1. We began this morning by reading Psalm 121.

    • I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where shall my help come from? My help comes from YHWH, who made Heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. YHWH is your keeper; YHWH is your shade on your right hand…YHWH shall keep you from all evil; He shall keep your soul. YHWH shall keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.Psalms 121:1-8

    • Thank You that You who do not slumber nor sleep watches over both us and Your people Israel.

    • You are our Keeper – our Guardian, our Protector – and we praise You for being that to us (Psa. 3:3).

    • What a joy to see that this 3,000 year old Psalm is as current today as it was back then (Jer. 1:12).

    • We declare that Your Word is settled forever in heaven (Psa. 119:89).

    • For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.Psa. 36:9

  2. Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees are streaming towards Israel's Golan borders – fleeing from an assault against these "rebels' by both Syria and the Russian Air Force. Jordan, which is already housing more than a million Syrian refugees, has closed its border. What should Israel do?

    • Lord, where is the American administration which was part of the deal to create an area in southwestern Syria as a de-escalation zone? Wake them up to how their inaction is ruining their reputation of being a faithful ally here in the Middle East (Matt. 5:37).

    • Download Your plans to the IDF concerning how to handle this situation (Prov. 19:21).

    • Protect Israel's soldiers as they protect Israel's borders.

    • Impart to them the ability to know the innocent from the terrorists among them.

    • Based on Romans 8:28, we ask that You would watch over this looming situation and bring out of it the most amount of glory to Yourself and the salvation of multitudes of these mostly Islamic refugees.

    • 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.Psa. 115:1-3

    • Lord Yeshua, continue to reveal Yourself to many refugees among the Muslims (Rev. 1:17-18).

    • As they see the true face of Islam – may many flee to You for safety, salvation and peace (John 16:31).

    • Is it time for Israel to extend its borders outward to provide a safe zone for these Syrians (Isa. 54:2-3)?

    • We bless You for Israel annexing the Golan. Continue to protect it from enemy attacks (Psa. 35:1-3).

    • Release angelic protection for all of Israel's north and northeast borders (Psa. 35:4-8).

    • Lord, as Israel has two borders under attack today – the Syrian-Lebanese and the Gazan borders – please watch over Malachi 1:5b: YHWH will be magnified upon [and beyond] the border of Israel.

  3. On July 16th, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet. One of the topics on their agenda is Syria. Reports are that Trump will accept Syrian President Assad's rule over that nation as long as all foreign militaries leave – probably with the exception of Russia's. Also, we are hearing that if not, the US will give Israel a "green light" to attack all Iranian bases in Syria.

    • YHWH brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He breaks the plans of the people. The counsel of YHWH stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations.Psa. 33:10-11
    • The king's heart is in YHWH's hand as the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He will.Prov. 21:1

    • Based on the above verses and many others, Lord we ask that You will assert Your sovereignty over this meeting and only allow that which furthers Your divine purposes to come forth (Rev. 17:17).

    • Prepare Israel to know what to do and how to respond to the results of this meeting (Isa. 42:9).

    • Make it very clear to Putin that leaving Iran in Syria is a danger to Russia's plans as well as to Israel.

    • Thank You for Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and the Israeli security cabinet for enforcing their red-lines re: Iranian activity in Syria (Ezek. 37:10).

  4. Netanyahu has been under constant pressure in all areas of his life – both private and political.

    • Abba, we are amazed at how well he continues to function and we thank You for that (Psa. 80:17).

    • We ask that You instruct Bibi and teach him the way he should go; that You will counsel him and Your eye will always be on him (Psa. 32:8; Prov. 16:9).

    • As he is Your appointed man to lead Israel at this time, continue to sustain him (2 Sam. 19:33).

    • May Netanyahu discover Psalm 50:15 and make it a reality in his life: Call on Me in the day of trouble; and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.

    • Pour out on Bibi the gift of delegation (Ex. 18:13-26).

    • Surround him with people whom he can trust so that he can delegate to them (Neh. 7:2; Prov. 20:6).

    • Bring around him godly counsel – both in his political and personal life (Prov. 27:6).

    • Forbid bitterness from growing in his family over all the personal attacks they have endured (Eph. 4:31).

    • As Sara Netanyahu goes to trial in mid-July, draw her to Yourself (Jer. 31:3).

    • In Your timing, raise up a worthy replacement for Netanyahu to lead Israel (Dan. 2:21).

  5. Israel's Gaza border is far from peaceful. While the huge demonstrations are over, the firebomb kites are still setting Israeli lands ablaze and there are daily attempts by Hamas terrorists to breach the security fence and commit terror attacks on Israeli communities and against IDF soldiers. Also, Hamas has started to shoot rockets at Israel in response to Israeli attacks on the kite-flyers.

    • We give You the glory that with all the demonstrations there was no loss of life on the Israeli side and no breaching of the security fence (Psa. 121:4).

    • Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; also let those who hate Him flee before Him…He scatters the people who delight in war.Psa. 68:1, 30b

    • Implant Your plans to IDF strategists and tacticians so that the army knows what to do (Josh 6:2-5).

    • Abba, if Israel should extend its border into Gaza and create a no-go zone on Hamas' side of the fence, lead the IDF on how to do it and give Israel wisdom on how to explain it to the world.

    • Lord, we grieve that it is Your land that is on fire (Lev. 25:23). Protect it for Your holy name's sake.

    • Expose the spirit behind so many in the "save the planet' movement: that they will do whatever it takes to protect Mother Earth – but are totally silent when Father God's land is being destroyed (Rev. 11:18b).

    • Protect Israel from this anti-God spirit that as infiltrated the environmentalist movement.

    • Divide the Hamas leadership and let them fight each other (Psa. 129:5).

    • Thank You that Abbas' Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria is at war with Hamas (Psa. 55:9).

  6. While Iran is still the number one threat to the nation of Israel, God is hearing our prayers and shaking that nation to its foundations. What a shock to hear this people who used to cry "Death to America," and "Death to Israel," now shouting "Death to Palestine," and "Death to the Dictator," that is the Ayatollah Khamenei who runs Iran.

    • Lord, forgive us for even thinking that Iran is an existential threat to Israel, as You have stated, Thus says YHWH, who gives the sun for a light by day and the laws of the moon and of the stars for a light by night…YHWH of Hosts is His name; if those ordinances depart from Me…then the seed of Israel shall cease being a nation before Me forever. Thus says YHWH, If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below searched out, then I will cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says YHWH. (Jer. 31:35-37)

    • Yet Iran is Israel's most dangerous enemy today, so we thank You for shaking it internally as protests against the regime explode in its streets.

    • Protect and use the ordinary Iranian citizen to overturn that wicked Shi'ite regime (2 Kings 9:32-33).

    • Pour spiritual fuel on these protests to root out Your enemies who have called for the destruction of Your people and Your nation (Psa. 83:1-4, 16-18).

    • Turn Iran's regular army and its police to stand with the people against the regime (2 Kings 9:11-13).

    • For I will cause Elam [modern Iran] to be afraid before their enemies and before those who seek their life, and I will bring evil on them, even My fierce anger, says YHWH. And I will send the sword after them until I have destroyed them;Jer. 49:37

    • Thank You for the growing Body of believers in Iran. Teach them how to pray and act (2 Pet. 4:7).

    • Prepare even now the next generation of Iranian leaders (Isa. 45:1-4).

    • Remove all anti-Zionist spirits from them and from the Body of Messiah (Gen. 12:3a).

    • We proclaim to Iran's current regime: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap. (Gal. 6:7)

  7. We are approaching the unveiling of US President Trump's "deal of the century" – this is a "peace deal" between Israel and…? And that is the most interesting part, as God has done such a good job of hardening the Palestinian leadership's hearts that there is no one on the other side with whom Israel could even talk to. So the US peace team is aiming for a regional deal that includes Egypt, Jordan, maybe Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf States. Yet the danger is what are they planning to ask from Israel.

    • Lord, protect Your land from being divided any further (Lev. 25:23; Ezek. 36:5).

    • We thank You for all that Trump and his team have done for Israel, especially in the UN, but God warn him that if he dares to touch Your land, America will become even more divided than it is now. Behold, in those days…when I will bring again the exiles of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. I will fight with them there for My people and for My inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and divided My land. (Joel 3:1-2)

    • Wake up Trump's Christian spiritual advisory council to warn him away from dealing with Your land as if it is just another real estate deal – and so ending up by blaspheming You (Ezek. 35:12-13)!

    • Use Bibi's background as an historian and his deep insight and commitment to Israel's security to "Just say 'No'," to anything that would endanger Israel (Jud. 11:23-24).

    • If possible, for America's sake, scrap this plan and may it never be presented.

    • God, this Shabbat's Torah portion shows us how You turned the curses of Balaam into blessings. Do it again if there is any curse that comes with this peace plan (Deut. 23:5).

    • Somehow may Trump and his team be lead to read from this section and may these verses come alive to them: God is not a man that He should lie; neither the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good? (Num. 23:19); Surely, there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor any divination against Israel. According to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What God has worked! (Num. 23:23); Blessed is he who blesses you, and cursed is he who curses you. (Num. 24:9b)

  8. Israel's water situation is desperate. While we have enough water to drink and use around the house, waters from heaven that feed underground aquifers, refresh nature and are depended on by farmers have been lacking for several years. We need God to intervene.

    • Lord, as You said in Isaiah 41:17-20, we need You to create new water sources in this – Your land.

    • Please God, do not allow the Sea of Galilee to become saline and destroyed as a fresh water lake.

    • You said that if we ask You to do it, You would make this land like the Garden of Eden. We are asking today (Ezek. 36:35-37).

    • Send rain out of season (Jam. 5:17-18) .

    • Anoint Israel hydrologists to come up with new ways of producing fresh water (Prov. 16:9; 19:21).

    • With all the crises that the government has to deal with, please do not let this one be ignored.

    • Are there any among the vanities of the nations who make rain fall? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O YHWH our God? Then we will wait on You; for You do all these things.Jer. 14:22

We also prayed for aliyah, the return of the Jews in exile to Israel. Ask God to stir up the nest of the Jewish people in your specific nation and for them to see that it is imperative to return home now. Also ask that the Church in your nation will see its obligation to help them to return (Isa. 49:22).

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

The IFI team