1. Praise: Shabbat's prophetic portion contains that wonderfully encouraging verse where God declares that He watches over His Word to do it. As intercessors this encourages us to constantly remind God of what He has said, for this is what He wants from His watchmen on Jerusalem's walls

    • Moreover the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 'Jeremiah, what do you see?' And I said, 'I see a rod of an almond tree'. Then YHWH said to me, 'You have seen well, for I will watch over My Word to perform it. (Jer. 1:11-12) [Both "almond" and "watch over" have the same Hebraic root.]

    • I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who will never hold their peace day or night. You who are YHWH's reminders [modern Hebrew could translate this as "secretaries"; we remind God of His Word – but we never tell Him what to do], keep not silence, and give Him no rest, until He establishes and until makes Jerusalem a praise [to His holy name] in the earth.Isa, 62:6-7

    • Thank You that Your Word gives us light and direction on how to pray (Psa. 36:9; 119:130).

    • We bless You that we can trust in Your Word as it is established forever in eternity (Psa. 119:89).

    • As believers, we are so grateful that Your Word is a light in our life in You (Psa. 119:105).

    • We are amazed that, as this prophetic portion says about Jeremiah, You knew us before we were created in our mother's womb – and You chose us for Your purposes (Jer. 1:5).

    • [Yeshua to His disciples] You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that you should…bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatever you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it to you. (John 15:16)

    • Abba, we stand in awe at how well Moses knew You, as in Shabbat's Torah portion he called unto You in prayer, saying …YHWH, the God of the spirits of all flesh… (Num. 27:16b).

  2. Government: So far the Bennett-Lapid government has tried to avoid controversial issues that could bring this coalition down, and those issues that have that potential are being dealt with very carefully. As one commentator said, the fear of the opposition leader – Bibi Netanyahu – is the glue holding this government together.

    • Lord, in mercy glorify Yourself in and through this very incompatible coalition (Psa. 115:1-3).

    • Guide PM Naftali Bennett in every way and remind him to ask You for help (Psa. 50:15).

    • Surround him with wise counselors and remove all anti-biblical counsel from him (Prov. 15:22).

    • Thank You that Bennett stood strong and worked out a compromise on the Evyatar settlement in Samaria so that it will not be destroyed but turned into a military base and a Yeshiva (Jer. 31:3-5).

    • This has infuriated the extreme Left-wing parties in Israel's current coalition. Let the lovers of Your land be courageous and not compromise on any land issues just to maintain power (Prov. 22:28).

    • May the spirit of Zionism in Bennett and the few other right-wing partners be victorious over the humanistic spirit and Islamic spirit that influence most of the rest of this coalition (Num. 10:35).

    • Block Foreign Minister Yair Lapid from committing Israel to any agreement with other nations that is against Your specific will for Israel at this time (Isa. 28:16-18).

    • We bless You for Lapid's bold honesty at the opening of Israel's embassy in the UAE, when he publicly thanked Netanyahu and Donald Trump for the Abraham Accords (Rom. 13:7).

    • Give wisdom to Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman in dealing with Israel's economy (Prov. 16:16).

    • Despite his contempt for the ultra-Orthodox, let him make righteous decisions for all (Prov. 14:34).

    • Forgive the coalition members from joining hands with Ra'am, Mansour Abbas' fundamentalist Muslim party – all because of their disdain, even hatred for Bibi (Prov. 10:12; 27:6; Ezek. 13:22).

  3. Coronavirus comeback: Just when Israel thought it was over it and just as the hot weather hits, Israelis need to don masks again as there has been a spike in infections. The government has so far decided to take a conservative approach and not place any further restrictions on the population but it is encouraging everyone who has not been vaccinated to get vaccinated. Please note that the authorities are encouraging – not forcing – the people to do this so that all comparisons with what the Nazis did are totally unfair and totally exaggerated. In fact, could it be seen as cursing this nation?

    • Lord, we continue to ask You to oversee and overrule all government decisions and guidelines that are developed to deal with this virus crisis (Prov. 16:1; 19:21).

    • Forbid any truth from being withheld from the people who need to make these decisions (Psa. 25:5).

    • Lord, shepherd Your nation and lead everyone personally (Psa. 32:8; John 21:20-22).

    • Lord, please heal every Israeli who is infected and is responding poorly to Covid-19 (Matt. 8:16).

    • Remove all leaders who are trying to make a name for themselves by this crisis, or who are power-hungry and raise up Your promised shepherds in all the various sectors, men and women who only want what is best for Israel (Jer. 3:15; 23:3-4).

  4. Security – external: There was a huge strike by Iran's petrochemical workers that some see as one of the best chances to bring Iran's evil government down. Meanwhile, US President Biden's push to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal continues, despite Ebrahim Raisi, the "Butcher of Tehran," being "elected" as Iran's next president. Yet Iran's representatives and leaders are giving the American team a hard time, which can easily be seen as an answer to our prayers.

    • Lord, You who have the king's heart in Your hands, turn the Iranian leaders hearts so that they make terrible decisions which will contribute to their downfall (Prov. 21:1; Jer. 49:38b).

    • Biden has promised Israel that he would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. Lord, regardless of his mental acuity, hold him and his administration accountable to this promise (Matt. 5:37).

    • Prepare Israel to deal with Iran alone if need be – just like it dealt with the Iraqi and then the Syrian nuclear reactors (Psa. 44:4-7; Ezek. 37:10).

    • Help Israel's intelligence agents expose every Iranian or Iranian proxy's plot against it (Job 5:12).

    • Shield Israel from all Iranian plots it is not aware of (Psa. 121:4; Luke 1:51).

    • Use the election of Raisi, a radical Shi'ite cleric, to be Iran's next president, to wake up the blind EU shepherds to the real danger of Iran – both now and in the near future (Isa. 28:15; Jer. 5:12).

    • Use Raisi's election to put the fear of God into both Russian and Chinese leaders, causing them to pull back from their financial and military support for Iran (Eccl. 3:14).

    • Protect and mature the Iranian Church (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20).

    • Lead them to pray in a biblical fashion for their government (1 Tim. 2:1-3).

    • Enable them to draw many Iranians away from Allah to the Yeshua who is God's Son (1 Pet. 3:15).

  5. Security – internal: The beating death of a critic of Palestinian Authority President Abbas by PA security forces who were to arrest him has stirred up the Palestinian street in huge protests against Abbas and his cronies. This could lead to a Hamas takeover which, while worse initially for Israel security-wise – would write in bright neon lights, "Dead!" over any further peace deals.

    • If it is Your time to remove Abbas from office, please prepare Israel for what will follow (Isa. 42:9).

    • Show Israel how to take advantage of this crisis to further Your plans for Your land (Deut. 7:22-24).

    • Whatever happens, do not permit any further dividing of Your land (Lev. 25:23).

    • Strengthen Israel's resolve to reject all global pressure to restart land-for-peace talks, especially with America's recent continually hinting at this as the only possible solution (Prov. 1:10; Joel 3:1-2).

    • Set free all deceived world leaders who are addicted to the "two-state solution" as the only answer to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians (Psa. 40:14; Jer. 17:18).

    • Quicken Israel's security forces to discern the terrorists from Palestinians who only want to make a living and raise their families in peace with Israel (1 Kin. 3:9; Mal. 3:18).

    • Lord God of hosts – enable this government to support fully all of Israel's security forces as they do the difficult job of protecting Israelis.

    • With the above prayer in mind, show the new government what to do concerning the International Criminal Court's possible case against Israel for war crimes (Psa. 35:1-2).

    • Provide all the intelligence Israeli security forces need to pre-empt any terror attacks (Job 12:22).

    • Provide angelic protection on the roads and at transportation hubs throughout Israel (Psa. 34:7).

    • Thank You that there have been no successful kidnappings. May that continue (Psa. 59:1).

    • Show Israel how to stop arson attacks before they do any damage and to treat arsonists as the terrorists that they are (Ezek. 36:5-9; Rom. 13:3-4).

    • Lord, press Israel to extend its sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Gaza Strip, as all of this land is promised by You to Abraham and his descendants (Jer. 32:41-44).

    • With as much mercy as possible, and for the glory of Your holy name, do whatever it takes to make this extension of sovereignty a reality (Psa. 84:8; 85:1-3, 9; Ezek. 36:35-37; Mal. 1:5).

    • From Shabbat's Torah portion: YHWH said unto Moses, 'Get up into this mountain, Ha'avarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel. (Num. 27:12)

    • Thank You Lord for stating over 200 times in the Tanach that all of the land of Israel is given to the Jewish people and for affirming this numerous times in the New Testament. We do believe it will be fulfilled – and ask that You do it as soon as possible (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 12:9; 2 Cor. 13:1).

  6. The Body of Messiah: As we just wrote, although God promised the land to Israel hundreds of times in the only Bible Yeshua and the early Body of believers had and read and trusted in – the Old Testament, the Tanach – there are still many Christians who proudly think they know what the Bible means better than those who wrote it! So we continue to ask the Lord Yeshua in mercy to cleanse His Body from all these anti-biblical doctrines, like replacement theory, even though He has indicated that the tares will unfortunately remain in the Church until the end.

    • Lord, as the leper came to You asking to be cleansed and You did it, we bring before You that part of the Body afflicted with the leprosy of Jew-hatred and denigration of the Tanach, and ask You to touch and cleanse as many as possible (Matt. 8:2-3).

    • Lord Yeshua, for Your glory, remove all the teaching elders who teach things diametrically opposed to the truth of Your Word (Acts 20:27-30; 2 Tim. 4:1-4).

    • Replace them with teaching elders who respect and submit to Your Word (Psa. 119:11, 18).

    • Lead Your sheep in paths of righteousness, and guide them to drink from the pure water of Your Word (Psa. 23:1-3; Eph. 5:26).

    • At this crucial time in history, please Lord Yeshua pour out a deep thirst for Your Word on all of Your true disciples (Job 23:12; Jer. 15:16).

    • Let more of Your children ask from You to receive the love of the truth (2 Thess. 2:10).

    • Forbid any thought in Your Body that Israel is a non-essential issue to the faith, and open the eyes of those who think in this unbiblical manner to recognize that they have been saved by Israel's King and Messiah so that they can now worship the God of Israel, the Lord God Almighty, the Creator of all (Isa. 43:10; 44:8; Ezek. 28:24; Matt. 2:2-4; Luke 2:29-32; Eph. 2:12-13; Rev. 5:5; 22:16).

  7. Aliyah: If there were no other signs of the last days except the return of millions of Jews to their ancient homeland that would still be enough to focus the attention of all believers to the reality that our Lord stands by the door, preparing for His glorious return. One of the reasons we pray for the Body of Messiah, as in the section above, is that while God can do His will, most of the time He restrains Himself until someone asks Him in prayer to do it. This truth is revealed when Yeshua taught us to pray: Our Father in heaven, may Your name be sanctified. May Your kingdom come, and may Your will be done, as it is in heaven, so may it be on the earth. (Luke 11:2)

    • Lord, it seems obvious that You told us to pray this because God the Father has decided to not allow His kingdom to come or His will to be done – until someone asks Him (1 John 5:14-15).

    • Since this is one of the reasons why God does nothing before He reveals His will to His servants the prophets – who were primarily intercessors – reveal to Your Church to take up the burden of aliyah before Your throne in persistent prayer (Gen. 20:7; Amos 3:7; Luke 18:1).

    • Compel the new government to open wide the doors for all Jews to freely come home (Isa. 62:10).

    • May there to be a shift from the Orthodox definition of who is a Jew to the biblical one (Mark 7:13).

    • Let the new government focus much effort and finances into providing affordable housing (Isa. 61:4; 65:21; Ezek. 28::26; Amos 9:14-15; Zeph. 2:6-7).

    • Bring home wealthy Jews from the West – with their "silver and gold" with them (Isa. 60:8-9).

    • Gather in Jews from everywhere, including the West, who are not wealthy, and regardless of their skin color or their religious preferences, bring them home for Your glory's sake (Isa. 43:5-7).

    • Shake up whole synagogues and communities to return together (Jer. 31:8-9).

    • Wake up Jews in exile to see the explosion of antisemitism and anti-Zionism and to not just go back to sleep, but to set their sights on returning to Zion (Jer. 51:50).

    • Make it uncomfortable spiritually for Messianic Jews to remain in exile before they are made uncomfortable physically and chased home (Psa. 137:1-6; Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

    • Let Your Body recognize the release of Your hunters in order to drive Your people back home from exile (Jer. 16:16) and make many believers willing to help in any way they can (Isa. 49:22; 60:10-12).

A final note: In line with our prayers for Israel to be understood as essential and central to God's plans, look at the final verse in Shabbat's prophetic portion (Jer. 2:3). In most versions, it has a word added by the translators which erases Israel's current position: Israel [the italicized "was" is not in the Hebrew!], holy to YHWH, and the first fruits of His increase; all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, says YHWH. Israel is still holy, still separated, unto our Lord. The latter part of this verse is a rewording of other verses which warn the nations and the gentiles to not handle Israel as if it is a nation like any other, because Israel is still the first fruits of God's increase (Gen. 12:3a; Num. 24:9b; Isa. 60:12; Jer. 30:16; 51:5-6; Ezek. 35:5-6, etc.)!

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Israel, God's chosen nation

For the IFI team