1. We started by turning our attention to the beginning verses of Psalm 89.

   • I will sing of the mercies of YHWH forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations…Mercy shall be built up forever; You shall establish Your faithfulness in the heavens. 'I have cut a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant, Your seed will I establish for-ever, and build up your throne to all generations.' Selah. The heavens shall praise Your wonders, YHWH, Your faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints…Who among the mighty is like YHWH? God is greatly to be feared in the congregation of the saints…YHWH, God of Hosts, who is a strong YHWH like You, and Your faithfulness is round about You?

     Psalms 89:1-8
     

   • We thank You for being so faithful and totally depend on Your continued faithfulness (Hosea 2:20).

   • We loved how Your faithfulness links us with preceding generations and will link us with those who follow after (Psalm 119:90).

   • Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.

     Lamentations 3:23
     

   • How overwhelming it is to know that You have chosen and called us (1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 17:14).

   • Your past faithfulness is so encouraging as we deal with the present struggles of living for Your glory.

2. The Syrian border region has seen "stray-fire" from Syria into Israel and a very strong Israeli response against Syrian forces. This situation could end up blowing over – or it could blow up into a major confrontation.

   • Thank You Lord for the UN telling Syria to pull its troops back from Israel's border. Let the US back up this demand and increase pressure on Syria to withdraw from Israel's Golan region.

   • Give Israel wisdom to deal with the situation in a way that furthers Your purposes (Proverbs 19:21).

   • Prevent any surprise attacks or successful kidnapping attempts.

   • Impart a sense of unity of purpose to Israel's political and military leaders (Proverbs 20:18).

   • Lord of Hosts, please increase the hosts of angels on all of Israel's borders (Psalm 91:11).

   • Allow Israeli soldiers, especially in that Golan border area, to maintain excellent communication, and wisdom to discern friend from foe.

   • Abba, hold Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to his spoken red lines of Israel not allowing any Iranian associated forces to set up a base on any of Israel's borders (Matthew 5:37).

   • No weapon 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…

     Isaiah 54:17a
     

   • Anoint Israel's cyber warfare warriors to have insight into our enemies plans (1 Samuel 20:12-13).

3. Swinging our intercession westward, we then prayed for the threats of Hizbullah along Israel's Lebanese border. Hizbullah is an arm of Iran and takes its orders from Tehran.

   • Again, Abba, hold Netanyahu to his declared red lines not permitting any Iranian associated forces to set up a base on any of Israel's borders (Matthew 5:37).

   • Prepare all Israeli civilians in that northern area for whatever the future holds for them (Isaiah 46:10).

   • If they will need to temporarily evacuate their communities and homes, let there be no vacuum in which Hizbullah can enter in – but enable the IDF to immediately fill in the gaps (Nehemiah 3:1-32).

   • Lord, if Israel needs to pre-empt Hizbullah and Iran's constant stream of threats, give its leaders courage and clarity to do it in Your way and timing (Psalm 33:10-11).

   • Aid all Israeli spies and collaborators to deliver to Israel actionable intelligence.

   • Prepare the IDF – both the commanders and the young soldiers (Proverbs 21:31).

   • Prepare all the IDF reservists who will be called up in any major conflict.

   • Forbid a situation in which the supplies Israel's fighting forces need, will not be readily available.

   • YHWH, it is nothing with You to help, whether with many or with him who has no power. Help us, O YHWH our God, for we rest on You, and in Your name we go against this multitude. YHWH, You are our God. Do not let man prevail against You.

     2 Chronicles 14:11
     

   • Hedge in any conflict by Your will and Your timing (Psalm 103:19).

4. A crisis has erupted over Israel's government rejection of plans to have an unrestricted space at Jerusalem's Western Wall where all streams of Judaism can pray. This is a result of the Haredi ultra-Orthodox parties backing off from a previous commitment to see this happen. Obviously, this has put Netanyahu in a very tricky place.

   • Lord, only the unity You promised to impart to this nation when it returned can solve this situation. Is it not time to reveal David's Greater Son to all Israel (Ezekiel 37:21-22).

   • Lord God of Israel, please restrict all ultra-Orthodox authority in any areas in which they hinder the sanctification of Your holy name (Psalm 115:1-3).

   • Show the Israeli Messianic community how we can be part of the solution (Ezekiel 44:23).

   • Deal with all Jews to whom the Kotel ­– the Wall – has become an idol.

   • Lord Yeshua, all authority on earth is now in Your hands (Acts 10:36b). Please reign over the Kotel.

   • Send from heaven the wisdom of Solomon to Netanyahu to know how to save this "baby" without seeing worldwide Judaism divided in two.

5. We prayed for Bibi Netanyahu who has been – and still is – facing all sorts of issues that are not able to be handled without the intervention of God Almighty.

   • We do thank You for him and ask for Your continual hand of protection and empowerment upon him (Psalm 80:17).

   • We thank You for how often he uses Your Word in his speeches (Isaiah 55:11).

   • Please use Your Word in his life to turn him totally unto Yourself (Psalm 119:105).

   • May the Netanyahu household be a safe-place for him – a place of deep peace and rest (Isaiah 26:3-4).

   • Watch over his time with India's PM Modhi who is making an historic visit to Israel this next week.

   • Arise to fight off all the political vultures who want to take advantage of Bibi's weaknesses and crises – and whose continual harassment prevents him from being able to concentrate on being his best.

   • Grant to Israel's leader physical protection (Psalm 3:3).

   • Guard Netanyahu from pride (Proverbs 18:12).

   • Give Bibi a desire to mentor younger Israeli leaders to eventually take their place of responsibility.

   • Lord, we ask You to reveal to us who You have in mind to replace Netanyahu as Israel's next prime minister – when it is Your time to do that (Amos 3:7).

   • Reveal Your choice so that we can begin to pray for this person to be as prepared as possible to lead.

   • But Moses' hands became heavy. So they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands…And his hands were steady until the going of the sun.

     Exodus 17:12
     

6. As there have been a number of accidents involving vehicles within the IFI leadership team, we felt it would be good to pray about the way Israelis attack – that is, drive on – the roads.

   • Lord, we really need Your help in slowing down and giving Israeli drivers patience.

   • The watchman reported, saying…the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously. (2 Kings 9:20) Remove all anger from Israelis before they get behind the wheel of any vehicle.

   • Deal with the two Israeli communities that cause many more accidents than is proportionally correct according to their size – the ultra-Orthodox and Arab sections of this nation.

   • Remove all distractions from drivers – especially their mobile devices (Job 39:7).

   • Give the police wisdom to better regulate the traffic so as to cut down on accidents.

   • Thank You for all the new reads being built here – but give Israeli drivers patience to put up with all the inevitable delays as they are being built.

   • Enable the public transportation system to become much more attractive to Israelis.

7. Aliyah – the immigrations of the Jews from exile to Israel – was our next prayer target.

   • Lord, what will it take for the hundreds of thousands of Jews in France, Germany and Britain to see the handwriting on the wall and recognize that You have already released Your hunters (Jeremiah 16:16)?

   • We thank You for the way Ebenezer Emergency Fund and the Jewish Agency are working together in Germany. May that be the first of many cooperative ventures between Christians and Jews (Isaiah 49:22).

   • Lord Yeshua, wake up Your Body in the West to truly see how vital the return of the Jews to Your land is to Your return to the earth (Psalm 102:16; Zechariah 14:3-4).

   • Let Jewish families who are stuck in exile at least send their children to Israel.

   • Make more Jews outside of Israel see that being Jewish is both a privilege and a responsibility.

   • Abba, release American Jews from their deep deception that America is their homeland.

   • Lord, many Jews in exile – including Messianic Jews – focus on the various giants there are here in the land. And they are right. There are giants here – yet where are the Joshuas and Calebs who will cry out to the Jewish community that as long as God is with us – the giants can only benefit us (Numbers 14:6-9)?

8. We then prayed for believers to have a deep thirst for the waters of God's Word.

   • Lord Yeshua, shepherd Your Body to drink deeply of Your Word (Psalm 23:2).

   • Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Word was to me the joy and gladness of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O YHWH, the God of Hosts.

     Jeremiah 15:16
     

   • Lord, let Your Word be preached in Your Body again – not just a verse here or there – but the complete Word of God being held in high esteem, from the pastor to the lay person (1 Timothy 5:17).

   • Remove the idea that the Scriptures are anything less than the infallible Word of God in their original languages (2 Timothy 3:16).

   • May more of our brothers and sister judge their experiences by Your Word and not judge Your Word by their experiences.

   • Remember the Word to Your servant, on which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction; for Your Word has given me life.

     Psalms 119:49-50
     

9. Finally, IFI's chairman, Eliyahu Ben Haim, is scheduled to undergo a back operation next week. He has "spinal stenosis" – which is pinching nerves and causing lots of pain. Please join us in praying for a total successful operation and recovery.

   • We bless and thank You for our brother and the plans that You still have for him and Hannah, his wife.

   • For I know the plans which I am planning for you, says YHWH; plans of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

     Jeremiah 29:11
     

   • We do ask for a miraculous healing for Your glory's sake, so that he does not need to have the operation.

   • Yet if he does need to be physically operated on, then Lord, intervene so that the operation takes place on the day You have chosen (Psalm 118:24).

   • Abba, guide the hands and the minds of all the medical personnel who will be involved.

   • Give him and Hannah favor with the hospital staff (Proverbs 3:3-4).

   • Continue to speak to him and through him.

   • And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

     Romans 8:28
     

     Amen!

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion in the name of Messiah Yeshua, our Lord

The IFI team