1. Praise: Shabbat's prophetic portion is Isaiah 43:21-44:23. Verse 44:6 is a wonderful revelation of our God who is truly worthy of all praise.

   • Thus says YHWH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, YHWH of hosts; I am the First, and I am the Last; and beside Me there is no God. (Isa. 44:6) Hallelujah and amen!

   • Lord Yeshua, this is the Father whom You alone reveal to us. Thank You (John 1:18; 14:9).

   • Without You there is no way for anyone to really know God the Father (John 14:6).

   • Bless You for being both Israel and our Redeemer (Isa. 54:5; Luke 1:68; Rev. 5:9).

   • Lord Messiah, You are the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (Rev. 1:8, 17; 21:6; 22:13).

   • We praise You because You are also Yahweh, the Lord of heaven's armies (Zech. 2:8-11).

   • King Messiah, we rejoice at how all of Scripture points to You as the focus of our faith (Psa. 2:12; Matt. 9:27-29; Heb. 12:2; Rev. 5:12-13).

   • Thank You for telling us that You know our future (Isa. 44:7).

   • Abba, we praise You for being Israel's Creator (Isa. 44:2, 21), and for using Israel to bless all other people through a relationship with You in Israel's King and Messiah Yeshua (Gen. 12:3; Gal. 3:8).

   • What a comfort and encouragement to know that nothing takes You by surprise (Psa. 103:19).

   • Lord, thank You for interceding for us before Your Father right now, so that You can present us faultless before His throne with great joy (Heb. 7:25; Jude 1:24).

   • Precious Almighty God, we trust You to never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5-6).

   • We stand amazed that You had chosen us even before we were created (Jer. 1:5; John 15:16a).

2. Israeli-elections – next Tuesday: By the time you receive the next alert, we will be praying for the formation of a new Israeli government. Yet we still have time to pray for the people who will be involved in that government. Thank you all for standing with Israel – for God's name's sake.

   • Lord, You are already Israel's King, so please raise up ministers whom You choose (Isa. 33:22).

   • In this seemingly endless cycle of elections, fulfill Your Word of doing a new thing (Isa. 43:18-19).

   • Work in the hearts of all Israelis who will vote in order that the next government will be that much closer to Your prefect will for Israel at this time in history (Prov. 19:21).

   • Lay a burden of intercession on the Israeli Body of Messiah concerning both the elections and the formation of the next government (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

   • Remove all apathy from Your Body and let them cry out to You (2 Chr. 7:14).

   • As almost 40% of Israeli voters are still not sure whom to vote for, move upon them and may Your will end up being their choice (Prov. 16:9).

   • Abba, may the formation of the next government be done speedily (2 Chr. 29:36).

   • Lord, be the deciding factor of which person is chosen to lead each ministry (Psa. 75:6-7).

   • Raise up Knesset members who have wisdom coming from a healthy fear of You (Job 28:28).

   • Let people who live righteously become major voices in the next government (Prov. 16:32; 25:28).

   • Continue to purge out the dross from Israel's political scene (Isa. 1:25-26).

   • Let the new government to see security as its main priority (Rom. 13:1-4).

   • Give Israel a government with a vision for aliyah and the settling of new immigrants (Jer. 3:14-15).

   • Promote officials who have a burden for affordable housing for all Israelis (Jer. 32:42-44).

   • Bless Israel with a government who can actually work in unity with each other (Psa. 133:1-3).

   • Work especially in the hearts of the right-wing leaders so that they will commit to walking together for the benefit of this land and its people (1 Chr. 12:38).

   • Give Israel leaders who want what is best for the nation and not for their own sakes (2 Chr. 35:3b).

   • Show the next government how to develop and pass a godly budget (Isa. 1:16-17; Jam. 1:27).

   • Protect the government from being manipulated by the smaller parties which will join the coalition, whether ultra-Orthodox or any others (Num. 23:23).

   • If Bibi Netanyahu is not Your choice to be the next prime minister, and if it is not You will for him to retire from politics, then let him at least be involved with Israel's outreach to the nations, as he has a real anointing when doing that (1 Kin. 10:24).

   • Prepare the next government to deal righteously with the out-of-control judicial involvement in areas that are not the Israel's Supreme Court's responsibility.

3. The current government is still in charge until a new government is formed. Since that could take several months, we will need to continue to intercede for it.

   • Lord, do not allow the current government to rule based on the idolatry of humanism, but let there be voices encouraging them to trust in You (from Shabbat's prophetic portion: Isa. 44:9-20).

   • Draw them into unity concerning Iran, Biden, how to defend the IDF from the International Criminal Court's investigation for "war-crimes" and on how to beat the coronavirus (Psa. 124:6-8).

   1. Covid-19: Regardless of how this virus is fought, the world will never get back to what was once considered "normal". [We need to ask God to prepare us to face His new normal.]

      • Bless You for answering prayers as we see changes in Israel's green passport guidelines (Psa. 50:15).

      • Grant the government great wisdom as to what Covid-19 restrictions can be eased and which should remain in place for now (Prov. 21:1).

      • Protect the Israeli population from further Covid-19 mutations (Job 5:17-21).

      • Protect the data shared with Pfizer, and forbid all personal information from being sent (Luke 12:3).

      • Guide the development of the Israeli anti-corona vaccine and make it super-effective (Psa. 67:1-2).

   2. US President Biden and his administration: Will we be dealing with Kamala Harris soon? Only God knows but He can prepare this and the next Israeli government to deal with that possibility.

      • Give Israel's current and new government wisdom in dealing with the US administration – regardless of who sits in the White House (Prov. 2:6).

      • Bless Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to both the US and the UN, and impart to him an anointing to know how to discern all the information that he receives from his positions (Heb. 5:14).

      • Draw Erdan to Messiah and surround him with godly counselors and believing friends (Prov. 15:22).

      • Fill his mouth in every situation – whether in the UN or the White House (Psa. 81:10; Prov. 16:1).

      • Abba, sovereignly rule over the choice of America's next ambassador to Israel (Psa. 33:10-11).

      • Use this US administration to push Israel forward in Your calling on it to ultimately be the head of the nations (Deut. 28:13; Isa. 60:1-2; Mic. 4:1-2).

      • Strengthen all ties between these two nations that You want to strengthen (Psa. 118:6-7).

      • Weaken, or even cut, any ties which are holding Israel back from looking to You (Psa. 118:8-9).

      • Show Israel how to make controversial decisions that are in its best interests (1 Chr. 12:32).

4. Security – external: Iran continually threatens Israel and then tells the world to condemn Israel when it defends itself. And most nations, including in the West, do just that. Ex-President Trump did not, and that was – and still is – one of the main reasons for Satan's rage against him.

   • Thank You for all the decades in which Bibi Netanyahu warned the world of the dangers of an Iranian Shi'ite regime and their striving to obtain or develop nuclear weapons (Isa. 21:6).

   • May the new Israeli government be as consistent in warning the world (Matt. 5:37; Jam. 5:12).

   • Keep the IDF alert during the transition period from one government to another (Isa. 21:11-12).

   • Expose all Iran's deceptions and traps, and let them fall into their own net (Psa. 141:9-10).

   • Show Israel's leaders how to respond when the US rejoins the Iran nuclear deal (Psa. 140:1-8).

   • We bless You for answering prayer and raising up IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi who brings with him the concept of the IDF obtaining a total "victory" over Israel's enemies (Psa. 144:1-2).

   • Reveal any gaps in Israel's defense, and lead in the correct way to fill them (Neh. 4:18-20).

   • Watch over Israel's "war-between-the-wars" stealth attacks which destroy so much of Iran's attempts to transfer weapons to Hizbullah and build bases between it and Lebanon (2 Kin. 6:8-12).

   • May Israel continue to have the courage to hit back first – as and when needed (Prov. 21:31).

   • Let the Holy Spirt be the final arbitrator of the timing of all the IDF's actions (Eccl. 3:1, 8b).

   • Draw other Middle Eastern nations, who also see Iran as an existential threat, to ally with Israel.

   • Watch over Jeremiah 49:38 and speed up its fulfillment: And I will set my throne in Elam [ancient Persia – Iran today], and will destroy from there the king and the princes, says YHWH.

   • Hasten the completion of the Iranian Church by saving all those in time whom You have ordained from eternity to be a part of Your kingdom (Eph. 1:3-6).

   • Please save and bring into that Iranian Body at least some radical Shi'ite leaders (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

5. Security – internal: The Palestinian Authority [PA] has set general elections for May 22nd. Yet reports are saying that both Israel and America are asking PA President Abbas to delay them as the Palestinian political factions in Judea and Samaria are so divided that Hamas, the terrorist rulers in Gaza, could win overwhelmingly. There is also another answer to pray. [See the first points below.]

   • Thank You for Israel's newly developed laser guided mortars which will provide much needed precision in urban warfare (Jer. 50:25; 51:20).

   • Use them to improve the IDF's effectiveness to act with limited collateral damage (Deut. 19:10).

   • Let them give Israel more confidence when taking the war to the enemy (Deut. 20:3-4).

   • Protect Israelis living in Judea and Samaria during the election and Passover seasons (Psa. 121:3-4).

   • Lord, mightily influence the next government to extent Israeli sovereignty over all of the settlements in Israel's biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria (Gen. 15:7; Lev. 20:24).

   • Correct Netanyahu's thinking that he needs to have America's approval before legalizing these settlements, and show him that while that might have been valid under Trump, it most definitely does not apply today (Prov. 16:25; 29:25).

   • Prepare the IDF for a "worst-case-scenario" result from the Palestinian elections (Psa. 60:12).

   • Reveal all needed intelligence, and protect all the sources of that intelligence (Josh. 2:8-16).

   • Prevent settler revenge attacks, especially from the "hill-top" youth (Eccl. 8:11).

   • Lord Yeshua, save some of the more radical settlers and set them on fire for You (Acts 22:3).

   • Move by signs and wonders among the Palestinians through the believing church (Acts 14:3).

   • As You did with the Egyptians, let many Palestinians know that You are the Lord during this upcoming Passover season (Ex. 14:4, 18).

   • Protect Palestinian believers from replacement theory and spirits of anti-Semitism (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

   • Use Palestinian believers to provoke many Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11).

6. Aliyah & salvation: The return of the Jews to the land and the revelation of Messiah Yeshua to them as their Lord and Savior are one of heaven's top priorities today. Yet so many believers and churches are deaf, dumb and blind to it. This is just another proof that large segments of the believing community do not see the Old Testament as still the Word of God (Mark 12:24; John 5:46-47). [For an in-depth look at this grievous error, click here.]

   • From Shabbat's prophetic portion: I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins. (Isa. 43:25)

   • Lord God, for Your sake, save many of the people who have returned to Your land (Ezek. 36:24-29).

   • Abba, show Israel their Redeemer and give them the gift of repentance (Isa. 44:22; Ezek. 36:31).

   • Pour out Your Spirit on many Jewish families who are spiritually thirsty at this season (Isa. 44:3).

   • Lord, for creation's sake, please save all Israel quickly (Isa. 44:23; cp. Rom. 8:19-21).

   • Let the cry of Lord, save Your people, the remnant of Israel, arise in the hearts and mouths of many more believers – especially as we approach the Passover season (Jer. 31:7).

   • When Your people in exile declare "Next year in Jerusalem," at the end of the Passover meal next Saturday evening, release Your Spirit to convict them to either mean it or to not say it (Prov. 14:5).

   • Do this as well with our Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters still living in "Egypt" (Matt. 5:37).

   • May the hundreds of thousands of young Jews who have visited this land through various programs, become very homesick as they celebrate Passover while still in exile (Isa. 62:4-5).

   • Let all Jews and Jewish families who made inquiries about making aliyah, but have been restricted from returning because of the coronavirus, follow through and come home this year (Isa. 62:10).

   • Remove all excuses from Your people, even down to the "leeks and onions", which cause them to walk in disobedience to Your Word and remain outside their/Your land (Psa. 137:4-6; Isa. 43:5-7).

7. The Israeli Body of Messiah: The battle against coronavirus, the government restrictions and the vaccine have resulted in real differences of opinions in the Body. Yet if approached with much grace, this can be a time of increasing maturity for us all.

   • By Your love in Your children, bless Your body to deal with diversity in unity (Rom. 5:5).

   • Let the Body see the Covid-19 restrictions against gathering in large groups a way to foster smaller groups of believers who meet in homes and focus more on discipleship (Acts 2:42; Rom. 16:3-5).

   • Quiet all the voices vying for attention and let Your Body hear and obey only You (John 10:4).

   • Show believers who are fearful or struggling with confusion and information overload, that as they commit to doing Your will – before they know it – then You will guide their decisions (John 7:17)

   • Vaccinate the Body against division and unbiblical judgments (Matt. 7:1-5; Eph. 4:3).

   • Hold back Your children from cursing the leaders of this nation (Ex. 22:28; Acts 23:5).

   • Abba, help us all to see the crucial necessity to judge everything by Your Word and not the words of man (Psa. 36:9; 119:11, 105, 130).

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Jerusalem

For the IFI team