We began praising and thanking the Lord for who He is: merciful, faithful and mighty.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
For I have said, Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.
I have made a covenant with My chosen,
I have sworn to My servant David:
‘Your seed I will establish forever,
And build up your throne to all generations.’
Selah
And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,
And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.
O Lord God of hosts,
Who is mighty like You, O Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.Psalm 89:1-8

  1. The riots in Gaza have been going on for 29 weeks and not only do they show no sign of stopping they are actually getting more frequent and violent. In the beginning they mostly were on Friday afternoon after ‘prayers’ but in the last couple of weeks they have also been nightly. Israel has reinforced the IDF on the Gaza border and is preparing for worse to come. Yahie Sinwar one of the Hamas leaders said to an Italian journalist that Hamas does not want a new war. As he is the same person who at the beginning of these riots said: ‘We will tear down their fences, we will tear out their hearts and we will pray in Jerusalem,’ it would seem that he is now afraid of a war with Israel. The reality is that Gaza is very close to boiling over. The living conditions there are getting untenable.

    • Pray for the Government and especially P.M. Netanyahu to know what to do. War in Gaza is not a matter of ‘if’ it is a matter of ‘when’.

    • To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:…. A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8

    • There is much tension in the Security Cabinet with the Minister of Defence (Lieberman) showing restraint and the Minister of Education (Bennet) demanding that Israel attack Gaza. We prayed that the Security Cabinet would know God’s timing and that when we have to go into Gaza we would not just ‘mow the grass’ again but would really deal with Hamas and the other terror groups.

    • We prayed for clear and Godly ‘open fire’ orders and that the snipers would be protected not just physically but in soul and spirit as well. Taking another person’s life to a normal human being is traumatic and can often last a lifetime. We prayed that they would know that they are physically standing in the gap (Ezekiel 22:30) and protecting the people of Israel.

    • We prayed for Israel’s citizens near the Gaza border that they would not be affected by the pollution from the fires that the Palestinians are setting with their incendiary balloons. We continue to pray that the IDF would find a way to stop this balloon warfare.

  2. Judea and Samaria (the west bank to the world) has been relatively quiet but it has great potential for violence to flare up. We prayed for alertness for both soldiers and civilians to be on guard.

    • We prayed for the settlers to be able to live in peace and safety and thanked them for living the Word of God.

    • For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.Isaiah 14:1

    • We prayed for the so called ‘hilltop youth’, those youth who are attacking Palestinians just for being Palestinians. We prayed that their parents and rabbis would rein them in and that the rabbis would forbid them from destroying the Palestinians olive trees as it is against rabbinical teaching. [Trees that bear edible fruit are forbidden to be destroyed.]

    • We thanked the Lord that armed civilians have responded to terror attacks and saved lives.

    • Blessed be the Lord my Rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle.Psalm 144:1

  3. We finished today’s spiritual border patrol praying for north and north east – Lebanon and Syrian borders. Russia who has unrighteously blamed Israel for Syria’s shooting down of the Russian plane some weeks ago has now delivered their S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Syria. These are advanced missiles that could hinder Israel’s efforts to stop weapons shipments from Iran via Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. As both Cyprus and Greece with whom Israel has good relations have the S-300 system Israel has trained against it and has developed strategies to defeat it, but it still has to be careful.

    • You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day.Psalm 91:3

    • We prayed that the Israel/Russia relationship in Syria would get back on track.

    • We prayed that the Russian military would remember how Israel defeated Russian planes (some flown by Russian pilots) in both Lebanon and Egypt in past wars and would realize what a disaster to them it would be if Israel was forced to destroy these S-300 systems.

    • Thus says the Lord of hosts: They may build, but I will throw down; They shall be called the Territory of Wickedness, And the people against whom the Lord will have indignation forever. Your eyes shall see, And you shall say, The Lord is magnified beyond the border of Israel.Malachi 4b-5

  4. You may not believe this but we prayed for Vladimir Putin. It appears to us that there is a conflict between Putin and the Russian military and foreign office. Historically the Russian military and foreign office have been deep wells of anti-Semitism and that does not seem to be the case with Putin. We prayed that Putin would prevail.

    • But God is the Judge: He puts down one, and exalts another.Psalm 75:7

  5. We continued to pray for the upcoming municipal elections on October 30 all over Israel and in particular for the next mayor of Jerusalem.

    • May honest and capable people be elected, people who hate corruption.

    • May the new mayor of Jerusalem not submit to pressure from the ultra-orthodox. Give him a city council that he can work with and may he understand what You want to be done in Jerusalem.

    • The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.Psalm 147:2

  6. The Knesset returns in session on October 15. We continued in our prayers concerning the very real possibility of early national elections. We prayed for the Lord’s perfect time for the next election.

    • Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.Isaiah 46:10

  7. Aliyah. Deputy Minister Michael Oren has called for British Jews to make Aliyah if Jeremy Corbyn is elected P.M. He has also called for changes to Israeli bureaucracy to become more welcoming and friendly to Olim from the west. We have been praying this way for some time and we have seen answers to our prayers in the medical certification field but more needs to be done.

    • Many rabbis in Europe have openly said that it is time for the Jewish People to leave Europe but none of them has yet led the way. We prayed for Rabbis to lead their flocks home to Israel as the priests led the way in crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land.

    • Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it….Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.Joshua 3:1-3, 6

    • We prayed especially for Russian Jews in Germany, French Jews and the remaining Jews in Ethiopia. Also for young Jews to come and lead their parents home.

    • For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.Ezekiel 36:24

  8. As we enter what could be [according to the meteorologists] our sixth consecutive year of drought we asked the Lord for the early rains which are overdue.

    • And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.Deuteronomy 11-15
    • Then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing; you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.Leviticus 26:4-5
    • You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance.Psalm 65:9-11
    • Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises on the harp to our God, Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.Psalm 147:7-8

  9. While booking for this coming January’s IPCJ has been opened for a few weeks it is only today that the printed brochures have gone out. We prayed for expedited and accurate delivery of the mailing. We asked for countries that have never been represented to come and for youth especially.

    • ‘Lord the IPCJ is Yours and we want all the brothers and sister whom You are calling to be here with us in January. Lord provide all that is needed be it money or free time or family issues that would stand in the way of Your people coming.’

  10. Chuck is in the USA for a month. We prayed for good health, security and a fresh anointing to minister especially for those who will hear him who have not yet opened their hearts to Your purposes and covenant love for Israel.

The IFI Team