1. How lovely is Your tabernacle, O Lord of hosts!
   My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the Lord;
   My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
   Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young - even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.
   Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; They will still be praising You. Selah
   Blessed is the man whose strength is in You, whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
   As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools.
   They go from strength to strength; Each one appears before God in Zion.
   O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
   O God, behold our shield, and look upon the face of Your anointed.
   For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
   I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
   For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory;
   No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
   O Lord of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You!

   Psalm 84
   

   • Thank You for being our refuge and our fortress. (Psalm 91:2)

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

   • You are the strength of our lives. (Psalm 27:1)

   • You have the world in your hands.

2. Thanksgivings –

   • I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

     Psalm 9:1
     

   • Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

     Psalm 118:1
     

   • Thank You Lord for answering our prayers and that the government of Israel has avoided going to early elections.

   • Thank You that Bibi Netanyahu is still our Prime Minister.

   • Thank You that despite all the enemies and the turmoil round about, Israel has enjoyed relative peace.

   • Thank You that according to a recent study, Israel is rated the 11th happiest nation in the world.

   • Thank You that the Golan Heights are still part of Israel and have not been surrendered to Syria, and that Israel has been able to help many of the suffering Syrian people.

   • Thank You for the planned British royal visit to Israel.

3. Israeli Government – Now the coalition crisis has been ended focus comes back onto the corruption allegations against Prime Minister Netanyahu as well as the great need for righteousness leadership in the nation and a long-term solution to the problem of haredi conscription to the IDF which was the issue which threatened to bring the government down.

   • Lord, please restore righteousness in the nation and especially among the leadership.

   • Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

     Proverbs 14:34
     

   • Establish love for Your word and, as it was in the days of Josiah and of Ezra and Nehemiah, restore Your word to the center of the affairs of the nation.

   • Thank You for the bible studies which are held in the Knesset and in the Prime Minister’s residence.

   • Protect and sustain Bibi Netanyahu and help him to focus on the affairs of the nation rather than on the personal attacks against him.

   • Guard Bibi from pride and help him to understand that he is only equipped to lead the nation under Your anointing.

   • Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

     1 Peter 5:6
     

   • Anoint the wider political leadership for the role that each needs to play in governing Israel: Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Interior Minister Arye Deri, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

   • Bless those haredim (ultra-Orthodox) who choose to serve in the IDF and give us just laws which require them all to serve like the rest of the population.

4. Days of Rage – In response to the American plans to move their embassy to Jerusalem on 14th May, the Palestinians have called for Fridays to be ‘days of rage’ to protest.

   • Give wisdom to Israel’s authorities in handling these days of rioting and protest.

   • Let there be rain (and even snow or hail) on these days to disperse the rioters.

   • Have you entered the treasury of snow, or have you seen the treasury of hail, which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?

     Job 38:22-23
     

   • Guard against kidnappings and car rammings.

   • Pour cold water on the tempers of those who hate Israel, may our enemies see that rioting gets them nowhere.

   • Thank You, Lord that You are so much greater than our enemies!

5. Russia – has recently taken a more dominant role in the region, and most particularly in Syria. Recent events have revealed President Putin more clearly for who he is: his statement that perhaps Jews were involved in undermining the 2016 US elections; the attempted murder of a Russian born, UK citizen, living in retirement in England. Israel needs great wisdom and discernment in pursuing its relationship with Russia and Putin.

   • Thank You for the relationship Netanyahu has with Putin. Give Bibi great discernment regarding Putin’s true intentions.

   • Give Israel Your plans to know what to do in response to changes in a very volatile region.

   • Hold back Russian expansionism in Europe and in the Middle East.

   • Give wisdom to the leaders of Israel and Britain to know how to act in the face of Russian aggression.

   • For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.

     Isaiah 28:6
     

6. Iran and Turkey – Iran continues to exert her influence in Syria and in Lebanon on Israel’s very borders, while Turkey (especially under Erdogan) seeks to establish herself as a/the major power in the region and is no friend of Israel either.

   • Thank You, Lord for Your ability to turn Israel’s enemies against one another as You have done so often in history in order to protect Your people.

   • Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

     2 Chronicles 20:22-23
     

   • Lord, cause the alliances and agreements between Iran and Turkey and Russia to be broken, so that all intentions they have against Israel would be destroyed.

   • Hold back and bring down Khamenei in Iran and Erdogan in Turkey.

   • Please protect the Kurds who seem to be Israel’s only true friends in the region and who are also being threatened and endangered from every side.

7. Rain – while we are very grateful that this winter in Israel has been wetter than was forecasted, we are still in need of much more water to sustain and nourish the land.

   • Thank You, Lord that You do not listen to the meteorologists. You are sovereign over the weather in Israel. Help us to believe You and Your word rather than what scientists tell us.

   • For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

     Isaiah 51:3
     

   • So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden.'

     Ezekiel 36:35
     

   • Send the rain, Lord, to fill the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) and to make the Dead Sea and the desert alive.

   • Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone.

     Zechariah 10:1
     

8. Pesach (Passover) – Tonight begins the first month of the year according to God (Exodus 12:2) and the nation of Israel is looking towards Pesach. We will celebrate the escape from Egypt when the Children of Israel slaughtered a lamb in the doorway of their houses and made a sign in blood on the doorposts and the lintel. It was this sign which caused the angel of death to pass over them when he came to judge Egypt (Exodus 12:21-23). The sign foretells the sign of the blood of Yeshua (Jesus) which is the means of escape from judgment for believers today.

   • Thank You for rescuing Your people from Egypt and for rescuing Your people from sin today.

   • Give Your people revelation of what You did for them through the blood of Yeshua.

   • This Pesach let them see past all the traditions to the true power of the lamb.

   • … knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

     1 Peter 1:18-19
     

   • Lord, You made it so clear, but our people make it so foggy. Please blow away the fog!

9. IFI leadership – Chuck is in Germany with Heinz-Jurgen Heuhsen (IFI Deutschland); Eliyahu has returned from a short trip to the USA but is struggling with lack of sleep; our dear friend Steve Lightle recently suffered a heart attack but is now recovering in Seattle, USA. Steve was one of the brothers who helped the transition of IFI 34 years ago from an ex-patriot prayer group to an Israeli prayer ministry that now reaches around the globe.

   • Lord please watch over Chuck and Heinz-Jurgen in all their travels, especially on the German Autobahns. Give them divine appointments everywhere on their travels. May they receive Your wisdom and anointing. Bring all those You want to hear them and give ears to hear.

   • Restore to Eliyahu the ability to sleep. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He gives His beloved sleep. (Psalm 127:2)

   • Bring full, quick recovery to our brother Steve Lightle and a place to rest and recuperate, so You may accomplish the fullness of Your purposes in and through his life. Then your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily. And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. (Isaiah 58:8)

   • But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

     Isaiah 53:5
     

   • Give Your health, strength and provision to the leadership of IFI and their families.

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Shabbat Shalom! Blessed New Month and New (Biblical) Year!

From the IFI team