1. With all that is being shaken in today's world, we started with the following song:

    • I will call upon the LORD, Who is worthy of all praise. So shall I be saved from my enemies…The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock and may the God of my salvation be exalted.

      Psalm 18:3, 46

    • Hallelujah! We serve a living Savior who is active in the world today!

    • You are our Rock, our unshakable foundation (Deuteronomy 32:4, 31).

    • Your nature is unchanging and therefore a solid foundation for us to stand upon (Malachi 3:6).

    • Lord Yeshua, You are worthy of all praise and glory and power (Revelation 5:12-13).

    • Thank You for Your Word – both living and written – which reveals to us who You are.

    • Yeshua, You died, and are now glorified – the King of all Kings (Revelation 19:16).

  2. Even if 1 Timothy 2:1-3 did not instruct us to pray first of all for those in authority, the constant attacks against Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu would lead us to do this anyway. The latest "scandals" are to do with a purchase of three more submarines from Germany and the State Comptroller's report on the terror tunnels during the last Gaza conflict. Has he done anything wrong? So far all charges have not stuck, but for Bibi's enemies in the government and media, there is always hope.

    • Lord, we want the truth to be revealed, and You are the only One who can truly do this. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. (Daniel 2:22)

    • If Netanyahu has done anything wrong, please quickly reveal it.

    • Strengthen and anoint him to lead this nation at this time of major shakings in this region and in the world (Psalm 80:17).

    • Place this Psalm in Bibi's heart: Lord, how my foes have increased! Many are they who rise up against me. Many say of my soul, There is no deliverance for him in God. Selah. But You, YHWH, are a shield for me; my glory, the One who lifts up my head. (Psalms 3:1-3)

    • Give unto Netanyahu a mantle of the fear of God to protect him from the fear of man (Proverbs 29:25).

    • Remove from him all ungodly counselors and surround him with people who honor You (Psalm 1:1-2).

    • May the State Comptroller's report to expose truth and not just man's opinion.

    • By Your miraculous power, bring a deeper sense of unity to Israel's current government (Psalm 133:1).

    • Show the IDF what it really needs for the future protection of this nation.

    • If their desire for more fighter jets instead of submarines is misplaced – show them.

    • We agree with this word given Israel: No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of YHWH, and their righteousness is from Me, says YHWH. (Isaiah 54:17)

  3. Since Donald Trump's victory in the American election, some conservatives in Israel have said and proposed things that are just not wise to publically speak about at this stage in America's transition process. So this led us to pray about the future relationship between Israel and the new American administration.

    • As we do not trust Obama – who is still president until January 20th – and since we are not sure what Trump and his people will do once in office, we ask for wisdom on how to pray (James 1:5-8).

    • We ask this not primarily for Israel's sake, but for Your kingdom's sake (Luke 11:2).

    • Not to us, O YHWH, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and for Your truth's sake. Why should the nations say, Where now is their God? But our God is in Heaven; He has done whatever He has pleased.

      Psalms 115:1-3

    • Abba, please give to Your people wisdom to know when to speak and when to keep quiet (Psalm 141:3).

    • Use Israel's ambassador to America, Ron Dermer, to provide needed insight so that Israel and the Trump administration get off on the right foot.

    • Prevent Israel's current government from being man-pleasers. It is better to trust in YHWH than to trust in man. It is better to trust in YHWH than to trust in princes. (Psalms 118:8-9)

    • Protect Israel's leadership from making false assumptions about Trump, and then acting on them.

    • While we do believe the new American President will be better for Israel than Obama – which is not a hard thing to do – please show us if there are specific areas concerning Trump's views on Israel that we need to pray about now (Daniel 2:27-28).

    • Strip Trump from his idea that an Israel-Palestinian peace process is basically just making a "deal"!

    • God, give Israel today those shepherds after Your own heart that You promised (Jeremiah 3:15; 23:3-4)?

    • Move upon more Israeli government ministers to study the Bible and not just read man's opinions concerning what You have said.

    • Wherever Your Word is declared, we know it does not come back to You void, but it accomplishes that which You sent it out to do (Isaiah 55:11). So send out Your Word to many more of Israel's leaders.

    • Use Your Word to replace all lies and deceptions in the hearts of Your people (John 17:17).

  4. While there are still demonstrations against Trump's election victory – some even violent – yet yesterday in Europe, Obama encouraged these demonstrations to continue. This is wickedness and actually traitorous. Yet our concern is what Obama has planned for Israel in the days between now and when he leaves office. And if he can encourage this kind of lawless behavior on the streets of America, what might he have plan for Israel? So we watch and pray for God to hedge him in.

    • Lord, You said when nations try to divide Your land – You drive them into the valley of Your judgment (Joel 3:1-2). We see this in a divided America and cry out for mercy (Ezekiel 22:30).

    • If Obama, or his allies, try to move forward in any way to put Israel in a corner, please respond quickly.

    • Keep not silence, God; do not be quiet. Be not still, God. For behold Your enemies roar; those who hate You have lifted up their head. They take shrewd counsel against Your people… [saying], Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name Israel may be remembered no more.

      Psalms 83:1-4

    • Abba, have mercy on Obama by putting a huge dose of the fear of God upon him (Proverbs 1:7).

    • Wake up the American Church to really understand biblically that this possible Obama vs. Israel action would be the most dangerous thing he could do against their nation (Numbers 24:9b; Zechariah 2:8).

    • Protect Israel from all the plots of the nations (Psalm 33:10-12).

  5. The settlement of Amona has been slated for destruction by the Israeli Supreme Court. Since its been more than a decade that these 200 or so people have lived there, this is also wickedness. Yet the pressure on Israel from within and without is so great that at times – like this – there does not seem to be any good, realistic choices. The day for this destruction is December 25th, the first day of Chanukah, as well as Christmas.

    • Abba, we ask You to move and resolve this seemingly unresolvable situation (Jeremiah 32:17, 27).

    • Our soul has escaped like a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of YHWH, who made the heavens and earth.

      Psalms 124:7-8

    • Intervene for the settlers in Amona and for the rest of this nation (Psalm 44:26).

    • Give us wisdom on how to pray into this more specifically (Luke 11:1).

    • Lord, one of the ways Israel will see Your covenant-love for them is by settling them in Samaria, where Amona is located. YHWH has appeared to me from afar, saying, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness [chesed – covenant-love] I have drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin of Israel…You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant, and eat them as common things. (Jeremiah 31:3-5)

    • Give strength and courage to the government to know how to use the Levy Commission report, the League of Nations Palestinian Mandate and so much more to prove to Israel's Supreme Court that settling Jews in Judea and Samaria is in fact absolutely legal according to international law.

    • Use Jerusalem Mayor Barkat's argument that destruction of "illegal" Jewish homes in Samaria means Jerusalem can destroy illegally built Arab homes in East Jerusalem to carry weight in the Supreme Court.

  6. France is still planning on holding a "peace" conference in December. Israel is still planning on not attending.

    • Lord, if it is Your will for Israel to go, show them (Proverbs 21:1).

    • If the decision not to go is of You, then strengthen Israel to stick with it (2 Chronicles 32:7).

    • Father, over this conference, we declare: YHWH brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the thoughts of the people to be of no effect. The counsel of YHWH stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations. (Psalms 33:10-11)

    • Lord, deal with the arrogance of the French who think they can do whatever they want with Your land and Your people.

    • Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the peoples all around, and they shall also be against Judah…And in that day I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples. All who lift it shall be slashed, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

      Zechariah 12:2-3

    • Lord Yeshua, wake up the true Church in France to see how dangerous this move by their government is to the well-being of their nation (Isaiah 60:12; Zechariah 12:9).

    • Use this to also wake up more French Jews that now is the time to return to Zion (Jeremiah 50:4-5).

  7. That last prayer turned our attention to the subject of aliyah – the return of the Jews from exile to Israel.

    • Lord, since aliyah brings glory to You (Isaiah 43:5-7), we ask that whatever it takes to shake the Jews out of their comfort zones, You would do.

    • Abba, we lift up the Jews in these nations specifically this morning: America, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand, France, Britain, South Africa. [Please add all other nations that God places on your hearts.]

    • We do thank You for an increase of Israelis returning home – and ask for more, Lord.

    • Abba, speak to all the ardent Jewish Zionists in exile that they can continue to be that and live in Zion!

    • Lord, open wide the doors for all the Jews in countries who want to come – like in Ethiopia, India, China, Iran, Argentina, Cuba, etc.

    • Father, thank You for all the lone soldiers who come here to serve in the IDF and their families remain in exile. May they decide to stay and may that draw the rest of their families home (Jeremiah 3:14).

    • May the doors in Israel be opened wide to receive professionals and academics from all backgrounds.

    • Lord Yeshua, remove all excuses from Messianic Jews that make them resistant to returning to Zion.

    • How shall we sing YHWH's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. 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 ended by praying for the upcoming January's IFI International Prayer Conference, Jerusalem. Please join us in asking God to give to the leadership team the prayer burdens that are on His heart for this time in history and for the congregation gathered in Jerusalem to be anointed to pray in unity. Also that all who are supposed to be here will come and nothing will hold them back. At the same time, all those who have assignments from God to be elsewhere would be there and not here!

Please continue to pray for the water and rain this nation needs during this season.

Blessings and Shabbat shalom from Zion,

The IFI team