will be torn off - leaving the world with no excuse to see him for the ravenous wolf that he really is. Would America dare to continue to press Israel to divide its land with Hamas - when the US has consistently declared Hamas is a terrorist group? Would the EU?

    • Lord, US Secretary of State John Kerry is coming to Israel again this week to try and jump-start 'peace' negotiations. Please help him to see where Abbas is really coming from.

    • Give Israeli leaders wisdom and strength on how to deal with the unrealistic pressure of wanting them to shake hands with people who only want to destroy this nation.

    • Open up the eyes of Israeli leaders and the media who are pushing for Israel to divide its land, to the reality that there is no partner for peace among current Palestinian leaders.

    • Anoint Israel's public relations on this issue to expose for all the world to know what is churning in the heart of Abbas and the rest of his Fatah members.

    • Continue to give strength to PM Netanyahu, Minister of Trade Naftali Bennett, and all other MKs who take a stance against this land being divided.

    • Lord, this is Your land and Your purpose is to settle Your people settled here. Therefore, do whatever it takes to prevent the establishment of a Palestine in this place.

    • We look to You to stop our 'friends' from forcing us into a situation where we will divide Your land.

    • For, behold, in those days and in that time, when I will bring again the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will fight with them there for My people and for My inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided My land.

      Joel 3:1-2

  7. We next prayed for specific government ministers so that this new Israeli government will be a blessing to the people and to be used by God for His glory.

    • Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu - strengthen him with power from on high and use him for Your holy name's sake. Protect and defend him and reveal to him Your Son, Messiah Yeshua.

    • Finance Minister Yair Lapid - protect him from pride and arrogance. Help him to do that for which You have raised him up for at this time.

    • Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon - continue to give him a realistic outlook on both the 'peace' process and the threats surrounding this nation. May he deal righteously with the Jewish residents in Judea, Samaria and 'East' Jerusalem.

    • Trade and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett - enable him to speak clearly about the importance to not see a 'Palestine' created in the land You have given to Your people. Use him to bridge the gap between secular Israel and the modern Orthodox Zionists.

    • Interior Minister Gidon Sa'ar - bless him as he endeavors to clear out the Interior Ministry from the effects of the Haredi Shas leadership. Give him much wisdom on granting citizenship to those Jews whom the rabbis call 'questionable' - like Messianic Jews, but not only them.

    • Lord Yeshua, since the government is ultimately upon Your shoulders (Isaiah 9:6-7), we ask that You rule over all of Israel's government ministers and use this government for Your purposes.

    • YHWH has prepared His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom rules over all.

      Psalms 103:19

  8. Aliyah - the return of the Jewish exiles from the nations to home - was the next item for prayer. With Jeremiah 16:15-16 in mind, we see that the rise of anti-Semitism in the West is God removing His hand of restraint to encourage - or frighten - His people to come back home.

    • …YHWH lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands where He had driven them. And I will bring them again into their lands that I gave to their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishermen, says YHWH, and they will fish them. And afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.

      Jeremiah 16:15-16

    • Lord, You who still love Your son Israel, open their eyes to see the hunters and flee from the wrath that is about to boil over.

    • Abba, wake up Jews in the nations where there is a very evident trend of a growing anti-Semitism [the following is in no particular order]: France, Hungry, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, England, Scotland, Greece, and many others.

    • What will it take for the Jews in North America to understand that this current 'Daughter of Babylon' is not Your chosen home for them?

    • How shall we sing YHWH's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget. 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 137:4-6

We finished by praying for the Church in the nations - that our brothers and sisters would see that this current restoration of Israel is God's will and that He wants them to stand with Him to see it completed.

Shabbat shalom, and blessings from Zion
The IFI team

I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who will not be silent all the day nor all the night.
You who are those who remind YHWH of His will, do not be silent, and give Him no silence until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Isaiah 62:6-7