1. Isaiah 60:1-22 is Shabbat's prophetic portion.

    • Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of YHWH has risen on you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but YHWH shall rise on you, and His glory shall be seen on you.

      Isaiah 60:1-2

    • Thank You for the light of Your Word - both written and living.

    • Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.

      Psalms 119:105

    • I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

      John 8:12b

    • We bless You for Your Spirit which enables us to see the true Light (Psalm 36:9).

    • Thank You for choosing us for Your kingdom purposes (John 15:16).

    • We are so grateful for Your mercy towards us and towards this nation (Lamentations 3:22-23).

  2. Reading Isaiah 60 shows that the Church is supposed to have an integral part to play in the restoration of Israel. Verses 5-6 and 9 indicate that a people - who are not the Jewish people - will aid the Jews to come home and will offer praise to the God of Israel. The only people that this could apply to are gentile believers.

    • Then you shall see and come together, and your heart shall fear and swell for joy; because the abundance of the sea shall turn to you, the wealth of the gentiles will come to you…All of them from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall proclaim the praises of YHWH.

      Isaiah 60:5-6

    • Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of YHWH your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you.

      Isaiah 60:9

    • Abba, we bless and thank You for all the Christian Zionists in the Body of Messiah worldwide.

    • Please have mercy on the multitudes of our brothers and sisters who are in complete darkness about Your will for the nation of Israel in these last days.

    • Lord Yeshua, cleanse Your house from the deception of Replacement theology (Jeremiah 33:23-26).

    • Cause Your Word to live as Your people read it - especially the passages about the return of Your people to Your land (Jeremiah 30-33; Ezekiel 36; etc.).

    • Lord, have mercy on the next generation and enable them to see what You are doing today.

    • Make them hungry for biblical truth. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4b)

    • As many of Your servants are preparing to speak to Your people this weekend, speak to them and give them courage to speak to Your sheep about the things concerning Israel.

    • If untruth is preached in Your house, hedge it in and do not allow it to infect Your sheep.

    • Lord, while we thank You for Christian Zionists, we ask for those who are so fanatical that Israel has replaced Yeshua as the central focus of their life and faith be brought to a balanced view of Israel - that it is being restored for Your Holy Name's sake.

    • …Thus says the Lord YHWH: I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the nations where you went.

      Ezekiel 36:22b

    • Abba, set Christian Zionists free from the fear of standing openly with Messianic Jews (Galatians 6:10).

  3. With an eye on Isaiah 60, we next prayed for the Church to help with Israel's restoration.

    • Truly it has pleased them [gentile believers], and they are their [the Jews] debtors. For if the gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister to them in material things.

      Romans 15:27

    • Thus says the Lord YHWH, 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 bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

      Isaiah 49:22

    • We bless You for Christian organizations that are aiding in the bringing home of Your people.

    • Do not allow the Church to forget to help the Jews after they return home - whether in prayer, with finances, etc. (Isaiah 60:10).

    • Raise up more intercessors to watch over this nation both day and night (Isaiah 62:6-7).

  4. We prayed for Israel's government to know how to respond to the ever increasing turmoil which surrounds this nation in today's Middle East.

    • Lord, move upon the Israeli government to do that which is Your will only. There are many purposes in a man's heart, but the counsel of YHWH shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21; cp. 21:1)

    • Impart real understanding to Israel's leaders concerning the current ME situation.

    • Enable Israel's spies and collaborators to send back true intelligence in the areas of their responsibility.

    • Help Israel to correctly interpret the information they gather from their drones and satellites.

    • May the lack of courage and determination on the part of the rest of the 'civilized' world leaders to the Syrian, Egyptian and Iranian situations be a wakeup call to Israeli leaders that they have no one other than themselves to look to in order to protect this nation.

    • May they make whatever decisions are needed to protect Your people - while also crying out to You for help.

    • We specifically pray for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz - for wisdom and courage and an ability to work in unity.

    • We bless You that You have declared Your intention to defend this nation when Your restore her in the final days (Psalm 102:13; 121:4; Isaiah 41:10-16; Jeremiah 31:10, etc.).

  5. Friday is the Islamic day of 'prayer'. Muslims attend mosques and often hear incitement and anti-Semitic sermons. Today, mosque sermons, especially in Egypt, will most likely stir up anger against both Egypt's army and against the 'Zionist Entity', that is, Israel. We again prayed for mercy on Egypt.

    • Lord, have mercy. Keep the loss of life in Egypt to a minimum.

    • Use Egypt's security forces to defend the innocent against the violence of the Islamic spirit (Romans 13:3-4).

    • Aid the Egyptian army in the Sinai to catch terrorists and stop further vicious terror attacks.

    • We recognize that what we are seeing could be the continuing fulfillment of Isaiah 19. In the face of that, we ask for mercy on the people as You judge the idols of Egypt. The burden against Egypt: Behold, YHWH rides on a swift cloud and comes into Egypt. The idols of Egypt shall tremble at His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in its midst. I will set Egyptians against Egyptians; and they shall fight each man against his brother…The spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst of it, and I will destroy its wisdom… (Isaiah 19:1-3a)

    • Protect and use our brothers and sisters in Egypt.

    • Hide them when needed and teach them how to pray.

    • We bless them in the name of Yeshua (Psalm 134:3).

    • Lord, deliver the nations of the West from the idolatry of 'democracy' and let them see the whole picture.

    • We ask the same for the Church - that the idol of democracy would not find a place in the house of God.

  6. We reminded God of the spiritual principle in Mark 3:25: If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Islam divides the world into the House of Islam and the House of War - which is all others who are not Muslims - and since the House of Islam is divided today, with Muslim killing Muslim in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and other places, we asked God to bring the principality/house of Islam down!

    • Lord Yeshua, is it not time to bring this monstrous principality to nothing?

    • As You do that, set multitudes of Muslims free. Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek Your name, YHWH. (Psalms 83:16)

    • Enable ex-Muslim believers to 'arise and shine' at this very moment and help them to find hearts You have already prepared by Your Spirit.

  7. We continue to pray against the threat of an Iranian nuclear device. As many of the Gulf Arab nations are as terrified, if not more so, than Israel of this coming to pass, we also prayed for a 'partnership' - even if under the table - between Israel and Saudi Arabia. After all, as the Arab proverb states, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend".

    • Abba, move on Saudi leaders to see that they cannot depend on America or anyone else - except Israel -concerning this threat from Iran.

    • In Genesis 25:7-9, we see Isaac and Ishmael working together to bury their Father Abraham. May we see the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael working together again so that the seed of Abraham may not need to be buried under a nuclear blast - but that together they may bury Iran's nuclear program.

    • Cause the hatred/fear in the hearts of Sunni Muslims (Saudis and most others) against the Shi'ite Muslims (Iran) far outweigh the cost of working with Israel to defeat this Shi'ite nuclear threat.

    • Lord, impart courage, strength and wisdom to Israel's leaders, as well as bringing about a godly unity among them concerning exactly what, when and how Israel is to deal with this threat.

    • We thank You for making it obvious that Israel cannot depend on anyone other than You and itself to defend this nation at this time. And we bless You that You are all Israel needs (Psalm 20:7-9; Jeremiah 31:10).

    • Because of this, impress on Israel's leadership the need to seek You - even corporately as a nation.

    • Offer to God thanksgiving; and pay your vows to the Most High; and call on Me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

      Psalms 50:14-15

    • Yeshua, Captain of heaven's armies, as You did with Joshua (Joshua 5:13-6:5), specifically impart Your divine plans and tactics to Israel's current leaders.

    • Help Israel's tacticians to think out of the box and develop attack plans that will confound Iran's defenses.

    • Lord, we plead for Psalm 129:5 to be applied it to Iran's military and political leadership, as well as to their nuclear technicians: Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion.

    • Guard and hide all of Israel's spies and collaborators in Iran.

    • Lord, rip the sheep skin off from Iran's new 'moderate' president Hassan Rouhani.

  8. Another useless P5+1 [the 5 permanent UN Security Council members + Germany] meeting/negotiation will be held with Iran shortly. This is more than just a waste of time - as it gives Iran more time to develop its nuclear program.

    • Abba, reveal the true heart intent of Iran and cause the negotiations to fall apart once and for all. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. (Psalms 55:21)

    • Use German Chancellor Angelika Merkel's recent visit to the Dachau concentration camp to wake her up.

    • We thank You for the US Congress and their commitment to deepen the sanctions on Iran.

    • May the use of weapons of mass destruction in Syria wake up the West to see that the nations in the ME will do whatever it takes to survive.

    • Rip the 'moderate' nametag off of Iranian President Rouhani's reputation and reveal him as the sly wolf that he has always been.

    • Lord, press Iran's leaders to make major geo-political mistakes (Esther 7:10; Psalm 55:9; 129:5).

    • Protect the Iranian Church and anoint it to know what to pray and say at this time.

  9. We ended by praying for PM Bibi Netanyahu, in particular for his appearance at the annual September UN General Assembly meeting.

    • Abba, in spite of all his weaknesses, we thank You for raising him up to lead Israel at this time.

    • Keep watch over him - physically, mentally, emotionally, family-wise and spiritually.

    • Lord, we have seen You anoint Bibi to be Your mouthpiece in the past and ask for an even greater anointing for this year (Psalm 80:17).

    • Do not allow him to retreat from warning the world of the dangers of an Iranian nuke.

    • Open up many ears of world leaders to hear what he will say.

    • When he speaks, we ask that You bind up the spirit of anti-Semitism that resides over the UN.

    • Give him courage to quote from Your Word (Isaiah 55:11).

Shabbat shalom, and blessings from Zion,

The IFI team