1. We started this morning reading the closing verses of this Shabbat's prophetic portion.

    • For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. There is no end of the increase of His government and peace on the throne of David, and on His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from now on, even forever. The zeal of YHWH of Hosts will do this.

      Isaiah 9:6-7

    • This is the day You have made. We do rejoice in You (Psalm 118:24).

    • Yeshua, we affirm that You are Lord of all (Acts 10:36); that all authority in heaven and on earth have been given to You (Matthew 28:18).

    • Thank You for Your new mercies every morning. Great is Your faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).

    • King Messiah, from Jerusalem we say to You, Baruch haba b'shem Adonai - Blessed is He that comes in the name of YHWH (Matthew 23:39).

  2. Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is scheduled to go to America in early March and speak to the American Israeli Political Action Committee and the US Congress. This is a vital trip, as Bibi will be a warning voice from Zion to the world of the acute danger of allowing Iran's Shiite Muslim leaders to obtain nuclear weapons, or even become a nuclear threshold state (i.e., one that can put together a nuke in a short time). The opposition to this trip is very intense - from the US Administration, the left-wing in Israel and much of the media. This is also right before Israel's elections on March 17th, so it will have a definite impact on that as well.

    • Lord, we believe that this trip is of You. If we are wrong, show us. Until then, we pray for it to happen.

    • Set Netanyahu's forehead like flint against all the criticism (Ezekiel 3:8-9).

    • Abba, may You speak through his speeches to all who have ears to hear. I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (Psalms 81:10)

    • Lord, as You did with Daniel, shut the mouths of the lions that are open against Bibi (Daniel 6:22).

    • Protect Netanyahu physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually during this time (Psalm 3:3).

    • Use Bibi's speeches to show Israelis that security is the number one priority for the next government.

    • Use Bibi's speeches to increase his favor with Israeli voters.

    • Lord, may Your purposes for this trip be fully accomplished. There are many thoughts in a man's heart, but the counsel of YHWH - that shall stand. (Proverbs 19:21; cp. Psalm 33:10-11)

  3. We asked God to wake up both the Jewish community and the church in America over the fierce opposition to this trip from many US leaders.

    • Wake up, Lord, the US Church to see what dangers there are for a nation whose leaders 'curse' the leader of Your chosen nation (Genesis 12:3b; Numbers 24:9b).

    • Impress on many American believers to stand in the gap for their nation and its relationship to Israel.

    • Impart courage to Christian leaders to proclaim biblical truth and reject political correctness.

    • Give John Hagee and Christians United for Israel wisdom on what to do and say about this.

    • Abba, stir up the American Jewish community to not be silent at this time (Esther 4:14).

    • Since they are so often accused of dual loyalty - to Israel and to America - they have nothing to lose by speaking out in support of the security of Israel, which is the essence of what Netanyahu has on his heart.

  4. We prayed about the March 17th Israeli elections. The pre-election campaigns and media onslaught against Bibi and his family have been disgusting. Yet this over-the-top attack on him could be an answer to what we prayed at the prayer conference - that the enemy would overplay his hand? Still, there is a lot of confusion and distorted coverage that is trying to hinder Israelis from seeing through the bias to the real issues. It has a tendency to make Israelis apathetic and to not bother voting. Both of these are something to keep in prayer.

    • Abba, deal with the spirit of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33a; James 3:16).

    • Lord, overrule the lies in the anti-Bibi media.

    • Let Netanyahu set the trumpet to his mouth and give a clear sound (1 Corinthians 14:8).

    • Cause the important issues to become important in the eyes of the people.

    • Clarify what is really at stake in this next election.

    • Give much discernment to Your people (1 Chronicles 12:32).

    • Remove from Israelis the idea that they do not have to decide - that their vote will not matter.

    • Lord, we plead with You to intervene (2 Chronicles 14:11).

    • Lord, have the final say. I have made the earth, man, and the animals…by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed right to Me. (Jeremiah 27:5)

  5. Security was the next prayer target. The security situation gets more dangerous almost daily. Now with Jordan declaring war against ISIS, Israel's longest border needs to be protected. The northern and northeastern borders with Lebanon and what is left of Syria respectively, are also heating up.

    • Lord, we look to You to protect this nation for Your holy name's sake (Jeremiah 31:10).

    • Reveal to the IDF forces on all of Israel's borders exactly what the enemy is planning.

    • Bring to all of Israel's spies and collaborators accurate intelligence and then help them to pass that on to the right people (Psalm 139:12).

    • Show Jordan's King Abdullah and Egypt's President al-Sissi, and their advisors, that a close - and quiet - relationship with Israel, its leaders and intelligence services, is advantageous to all.

    • Place Israel's satellites in the right orbits at the right time to see all of the enemies' plans (Psalm 14:2).

    • As Syria is no longer the nation it was three short years ago, show Israel how to respond to any attacks from that area.

    • Use the situation in Syria to bring Hizbullah to disrepute and total ruin.

  6. Another way to pray for Israel's security is to intercede for the salvation of Muslims, as God turning our enemies into our family is the best victory we can imagine. There is a genuine revival taking place in Syrian refugee camps, in Egypt, and in Iran. We are sure that God is moving in other areas as well, but these are the ones we know about. Please pray for many Muslims to be delivered from the power of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God's Son (Colossians 1:13). Pray for all of the Muslims in your own nation as well.

  7. The P5+1 [5 permanent UN Security Council nations + Germany] are determined to sign a deal with Iran over its nuclear power development by the end of March. At least, this is what President Obama is pushing for. This will leave Iran with thousands of centrifuges and being a nuclear threshold state, which Netanyahu has repeatedly said is totally unacceptable to Israel. We asked God to intervene.

    • Abba, what are the P5+1 thinking? Wake them up Lord.

    • Have some of these nations refuse to bow down to Obama and his dangerous appeasement of Iran.

    • Lord, thank You for Bibi warning about this danger, but where are the rest of the world's leaders?

    • Almighty God, stir up Harper in Canada and Abbot in Australia and even the Saudi and Egyptian leaders to add their voices to Netanyahu's.

    • Lord, push Iran to make major errors - geopolitical, operational, even in their computer programs running their nuclear programs (Proverbs 21:1).

    • Place on the growing Iranian Church prayers that are on Your heart so that this situation can be resolved with the least amount of violence and bloodshed (Ezekiel 22:30-31).

    • Bless our brothers and sisters in Iran and do not allow any anti-Zion/anti-Semitism rest on them.

    • May they be part of the solution by having them bless Israel and thus stand in the gap against all of the curses against Your nation that Iran's current leaders are constantly spewing forth.

    • Show Israel what to do and if and when to do it (1 Chronicles 12:32).

  8. Today's Church, at least in the West, largely has a distorted view of Israel and the Jew. This must be rectified for the Church to reach the maturity the Lord is looking for. After all, if Israel's place in God's plan is not understood - or worse, denied - then the foundations of the Church are on shaky ground. Do not boast against the branches [the Jews]. But if you boast, it is not you that bears the root [God's promises to Israel forefathers (see Romans 15:8)], but the root bears you. (Romans 11:18)

    • Lord Yeshua, deliver Your body from the spirit of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that is invading it.

    • Give to Your people a deep heart-hunger for Your Word, from Genesis to Revelation (Psalm 119:18).

    • Lord, replace Replacement theory with Biblical Theology. The Spirit expressly says in the last days some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, (1 Timothy 4:1)

    • Make more believers see what is at stake in this end-time attack on Your Word and to take a stand against the spirit of anti-Christ that is wreaking havoc in the Body.

    • Lord Yeshua, cleanse the Israeli Body from all man-made doctrines and the desire to be more merciful to our enemies than You are.

    • Impart to us a biblical discernment and a biblical worldview that we might be like this one whom God blesses: Blessed is the man who trusts in YHWH, and YHWH is his trust. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters; it sends out its roots by the river, and it shall not fear when the heat comes, but its foliage shall be green; and he is not worried in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

    • Prevent us all from being the one whom He curses: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from YHWH. For he shall be like a juniper in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited. (Jeremiah 17:5-6)

  9. Aliyah, the return of the Jew from exile to Israel, was our final prayer request for this day.

    • Lord, give Israel a government through whom You can be glorified and one that opens wide the doors for all types of Jews to return home (Isaiah 62:10).

    • With all the issues Israel is facing, still we ask that the next government will make aliyah a priority.

    • While we welcome and desire the return of all Jews who want to be here out of a love for Zion and Yourself (Jeremiah 50:5), we also pray for the return of all Jews who are coming because of the need to flee from the rise of the hunters (Jeremiah 16:16).

    • Anoint Gilad Erdan, Israel's Interior Minister, with much wisdom to break through all of the red tape and make the way home much smoother than it is today (Micah 2:13a).

    • It may be politically incorrect, but continue to let Israeli representatives and government leaders call Your people home from the nations.

    • Keep Your hand on Israel's economy so that there will be jobs and homes for the returning exiles.

    • Impress upon many Messianic Jewish leaders in exile that they need to prepare Your sheep to return to Israel and to prepare to return themselves. And the ransomed of YHWH shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy on their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)

    • We ask this all for Your glory, as You have so clearly said: Fear not; for I am with you. I will bring your seed from the east, and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not keep back; bring My sons from far and My daughters from the ends of the earth; everyone who is called by My name; for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him… This people that I formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise. (Isaiah 43: 5-7, 21)

We thank you for praying with us during the past two weeks prayer conference and post-conference tour. While this conference was one of the hardest in recent memory, the sense of accomplishment of why He called us there - both from Israel and the nations - remains a sweet fragrance in our lives. Remember, the type of praying we do is more of a marathon race than a sprint. Be encouraged, 'keep calm' and pray on.

Shabbat shalom from the IFI team