1. We began our time of prayer reading Jeremiah 31: 1-14.

    • Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’ For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.Jeremiah 31:10-11

    • Thank you Abba that You reign over Your holy city, Jerusalem.

    • You are always our shepherd.

    • He will feed His flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.Isaiah 40:11

    • You have brought Your people into the land You promised, a land of milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 26:9)

    • Thank You that Your mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

    • Thank You that Your word never returns to You void. (Isaiah 55:11)

    • You are our refuge and our strength, a very present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)

  2. Israel’s Nation-State Bill – a couple of weeks ago Israel passed a new law which sets down the Jewish character of the State of Israel. The passing of the law has stirred up much opposition from non-Jewish minorities in Israel, particularly those like the Druze population who are otherwise supportive of the state, serving in the IDF, etc. A rally is planned this Saturday night in Tel Aviv in opposition to the law.

    • Thank You, Lord for giving the land of Israel to the Jewish people. Thank You too for those groups who stand alongside the nation of Israel and put their lives on the line to protect it.

    • Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you, as I said to Moses.  From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your territory.  No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.Joshua 1:3-5

    • Give wisdom to Israel’s leaders regarding how to heal the division this law has created. Also protect them from manipulation by a vociferous minority.

    • Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts, O Lord! (Isaiah 55:8-9)

    • If there are people deliberately stirring up trouble here, please expose them!

    • Reveal the spiritual issues lying behind the unrest.

    • Give Prime Minister Netanyahu wisdom to come up with a good and just conclusion which will restore unity and peace in the nation. (Proverbs 19:21)

  3. Syria – In recent days Israel has intercepted a group of Islamic State fighters attempting to infiltrate Israeli territory on the Golan Heights. This is the latest incident on a border which has become increasingly tense and where confusion over which group is currently in control has increased the need for Israel’s vigilance to maintain her own security.

    • Thank You that there was no infiltration of terrorists into Israel. Please help our forces to maintain security on the Syrian border. (Psalm 141:9-10)

    • Keep our soldiers safe, alert and give them rest, especially in the hot weather. Bless them in their calling to serve You in protecting Your land.

    • Anoint the ability of Israel’s security forces to see what is actually happening on the other side of the border. (Psalm 140:4-5)

    • Expose the plans of our enemies and reveal them wherever they are hiding.

    • Protect those who are spying for Israel. Keep them hidden and enable them to communicate accurate information to Israel.

    • Give unity to Israel’s leadership, especially between Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defence Minister Liberman and Chief of Staff Eizenkott. (1 Chronicles 12:38)

    • May Israel keep to her “red lines”. When they are broken, give our leaders the boldness to act. (Psalm 125:1-3)

    • Thank You where you have so often caused our enemies to destroy each other. Do this again in Syria.

    • Bless and encourage all those who are farming the land on the Golan Heights right up to the Syria border. Protect them and reward their faith.

    • Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me. You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of Your hands.Psalm 138:7-8

  4. Gaza – the unrest on the border continues. Fires balloons continue to be sent from Gaza into Israel. In response, Israel has blocked the passage of fuel into Gaza. (Psalm 74:23)

    • Please give Israel wisdom and know-how in order to bring this threat to an end.

    • Guard against any kidnappings at or around the border of Gaza.

    • Anoint and give unity to Israel’s leaders in the face of the Gaza threat also.

    • Bless Avigdor Liberman and give him wisdom in what he speaks. May he avoid making empty threats which he can’t or won’t back up with actions.

    • Have Your hand over all attempts by Egypt and others to broker some kind of peace.

    • Bless and protect the few believers in Gaza. (Psalm 91:9-10)

    • Raise up opposition to the evil Hamas leaders controlling Gaza. Cause the hardship of the people to turn against their rulers. (Psalm 74: 20-21)

  5. Iran – Iran remains Israel’s number one enemy while also exercising control over Hezbollah, the Assad regime in Syria and Hamas (among others). Iran is planning a major military exercise in the Straits of Hormuz, the waterway controlling access to the Persian Gulf affecting many nations other than Iran. This has prompted the USA to announce that she too will be holding military naval exercises nearby. Any attempt to close the Straits of Hormuz would amount to declaration of war. Israel’s response has been to declare that she would respond forcefully to any attempt to close the Red Sea, which is Israel’s strategic southern access to the oceans. Meanwhile in Iran there is increasing internal unrest with economic problems and popular rioting against the regime.

    • Please Lord, keep Israel vigilant and wise in her responses to everything Iran is doing.

    • Give wisdom to Israel’s military leaders and to the Americans that all may act and re-act with sound judgment to what the Iranians are doing and saying. (Proverbs 8:14-16)

    • Shake the leadership of Iran.

    • Thank You that You have promised to break the bow of Elam and You will destroy from there the king and the princes. (Jeremiah 49:35,38)

    • The heart of the king is in Your hands, Lord. Turn the leaders’ hearts away from foreign troublemaking to the needs of their own people.(Proverbs 21:1)

    • Use the internal unrest in Iran to break the ties to Hezbollah and Hamas.

    • Use the growing Church in Iran to turn their nation away from the evil path it is on.(1 Chronicles 7:14)

  6. US Peace Proposal – the US Middle East team (led by Orthodox Jews Jared Kushner, Jason Greenblatt and David Friedman) is preparing to unveil the Trump Administration’s new Peace Plan.

    • Lord, may they refrain from trying to divide Your land! (Joel 3:1-2)

    • Give these Jewish men an understanding of Your prophetic word and also an awareness of history and the consequences of recent attempts to divide the land (such as Israel's pull-out from Gaza). May they be like;

    • The sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.1 Chronicles 12:32

    • Give wisdom to Israel’s leaders meeting with the Americans. Guard them against being seduced and tempted to pay a price for peace which in Your eyes is unpayable.

    • Give Bibi Netanyahu a fear of You and a respect for Your word so he might not be pressured into dividing Your land through fear of man. (2 Chronicles 19:7)

  7. Aliyah – the summer months are often a good time for families to make the move to Israel during the time their children are having a break from school.

    • May the Jews of Europe recognize the rise of anti-Semitism for what it is and decide to escape from the snare of the fowler. (Psalm 124:7)

    • Shake the Jewish community in the UK especially as they see the core of anti-Semitism in the British Labour Party.

    • Many Russian Jews have got stuck in Germany. Please unstick them and bring them home.

    • Make a way to Israel for the Jews in Ethiopia, India, China and wherever it’s more difficult to come from.

    • Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice.  You shall yet plant vines on the mountains of Samaria. The planters shall plant and eat them as ordinary food. For there shall be a day when the watchmen will cry on Mount Ephraim, ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.'Jeremiah 31:4-6

    • Open the doors for the Jews to leave Iran.

    • Bring home the Jews from Latin America and settle the Sephardim in the Negev as Your word has said. (Obadiah 20)

    • Give Your people, wherever they are, a new burden and desire to come home to Israel. Help them to withstand the family pressures which would cause them to stay. (Jeremiah 31:8)

    • Unite families in the land of Israel.

    • Cut through the bureaucratic obstacles to Your people making Aliyah.

    • Prepare the way in Israel for all Your children’s needs to be met; for housing, jobs, schools, learning Hebrew, etc.

    • Give rabbis the anointing to lead their communities in making Aliyah.

    • Raise up the burden in the Church for praying for, encouraging, financially supporting Aliyah. Give more revelation of Your heart to bring the Jews home to Israel. (Isaiah 49:22)

    • Anoint Itzak Herzog, the new Chairman of the Jewish Agency. May he recognize the key role of the Christian Aliyah agencies and treat them as allies.

  8. Water – as more people come home to the land of Israel there is the need for more water.

    • Lord, give us rain. Please restore the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)  where the water level is so low!

    • Open up new sources of water for this nation.

    • Make us better stewards of the water You have given that there may be less waste and better conservation and recycling.

    • Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.Isaiah 43:19

  9. Chuck in Norway – Chuck Cohen is away ministering in Norway for the next few weeks.

    • Abba, bless and anoint our brother Chuck. Bring all those whom You want to hear his messages. Give him refreshment in his time away and protect all his travelling. Watch over his family back in Israel.

Shabbat Shalom from the IFI team!