1. This Shabbat's prophetic portion is from Isaiah 54:1-10.

    • Enlarge the place of your tent…stretch out the curtains of your dwellings. Do not spare, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes; for you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left, and your seed shall inherit the nations, and people will inhabit ruined cities. Do not fear; for you shall not be ashamed… for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and shall not remember the reproach of your widowhood any more. For your Maker is your husband; YHWH of Hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called…For a little moment I left you; but with great mercies I will gather you. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you… For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall the covenant of My peace be removed, says YHWH who has mercy on you.

      Isaiah 54:1-10

    • Thank You for Your mercies which are renewed every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

    • We bless You that You change not, so that we can count on You always being faithful (Malachi 3:6).

    • Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid for the Lord YHWH is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.

      Isaiah 12:2

    • Hallelujah, that You are the Unshakeable Shaker - who is shaking this world today (Haggai 2:6-7).

    • And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!

      Revelation 19:6

    • Yeshua, Precious Lamb of God, we thank and praise You for Your death and resurrection.

    • We proclaim that Messiah Yeshua, You are Lord of all (Psalm 110:1; Acts 10:36; Revelation 19:16)!

  2. There has been a noticeable increase in heaviness and weariness in the Body of Messiah in Israel. We are aware of the end-time prophecies warning of just this (Daniel 7:21-25), yet to go through it is very hard. So we prayed for strength and encouragement for this still young, but quickly growing, Body.

    • We bless You that there is a living, growing Body of Messiah in Israel in 2015.

    • Lord, continue to build Your Temple made with living stones - for Your holy name's sake (Matthew 16:18; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; 2 Corinthians 6:16).

    • Enable Israeli believers to wait upon you and exchange their strength for Yours! Those who wait on YHWH shall renew [lit: exchange] their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

    • By Your appointed teachers this weekend, speak an anointed word that breaks yokes (Isaiah 10:27).

    • Allow the gifts of the Spirit to flow through the Body (1 Corinthians 12-14).

    • Continue to mature the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26).

    • Lord, we want to be overcomers! Remind us of that the next time You give us something to overcome!

  3. We expanded that burden to pray for the Body worldwide.

    • Thank You for all the reports we are hearing of how Your Body is growing rapidly in many places.

    • Provide them with bibles and anointed teachers.

    • Yeshua, we bless You for the living gifts You gave Your Church when You ascended on high: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:8-11).

    • Help them to do that which You have appointed them to do - to aid in the maturing of the rest of the Body so that the members can do the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:12).

    • Lord, we welcome all those from the nations whom You have called to Israel - whether to volunteer or to minister. But we say 'No!' to all those who are coming here for any reason other than Your call.

    • Abba, many believers who are not seeing that which You are doing with all of Your heart and soul - openly in the sight of all nation (Jeremiah 32:41). Open up their eyes this very weekend.

    • For all Your children who are actually resisting the restoration of Israel - deal swiftly with them.

    • For all those who are called 'Christian' but are not - save them, especially those under severe persecution in the Middle East.

  4. There is a definite increase of terrorist and rocket attacks on Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu and other officials see this as a direct result of that P5+1 Iranian nuclear deal. One of the worst parts of this deal is the release to Iran of around $150 billion. A significant sum will go to their terror proxies world-wide. So those groups are trying to show Iran how worthy they are to receive a piece of that money-pie. Israel needs even more prayer for security after this deal.

    • Lord, give an increase in alertness to all of our security forces.

    • Aid those guarding the borders of Israel - to be in the right place at the right time (Malachi 1:5).

    • Give Israel a major breakthrough this coming week in developing anti-terror tunnel detection devices.

    • Thank You for all the progress that has been made up to this time on that problem.

    • Abba, as they recover from the trauma of last summer's conflict, and send their children back to school this week, bring deep comfort, peace and healing to parents and children in the southern communities on the Gaza periphery.

    • Reveal Yourself to many of Israel's traumatized children and youth.

    • We thank You for Your precious promises of protection for this nation (Psalm 121:4; Jeremiah 31:10).

    • I will praise You, O YHWH; for You have lifted me up, and have not allowed my foes to rejoice over me. O YHWH my God, I cried to You, and You have healed me.

      Psalms 30:1-2

    • When we respond to attacks, let us remember that truth that 'it is the thought that counts'. Whether the terrorists or rockets hit or harm anyone or anything, their satanic goal is the death and destruction of Your nation and its people. So help Israel respond in a biblical manner and may the fear of You, Israel's God, be the end result. And the fear of YHWH fell on all the kingdoms of the lands around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat. (2 Chronicles 17:10)

    • Prevent any future terrorist attacks or kidnapping attempts from being successful.

    • Release our security forces from the current humanistic 'rules of engagement' that has handcuffed them.

    • Arise, O YHWH; let not man be strong. Let the nations be judged in Your sight. Put them in fear, O YHWH, let the nations know they are but men. Selah.

      Psalms 9:19-20

    • Do not allow international pressure prevent Israel from pre-empting future attacks.

    • Protect all Israel's spies and informants among both the Palestinians and surrounding nations.

    • Palestinians are training their children to hate Israel and the Jews and to be willing to kill and be killed for Allah's sake. Lord, this generation is so brainwashed that unless You do something, they are lost (Proverbs 22:6). Arise, God. Save a remnant of this next Palestinian generation.

  5. We are praying for the US Congress to reject this Iranian nuke deal. Yet the tide seems to have turned in President Obama's favor and according to news reports, he may not even have to veto the Congress' veto. Remember how it did not look good for Bibi Netanyahu to win the elections this past spring - but God heard our prayers and he won overwhelmingly. So we will continue to ask for Congress to turn this demonically-inspired deal down - regardless of what the headlines say.

    • Lord, as You often did in the past with government rulers (Pharaoh, Sihon, Og, Cyrus, etc.) intervene and cause the US Congress to just say 'No!' (Proverbs 21:1)

    • As Your watchmen, both from Israel and various nations, we say 'No' to this deal. It is not of You, as it would provide Israel's #1 enemy the means to destroy Your nation.

    • YHWH, there is none besides thee to help, between the mighty and him that hath no strength: help us, YHWH our God; for we rely on You, and in Your name we come against this multitude. YHWH, You are our God; let not man prevail against You.

      2 Chronicles 14:11

    • Remove the spirit of enchantment that seems to have taken over many of these people, that makes them willing to say yes to what is so obviously one of the worst foreign policy deals in US history.

    • Expose any and all hidden agreements to this deal before the final vote on September 17th.

    • Wake up the folks who voted for these politicians to press them to vote against this deal.

    • Wake up the Church to persistently pray and act against this agreement with hell (Isaiah 28:14-18).

    • Let the Church in America see how dangerous this is to their nation - as their leader has basically sold out Israel in favor of the world's largest terrorist backing regime (Numbers 23:9b; Jeremiah 2:3).

  6. We turned our attention to Israel's response to this very real and increasingly dangerous threat of an Iranian Shi'ite nuke.

    • Lord, we know that You have brought us back for good and not for destruction (Jeremiah 29:11; 31:3, 10, 17, 35-37; 32:37-44; 33:14, plus so many other verses.)

    • Therefore, Lord, we look to You to be the ultimate Captain of Israel's hosts and guide our leaders to do whatever they need to in order for this people to be alive to be saved and welcome back their Messiah.

    • God, You have defended this nation from Egypt until now. At times, You have done that sovereignly, yet there are many other times when You do that in conjunction with Israel's army (Isaiah 41:10-16; Jeremiah 51:19-24; Ezekiel 37:10; Micah 4:11-13; Zechariah 12:2-9).

    • Here are Moses' last words to Israel: There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides on the heaven to your help, and in His majesty on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. And He shall throw the enemy out from before you, and shall say, Destroy! Israel shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and wine; and his heavens shall drop down dew. Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O people saved by YHWH, the shield of your help, and who is the sword of your excellency! And your enemies shall be found liars to you, and you shall tread on their high places. (Deuteronomy 33:26-29)

    • Therefore God, help to prepare the IDF for whatever it will be called upon to do in these days to defend this nation and 'Destroy!' its enemies.

    • We plead for unity in the security cabinet over all decisions that are from You (Psalm 133:1-3).

    • Impart to Netanyahu and all other responsible heads the courage to do what needs to be done - and to not be tied down by political correctness, media manipulation or the fear of man (Proverbs 21:31; 29:25).

    • Read Psalm 83. God's enemy plots to wipe Israel off the map. This chapter was written about 3,000 years ago. So for 3,000 years plus Satan has been trying to destroy God's chosen nation. Most of the nations in this psalm are 'history' - yet Israel remains! (Jeremiah 31:35-37)

  7. We agreed in prayer over Israel's educational system - that it would teach what lines up with the Word of God and not what lines up with the humanistic anti-God thinking and practices that are invading much of the West today.

  8. We ended our prayer time by interceding again for aliyah - the immigration of Jews from exile to home. Figures indicate another increase in aliyah this year, especially from Ukraine.

    • Abba, as this is for Your glory, we continue to ask You to bring Your people back (Isaiah 43:5-7, 21).

    • Draw all sorts of Jews - regardless of their philosophy, or lifestyle, or religious inclinations - because it is in this land that You will reveal Your Son, Messiah Yeshua, to them. I will pour on the house of David, and on the people of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be bitter over Him, as the bitterness over the first-born. (Zechariah 12:10; cp. Ezekiel 36:24-28)

    • Impress on the Jews in the West that they must not delay their coming home - but to do it now.

    • Provide for all organizations that are involved with aliyah all that they need to do the job completely.

    • Continue to use the uptick in anti-Semitism to drive Your people back (Jeremiah 16:16).

    • Thank You for Israel's Interior Minister Silvan Shalom stating that he wants to liberalize the aliyah process. Now hold him to his words and move upon him to do it (Isaiah 62:10).

    • Father, as Your people return, we ask for You to watch over this word and keep them here: I will turn back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the cities which are desolate, and live in them. They shall plant vineyards and drink their wine. They shall also make gardens and eat their fruit. And I will plant them on their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, says YHWH your God. (Amos 9:14-15)

Blessings and Shabbat shalom from Zion

The IFI team