1. A psalm. For giving grateful praise. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

    Psalm 100

    • Thank You for who You are and for Your faithful ness to us.

    • Thank You for making us Your children.

    • You are the same yesterday, today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

    • Thank You for fulfilling Your word and gathering Your people from the ends of the earth. (Jeremiah 31:8)

    • Thank You that yesterday (Israel's 67th Independence Day) we could celebrate how you have kept this nation through all the wars for 67 years.

    • For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.

      Psalm 103:11

    • Thank You for the privilege You have given us to stand in the gap. (Ezekiel 22:30)

  2. Forming the new government - President Rivlin has granted Binyamin Netanyahu a two week extension in the time he is allowed to form a new government coalition. This continues to be problematic as the leaders of the other parties (notably the "Jewish Home" Party and the "Israel Our Home" Party) make excessive demands as conditions for giving their support for Netanyahu's government.

    • Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.

      Psalm 127:1

    • In Hebrew the word for house is the same as the word for home. These two parties whose name emphasizes "home" seem to be building their own houses. Lord would You be the one who builds the house - the government!

    • Anoint Binyamin Netanyahu with wisdom, with strength to lead the way, with favor from the other party leaders. Give him grace to turn to You, to trust in the Lord with all his heart, and lean not on his own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)

    • Protect and refresh Prime Minister Netanyahu and all his family.

    • Please give a spirit of humility to all the party leaders, putting the interests of the country ahead of their own personal or party interests. Give us servants, o Lord.

    • Expose all hidden corruption and manipulation, any blackmail or extortion. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:22)

    • Please give us a strong and united government with a spirit of cooperation.

    • Give them the strength to do what is biblically correct particularly in the face of world pressure to compromise on what is right.

    • Lord, give us the government in Israel which we need rather than what we deserve - a government through which You will be glorified.

  3. Gaza - Security - As Independence Day was coming to an end a rocket was fired into Israel out of Gaza. This was the first such incident of 2015 and there were no casualties. Israel responded with tank fire against the launch site of the rocket. Over recent months there have been reports of Hamas working on rebuilding the tunnels intended for launching terror operations against Israel. Also there are reports of technological breakthroughs in equipment to detect tunnels and Israel's increasing deployment of such equipment.

    • Thank You for Israel's boldness to respond immediately to this rocket.

    • He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.  Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep… The Lord shall preserve you from all evil.

      Psalm 121:3-4,7

    • Bless the soldiers guarding the borders and the areas around the borders. Keep them watchful, just as You are watchful and let them discern the plans of the enemy.

    • Give wisdom and vigilance to the IDF and to all the people.

    • Expose the evils of Hamas' activities diverting into tunnel building resources intended for rebuilding homes and infrastructure.

    • Cause them to fall into their own traps. The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. (Psalm 9:16)

    • Thank You for answering our prayers regarding detection of tunnels. All the glory to You, Lord!

    • Please allow the release of all the necessary funding for this detection equipment.

    • May every tunnel be detected and destroyed.

  4. Northern Border - Hezbollah remain a greater danger to Israel on the borders with Lebanon and Syria. They have a much greater stockpile of rockets and also, reportedly, an infrastructure of tunnels to launch attacks into Israel notably to kidnap Israelis.

    • Lord, give Israel good intelligence - a well-protected network of spies anointed to discover the truth of the enemy's plans and get the information back to Israel. Keep them hidden!

    • For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.

      Mark 4:22

    • Protect Israel from kidnappings. Especially protect soldiers, children, and youth. Give particular protection in areas where Jews are living side-by-side with those who are their enemies.

    • Keep all Israelis alert and watchful. Particularly keep the soldiers on guard whether on duty or off duty, keep them watching rather than absorbed on their mobile phones or fast asleep on the bus going home. Set Your angels to watch over them and provoke them to watch over each other.

    • Disrupt and expose every kidnapping plan

    • Set Your angels with drawn swords around all our borders. (Numbers 22:31)

    • Lord be a fire surrounding Israel. For I, says the Lord, will be a wall of fire all around her, and I will be the glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:5)

    • For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. (Psalm 95:7) Watch over Your sheep, o God!

  5. Iran - While the leaders of Iran speak arrogantly and clearly of their plans to annihilate Israel they mean what they say and are spitting in God's face. It is increasingly clear that there is no good agreement which it is possible to make in this situation, but the P5+1 talks go on. While Israel's very existence is on the line, it appears that the world powers are mainly motivated by the money to be made through the removal of sanctions against Iran.

    • For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10) Expose this motivation behind the talks.

    • When France or another of the nations has raised objections to the bad agreement, it seems they have been silenced and brought back into line. Give courage to speak the truth. (Psalm 15:1-2)

    • Help these nations (USA, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany) see that giving in to Iran will empower radical Islam in their own populations.

    • Put a fear of God into the negotiators.

    • Cause the believers in these countries to cry out to You on behalf of their nations. Let them say no to the charade of these talks.

    • Turn over the tables in these ungodly talks. (Matthew 21:12)

    • Rise up, O Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.

      Numbers 10:35

    • Break the bow of Elam (Iran) and set Your throne in Elam. (Jeremiah 49:34-39)

    • Raise up the Iranian believers to pray for their nation and its rulers.

    • Divide Iran's house against itself so that it cannot stand. (Matthew 12:25)

  6. U.S. President Obama - His actions are increasingly suggesting that he is actively and consciously seeking to re-shape the world, empowering Iran, disempowering the USA and ignoring Israel. If we are correct in this discernment, then Isaiah 59:1-8 gives a description of what is going on. Pray:

    • Lord bring the secret plans to light.

    • Expose those who are behind this wickedness.

    • Weaken Obama's charisma and his will to plan wickedness.

    • Wake up the other major world leaders and break the influence Obama has over them.

    • Strengthen those who see the truth and give them courage to speak out.

    • Wake up the Church in the United States!

  7. Israel's responsibility - If the rest of the world is unwilling to protect Israel, she will have to protect herself.

    • Lord, give us the leaders we need who will know what we need to do and have the courage to do it. (1 Chronicles 12:32)

    • Bring the right people into the new Security Cabinet which will be formed when the new government is formed.

    • Give us a Defence Minister who will be in complete unity with the Prime Minister and Chief of Staff regarding what Israel needs to do regarding Iran.

    • You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: for with you I will break the nation in pieces; with you I will destroy kingdoms.

      Jeremiah 51:20

    • Lord, if Israel needs to go to war give her the ability to gain the victory!

  8. Israel's Salvation - In the past week we have commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day, Remembrance Day for Fallen Soldiers and Terror Victims and finally the joy of Independence Day. In all these we see God's hand over Israel, preserving the nation and restoring her to her land. All this in order that He might save her!

    • O Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!

      Jeremiah 31:7

    • Thank You for the wonderful plans You have for Your people. (Jeremiah 29:11-14)

    • Reveal Yourself to the leaders of Israel that they may lead the people to know their God.

    • May the Holocaust survivors find You before they leave this life.

    • Comfort and reveal Yourself to those mourning the loss of loved ones in wars or terror attacks.

    • Pour out clean water upon new olim as they find You in the land You gave them. (Ezekiel 36:25)

    • Thank You for the increased openness to Yeshua among the Israeli population. Increase this openness to the gospel!

    • 'Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above in wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God.'

  9. IFI

    • Pray for Chuck as he is ministering in the UK and for Eliyahu who will join him in a week's time. Check out the events page for itineraries and contact information.

    • Please pray too for Lance Lambert. Lance is still in hospital. He gets very strong pain in his back at intervals.  The gall bladder is very enlarged and there is some sludge in it, but it is not infected. There are also concerns about his kidneys, ureter and bile duct. Please pray for a release from the pain and for him to have peace in this situation as he is very frustrated at being in hospital.

Shabbat Shalom from the IFI team