1. Praise: Shabbat's Torah portion starts the 15 chapters in Exodus of the pattern and building of the wilderness tabernacle. God commands Moses to build this so that He can dwell in the midst of His people who He already knows cannot keep the law that was just given to them.

    • Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring Me an offering…from everyone who gives it willingly from his heart…And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.Ex. 25:2, 8
    • And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [Gk: tabernacled] among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.John 1:14

    • Lord, thank You that on the mountain where You declared Your law, You also showed Moses Your grace by giving him the pattern of the tabernacle so that through the shedding of blood Your people's sins would be covered and You, our Holy God, could dwell in their midst (Ex. 25:22; Rom. 5:20).

    • We are eternally grateful that Your covenant-love and mercy are renewed every day (Lam. 3:22-23).

    • How blessed to know that You loved us from the foundation of the earth (1 Pet. 1:18-20).

    • You were always a God of grace – from the very beginning of the Old Testament (Gen. 3:21; 6:8).

    • Lord, thank You for the gift of the Father, the Holy Spirit, who glorifies You in us (John 16:7-14).

    • Bless You for choosing Israel – and us – because of Your love (Deut. 7:6-8; John 3:16).

    • We praise You for this truth from Shabbat's prophetic portion: Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man that He should repent. (1 Sam. 15:29; cp. Mal. 3:6)

    • Thank You for inviting us into Your throne of grace to lay our requests before You (Heb. 4:16).

    • With all the chaos and confusion today, we are so glad that You are our Rock (Psa. 18:2, 31, 46).

  2. Israel's government & Covid-19: While more Israelis are being vaccinated, the leaders are trying various ways to encourage those who are not. This is not an easy issue as Israelis rejoice that Israel is a democracy – yet the fine line between my free-will and what is best for my neighbor and my nation is what the authorities are trying to balance. Of course, as believers, we are under a King and our only biblically valid free-will choice is to obey Him in all things.

    • Lord God, we rest in the truth that this corona crisis has not taken You by surprise (Psa. 103:19).

    • Therefore concerning all government decisions – may Your will be done in Your land (Luke 11:2).

    • In this very real conflict between the need for people being vaccinated and yet not wanting to force anyone against their will, please speak to and guide the Israeli authorities (Prov. 21:1).

    • Prevent those who are against taking the corona vaccine from being linked with those who are against all vaccines whatsoever (Ezra 3:13).

    • If any of Israel's "shepherds" are resisting Your will, replace them (Ezek. 34:1-10; Jer. 23:3-4).

    • Do not allow pride or political expedience to influence any Israeli leader's decisions (Prov. 16:18).

    • Give wisdom to Israel to know if the vaccine should be mandatory in certain vocations (1 Kin. 3:9).

    • Aid Your nation to exit this latest lockdown with just and righteous guidelines (Deut. 4:8).

    • Guide Israel on when and how to open the airport to allow Israelis who are stuck overseas to return as well as when and how to allow tourists to visit (Isa. 26:20; 60:11).

    • Lord Yeshua, quiet all other voices and open the hearts of Your sheep to hear Your voice directing them to what they personally are supposed to do concerning the vaccine (John 10:4, 27; 21:21-22).

    • Again, we ask that You forbid this issue from causing division within Your body (Eph. 4:3).

    • In fact, please forbid this from causing any further division in Israeli society (Ezek. 37:17).

    • Please show Your Body that there is no going back to "normal" but a moving forward with You leading us each and every step of the way into an exciting, yet at times frightening, future (Psa. 23:3).

  3. Israel & US President Biden: This relationship has gotten off to a slow start and for that we are grateful. Still, with many of the appointments Biden has made, there is cause for great concern for those of us who are Biblical Zionists.

    • Thank You for the reportedly warm phone conversation between Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden this past week (Rom. 12:18).

    • Only You know what was really said and we ask You to guard Israel from all American intimidation and/or manipulation (Num. 23:23).

    • Show Israel's leaders when it is pleasing to You to agree with the current US administration and when Israel needs to say, as nicely as possible, "Lo, todah", "No thanks." (Psa. 146:3-5; Prov. 15:1).

    • Whatever happens between Biden and Netanyahu or Israel's next leader, if it is not Bibi, continue to guard the close relationship between the American and Israeli militaries (1 Kin. 9:26-28).

    • Impart wisdom so that Israel knows what intelligence to share with America and what not to share, as America's new Intelligence Czar is reportedly not a friend of Israel (Job 12:13-16).

    • Lord, awaken the American Church to see very clearly that the destiny of their nation rests on how their leaders deal with Your chosen nation and Your land (Lev. 25:23; Num. 24:9b; Joel 3:1-2).

  4. Israeli elections – March 23rd: We continue to pray for and trust God to do a new thing and give us a stable government that He can use for His glory.

    • Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?Isa. 43:19

    • Lord, raise up a government that moves more in line with Your will for Israel today (Jer. 23:3-4).

    • Grant Israel a government through whom You alone will be glorified (Psa. 115:1-3; Jer. 14:7)

    • Thank You for the shift in Israelis' thinking with polls showing 80 out of 120 Knesset seats will go to right wing parties. Lord, now we need a miracle so that these parties can work together (Amos 3:3).

    • Continue to purge out the "dross" from Israel's government (Isa. 1:25).

    • Raise up God-fearing leaders to take their place (Isa. 1:26; Jer. 3:15).

    • Bring the sons of Issachar into the next government to help guide the God-fearers (1 Chr. 12:32).

    • May everyone in the current government who is doing a good work have a place prepared for them in the next one (Isa. 57:14; Dan. 2:21). 

    • Remover all confusion and guide Israelis to vote for the government of Your choice (1 Cor. 14:33).

    • Stir up Your people who are very tired and frustrated with politics to still vote (Matt. 7:7).

    • When they are in the voting booths, guide them as they cast their ballot (Prov. 16:9, 33).

    • Since only You know what Israel will face in the near future, we ask You to handpick its leaders to lead this nation in Your direction (Psa. 33:10-11).

  5. Security – external: Iran is the main threat regardless of what direction Israel looks. And with the new Biden administration wanting to rejoin the Iranian nuclear deal, all Israel can do is plan and practice repeatedly to be ready to protect this nation and its people.

    • God, we have prayed for years that You would break the bow of Elam (Jer. 49:35) and You have revealed different ways to interpret this verse, including having us pray that Iran will have no capacity to fire any of its arrows, i.e., missiles. Please destroy their ability to do this (Psa. 18:34).

    • Praise You for reports of Iran's finances in support of terrorists drying up. More, Lord (Jam. 5:1-3)!

    • Send an arrogant and divisive spirit to stir up conflict between Iran's leaders and the heads of the various nations which support them (2 Chr. 20:22-23; Prov. 13:10a).

    • Lord, Iran states repeatedly that their aim is to destroy Israel – and yet most European nations still do business with them! Where are the outraged voices of the real Church in Europe (Est. 4:14)?

    • Remove the scepter of authority from Iran's king and princes (Jer. 49:38b; cp. Job 12:18-19)

    • May Israel and its Middle East allies work together to defeat Iran's demonic plans (Eccl. 4:12).

    • Provide Israel with accurate intelligence about any Iranian/US secret negotiations (Job 12:22).

    • Please guide and protect all of Israel's spies, collaborators and spy satellite operators (Isa. 31:5).

    • Prevent the IDF from being deceived by any false, or misleading information (Prov. 23:23).

    • As the IDF carries out training exercises, reveal all weaknesses and how to fix them (Psa. 18-36-40).

    • Help Israel to maintain her cutting edge in cyber warfare and raise up those who will aid Israel to develop quantum warfare capability as well (Gen. 1:1-3; Col. 1:16).

    • Thank You for the large budget that has just been allotted for the IDF. Now show them how to prioritize the use of these finances (Eccl. 7:12).

    • May the new government see that security has got to be its number one priority (Rom. 13:1-4).

    • Lord, save many Iranians and protect them from the forces of Islam (Jer. 49:38a).

    • Guard Your children in Iran from all deceptive and anti-Semitic/anti-Israel spirits (Col. 3:12).

    • We declare to them, YHWH who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion. (Psa. 134:3)

  6. Security – internal: Israeli police, as with police in many other parts of the world, have seen their reputation be tarnished in the eyes of many Israelis. At the same time there have been reports of some police abusing their authority. Of course, there are sectors of Israeli society – like the ultra-Orthodox, the anti-Bibi demonstrators and often the Israeli-Arabs, who make life very difficult for these guardians of Israeli society. We also prayed for security against Palestinian terrorism.

    • Show Israel's new police chief, Kobi Shabtai, what must change and how to do it (2 Sam. 23:3-4).

    • Improve the relationship of the police with the people and vice-versa (Luke 3:14).

    • Lord, as needed, "Refund the police" – in finances, personnel and equipment (Psa. 84:11; 104:24).

    • Thank You for the decrease of Palestinian terrorist attacks during the Trump years (2 Chr. 20:29).

    • Yet attacks on the roads increased last year, especially stone throwing which injured many, so please grant alertness to the security personnel and the general public (Neh. 4:23; Psa. 121:4).

    • The angel of YHWH surrounds them that fear Him, and delivers them. (Psa. 34:7) Amen.

    • Lord, protect all the roads in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, and may the very stones that the terrorists pick up to throw – shock them by crying out Your praises. (Luke 19:40)!

    • Give the Israeli government backbone to support its soldiers in the face of unfair criticism.

    • Move on this government – or at the latest, the next one – to legalize all the settlements in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley under Israeli civilian law (Jer. 32:41-44).

    • Bless all Palestinian believers with stability and growth in the faith, and protect them (Col. 1:9-13).

    • Abba, if Palestinian elections are not 101% in Your will – stop them from being held (Psa. 93:1).

    • May Israel be prepared to respond to whatever the outcome of the Palestinian elections in May turn out to be – especially if Hamas wins (Prov. 21:31).

    • Thank You Lord for Iran reducing it funding to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza and for the reports that this has caused great friction in that terror group between its leaders (Psa. 35:26; Mark 3:25).

  7. Aliyah & salvation: God is bringing His people back to the land so that He can reveal Messiah Yeshua to them. He also commands Christians to pray for their salvation at this very time in history.

    • Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish, praise, and say, 'O YHWH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel'.Jer. 31:7; 31:3-5, 8-9 show the historical era.

    • Through Your provision of divine grace, turn Israeli hearts to cry out to You (Psa. 80:1-3, 7, 19).

    • Yeshua, Lord, walk among the settlers and bring many into a living faith in You (Psa. 20:9; 80:2).

    • Lord, is it not time to bring all the closet Israeli believers out into the open (Matt. 10:32-33)?

    • Save all the unsaved loved ones of Messianic believers this very year (Acts 16:31).

    • Lord, thank You for the 330 Ethiopians who returned to Zion last week (Isa. 43:5-7).

    • We are so grateful as we see You using the Covid-19 crisis and an uptick of anti-Semitism to birth a renewed interest in aliyah among Jews in the West (Jer. 16:16).

    • For Your holy name's sake, bring them all in before the door closes permanently (Ezek. 36:23-24).

    • Lord, we ask You to drain Western nations of the Jews who are living there in "captivity" – even if they refuse to see it, or to call it "captivity" (Jer. 30:3, 10, 18; 31:10, 17, 23; 32:37, 44; 33:7, 11, 26).

    • Remind every Jew who has visited Your land of what they felt while walking in it (Isa. 62:4-5).

    • May the next government have people with a burden to see new immigrants settled (Amos 9:14-15).

    • Provide for all the needs of the believing organizations that are involved with the aliyah (Isa. 49:22).

    • Speak to Your Body in the nations concerning what they can do to further the aliyah (Isa. 60:3-12).

  8. Water: We had a "wonderful" wet and cold storm over the land this past week – including snow in many areas, even Jerusalem. The Sea of Galilee continues to rise and we trust that it will be an overflowing miracle for the land this year, as well as a sign of a huge aliyah – as historically an increase of Jews returning has been correlated with an increase of rainfall.

    • Thank You Abba for caring for this land always (Deut. 11:12).

    • Abba, this gift of rain is a sign of Your goodness and not because Israel deserves it (Matt. 5:45b).

    • We thank You in faith for stopping all enemy attacks by this snowstorm (Job 38:22-23).

    • The desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by, and they shall say, 'This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited'. Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I YHWH build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I YHWH have spoken it, and I will do it.Ezek. 36:34-36

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Jerusalem

For the IFI team