1. To begin, we read Isaiah 61:10-11 from this Shabbat's prophetic portion.

    • I will greatly rejoice in YHWH, my soul will be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the robes of salvation, He covered me with the robe of righteousness…For as the earth comes out with its bud, and as the garden causes that which is sown to grow; so the Lord YHWH will cause righteousness and praise to grow before all the nations.

    • Thank You that we can greatly rejoice in You – regardless of how we feel.

    • We rest in confidence that Your love endures forever (Jeremiah 31:3).

    • Thank You for Your grace offered to both Jew and Gentile in Messiah Yeshua (Romans 10:12).

    • Praise You for being our refugee and strength in a time of need (Psalm 46:1).

    • Hallelujah! Our God reigns (Psalm 24:1; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; 103:19).

    • We bless You for revealing Yourself as the faithful and true King Messiah (Revelation 3:14; 19:11).

    • I will sing of the mercies of YHWH forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

      Psalms 89:1

  2. Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu is finishing up a trip to South and Central America and will then be heading to NYC for next week's annual UN General Assembly meeting.

    • Again, God, we thank You for giving Israel Netanyahu to be its leader at this time (Psalm 80:17).

    • Thank You for the tremendous favor he had with the leaders in Latin America.

    • Allow his warnings to them about Iran and Hizbullah activity in their area bear fruit (Ezekiel 3:17).

    • Anoint Bibi to speak truth wherever he finds himself – especially at the UN.

    • Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces and your forehead strong against their foreheads. I have made your forehead as an adamant harder than flint. Do not be bowed down by their faces, though they are a rebellious house.

      Ezekiel 3:8-9

    • Protect Netanyahu and all his advisors from all the deception that runs rampant throughout the UN.

    • We pray this over the Netanyahu family and his entourage: No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment, you shall condemn. (Isaiah 54:17a)

    • Make all his advisors who are with him on this trip good counselors (Proverbs 11:14).

    • In his meeting with the US President, give Trump ears to hear what Bibi is really trying to say.

    • Protect Israel's leader physically – from sickness or any assassination attempts (Psalm 3:3).

    • Please Lord, may the situation with Sara Netanyahu's possible indictment be resolved quickly.

    • Grace Netanyahu to delight in Your law even more than he does already. Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is only in the Law of YHWH… (Psalms 1:1-2)

  3. There is another Israeli government coalition crisis over the issue of whether the ultra-Orthodox [Haredim] should be drafted into the IDF. While Israel's elected officials came to an agreement over this – the unelected Supreme Court ruled that they must be drafted. This issue goes to the very heart of society – and causes a rift where Israel can least afford it.

    • Lord, raise up reasonable voices on both sides of this conflict to see a workable solution (Psalm 133:1).

    • We thank You for the increased involvement of the ultra-Orthodox in the IDF and regular employment, and ask for a definite increase in the near future.

    • Open the eyes and hearts of more of these people to see that they can serve You in other ways than just studying Torah and Talmud. (Jeremiah 30:8-9)

    • Bless and protect all the Haredim who are already serving in the IDF (2 Chronicles 35:3b).

    • Impart Your guidance over this issue and permeate Israeli society with Your truth (Zechariah 8:16).

    • Heal any secular Israelis who have deep hatred in their hearts towards the Orthodox – and vice-versa.

    • Warn clearly any politician away from using this issue for their own aggrandizement (Ezekiel 34:1-10).

  4. As mentioned above, this crisis was ignited when Israel's unelected Supreme Court overturned a decision by its elected parliament. In most of the West, this is a huge problem, as unelected judges – most of whom are not God-fearers – approve or reject laws that impact all of society.

    • And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterwards you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city. (Isaiah 1:26) Lord, we ask for this to be done now.

    • Abba, visit these judges in dreams or visions and put Your fear in their hearts (Daniel 4:5; Joel 2:28).

    • You said Israel would not be a nation like any other – and we assume that means our judges as well. Please make this a reality (Numbers 23:9b; Ezekiel 20:32-33).

    • Deal with the pride of their hearts (2 Chronicles 32:26).

    • As the tension between Israel being both a democracy and the Jewish State is often a real problem, we ask for Your intervention to help our leaders keep the proper biblical balance (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).

    • As we are approaching the high holydays, save as many of these judges as possible (Zechariah 12:10).

    • The king's [and judge's] heart is in the hand of YHWH as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will. (Proverbs 21:1) Turn Israel's judges' hearts – their mind, emotions and will – to You at this season.

    • Forbid that this crisis profanes Your holy name (Psalm 115:1-3).

    • Protect this nation from the invasion by the spirit of humanism from the West (Psalm 9:19-20).

  5. Israel’s Salvation – We prayed that God will use the coming High Holiday season to open the eyes of many Jewish people to who He truly is. Rosh Hashannah (traditionally Jewish New Year) starts this Wednesday evening and is followed by Yom Kippur and then Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles).

    • And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.

      Zechariah 12:10

    • Thank You, Lord, that there are more Jews who believe in Yeshua this Rosh Hashannah than last one. Please add further to their number during these holidays.

    • Reveal to many religious Jews that You desire relationship rather than ritual because You love them.

    • Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!

      Psalm 80:3,7,19

    • Pour out a gift of repentance on Your people during these days.

    • Give the secret believers the courage to acknowledge their faith in Yeshua.

    • Give new believers boldness to share Yeshua in their families.

    • And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13) Cause many to search for You in this season!

    • We prayed for specific groups in Israeli society as the Lord has laid them on our hearts: the gay community, young people, soldiers spending their first holidays away from home, new olim, children, those for whom this will be their last Rosh Hashannah, etc.

  6. Aliyah – The Yom Kippur service in the synagogues ends with the declaration “Next year in Jerusalem”.

    • Lord, when these words are declared, stir many Jewish hearts to make it true!

    • If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget its skill!

      Psalm 137:5

    • Stir the memories of the hundreds of thousands of young people who have visited Israel through the Birthright program, so they keep Israel in their hearts and decide to make Aliyah.

    • Make the yordim (Israelis living overseas) homesick during these holidays.

    • Prompt many rabbis to lead their flocks home to Israel rather than remaining in exile, “for the sake of the community”.

    • Let all the remaining Ethiopian Jews still in Ethiopia be welcomed home to Israel.

    • Bring home the families of lone soldiers serving in the IDF while their families are still overseas.

    • Break the obstacles that can prevent Messianic Jews making Aliyah.

    • Remove the bureaucratic hindrances to professional people being able easily to transfer their professional skills to Israel.

    • Bring the remaining Holocaust survivors who are living in the nations home to Israel.

    • Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and the one who labors with child, together; a great throng shall return there.

      Jeremiah 31:8

  7. Elections in Germany – critical national elections are being held on 24th September. There seems to be no credible alternative to the re-election of Chancellor Angela Merkel and her party despite many doubting the wisdom of many of her policies, notably her stand on Israel.

    • Call the Church in Germany to pray and to vote as You lead them. May they humbly seek You as they stand in the gap for their nation.

    • So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it.

      Ezekiel 22:30

    • Show the believers in Germany that they need to be more focused on what their nation is doing today rather than simply focusing on the past.

    • In Your mercy give Germany a government which is more pro-Israel.

  8. Kurdish Referendum – the day after the German elections there is due to be a referendum in the Kurdish area of Iraq regarding the possible creation of an independent Kurdistan. Iran and Turkey which have significant Kurdish minorities are very opposed to this referendum as is Iraq which has declared it illegal. The Kurdish people, though Moslems, are declared friends of Israel and in the international community the Israeli Prime Minister is alone in speaking out in support of a Kurdish state.

    • Please allow this referendum to go ahead peacefully and let the vote be in line with Your will.

    • I will bless those who bless you

      Genesis 12:3

    • Give the people courage to vote.

    • Thank You for the boldness of Binyamin Netanyahu in supporting the creation of a Kurdistan.

  9. Syria and Lebanon – Last week Israel destroyed a military installation in Syria in order to uphold the ‘red line’ of not allowing Iran to supply arms to Hezbollah. According to Elie Wiesel, ‘History has taught us to trust the threats of our enemies more than the promises of our friends.’

    • Lord, expose the plans of Iran and may Israel know how to respond.

    • Now also many nations have gathered against you, who say, “Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion.” But they do not know the thoughts of the Lord, nor do they understand His counsel; for He will gather them like sheaves to the threshing floor. “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make your horn iron, and I will make your hooves bronze; you shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.”

      Micah 4:11-13

    • Give unity between Netanyahu, Defense Minister Liberman and Chief of Staff Eizenkott regarding Israel’s plans and actions against our enemies in the North.

    • May Israel not be caught by surprise as she was in 1973 prior to the Yom Kippur War.

  10. Intercessors and the IFI team

    • Lord, please give us Your encouragement as we continue to stand with Your purposes. Guard us against every discouragement which might drag us down.

    • …Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Yeshua, the author and finisher of our faith.

      Hebrews 12:1,2

    • May we stop looking at ourselves, but look unto Yeshua!

    • We ask Your continued healing and refreshing for IFI Chairman, Eliyahu and also thank You for the healing and restoring you are doing for David, Colin’s son.

Shabbat Shalom

from the IFI team