1. Praise: The opening verses of Shabbat's prophetic portion reveal to us the futility of man's efforts to try and build God a dwelling place. Yet we can praise our gracious God that the Holy Spirit is doing exactly this with those who abide in Messiah Yeshua.

    • Thus says YHWH, 'The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you would build unto Me, and where is the place of My rest? For all these things My hand has made… but I will look with favor to this man – to him that is humble and of a contrite [+broken] spirit, and who trembles at My Word.Isa. 66:1-2

    • Thank You Lord God, that we are being built in Messiah to be Your house (1 Pet. 2:5).

    • We bless You for choosing us to be living stones in Your holy temple (1 Cor. 6:19; Eph. 1:3-6).

    • Yeshua, we exalt You, and declare You as the foundation and the cornerstone upon which Abba Father's house rests (Psa. 118:22; Isa. 28:16; Acts 4:11; 1 Cor. 3:10-11; Eph. 2:20).

    • Hallelujah! There is ultimate truth in the universe and it is found in the exalted Son of Man, God the Son, Messiah Yeshua (Psa. 2:12; 110:1; 119:160; John 14:6).

    • We trust in Your Word – both living and written – which stands forever (Isa. 40:8; Mark 13:31).

    • We thank You for Your Word which reveals the truth about You, Your Son and all that we need to live a life that is pleasing to You (Psa. 119:105, 130; John17:17).

    • Abba, we take comfort in knowing that You dwell with the humble and contrite of spirit (Isa. 57:15).

    • Thank You for always being with us – whether we sense You or not (Matt. 28:20b; Luke 24:15-16).

    • What a joy to see the fulfillment of Your promise of Israel being born in a day (Isa. 66:8).

    • We bless You for Your promise in Shabbat's prophetic portion of comforting all those who rejoice with – and who love – Jerusalem (Isa. 66:10-13).

  2. Government: The tension inside the stitched together anti-Bibi Netanyahu government has increased. PM Naftali Bennett's right wing party Yamina is blaming the right wing opposition, led by Netanyahu, for not caring about Israel's security (having to do with a Palestinian family reunification law) yet it is the right-wing parties in the coalition who betrayed their voters. They did not care about Israel's security as they joined hands with the extreme left wing Meretz and the Islamic Ra'am parties. Still, we are told to pray for our governments – which we did, while asking God to lead us.

    • As we obey Your Word in praying for this government, please lead and anoint us (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

    • As we have often prayed, use this current government for Your glory (Jer. 14:7; Ezek. 36:32).

    • Let the current Israeli coalition lasts as long as You want and not a moment more (Dan. 2:21).

    • Lord God, You can turn the hearts of kings, so we ask You to do just that so that this government actually accomplishes Your plans for Israel at this time (Prov. 21:1).

    • Forbid the coalition from doing anything which is not in Your will (Psa. 33:10-11).

    • Yet enable them to move forward with every plan which comes from on high (Num. 22:20, 35).

    • Let those in Yamina and Sa'ar's New Hope party see their betrayal of their voters when they joined hands with the extreme left-wing and Islamic parties and to not blame the opposition for the perilous fruits of their unbiblical decision (Dan. 9:5).

    • Let their love for Israel grow greater than their disdain for Netanyahu (Prov. 10:12; Amos 5:15).

    • Bless Bennett with total government support whenever he does follow Your lead (Prov. 10:29a).

    • As Bennett is a religious Jew, speak clearly to him out of Your Word and place a genuine fear of his God deep into his heart (Psa. 86:11; 119:98-100).

    • Let the weight of this great responsibility cause some of Israel's newer leaders to seek godly wisdom and discernment – and even to seek You (Job 5:8; Psa. 53:2; Prov. 12:28).

    • Lead Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman to deal with the Haredi righteously (Prov. 14:34).

    • In the face of any truly vital security issue, help the opposition to override their desire to bring down this very dangerous government and to stand with what is essential for Israel's survival.

    • Let the opposition attack dangerous edits and decisions and not personalities (Prov. 6:16, 19).

    • If Netanyahu's time as Likud's leader is drawing to a close, please show him the door (Eccl. 3:1).

    • Do not allow Your nation to try to be more merciful than You – for as we read in Shabbat's Torah portion, that only leads to a lack of godly justice and the darkness of humanism descending on, and defiling the land (Num. 35:30-34; Ex. 20:5-6; Eccl. 8:11; Mic. 6:8).

    • Thank You for Israel's new president Isaac Herzog. Use him to bless Your nation (Prov. 2:1-2).

    • Let the burden Herzog had for aliyah when he was the head of the Jewish Agency greatly influence all that he says and does as Israel's president (Jer. 32:41-44).

  3. Covid-19: The resurgence of coronavirus infections has the government and all health experts trying to figure out what to do next. Whether we agree with some, or none, of their guidelines we should not assume their intentions are evil as that is judging the heart which only God can do. We can judge their actions, but does anyone really know what the right path is in relation to this issue?

    • We give You the glory, honor and praise for protecting Israel during this pandemic, as it has come out better than most any other nation (Num. 24:9a; Psa. 121:4).

    • Lead the government as they decide how to move forward with Covid-19's resurgence (Psa. 32:8-9).

    • Let them chose the least invasive way to deal with this issue (Prov. 15:1).

    • May all new, or renewed, guidelines be clearly presented, and help Israelis to comply (1 Pet. 2:13).

    • Bring forth truth from the medical experts and not guesses or manipulation (Isa. 59:4).

    • Thank You for the trade Israel and South Korea agreed on over Israel's surplus vaccines.

    • Forbid that Israel's new Health Minister, Nitzan Horowitz, from the extreme left-wing Meretz party, would make anti-biblical and purely humanistic decisions as he deals with this (Prov. 19:21).

    • Hold back all panic as although the spread of coronavirus infections have increased – the number of serious cases have remained steady and are actually a very small percentage (Psa. 91:2-3).

  4. Security – external: Iran is in the north in Lebanon via Hizbullah; Iran is in the northeast in Syria and Iraq via various proxies; Iran is in the south in Gaza via Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Arab nations see Iran's plans to conquer and rule the Middle East [ME] under a Shi'ite Caliphate and they try to warn the West, yet the West's arrogance will lead to much bloodshed – both in the ME and worldwide. Too many Western nations still think they can order all ME nations, including Israel, on what to do and what not to do. How dare the West, and the UN, act like this!

    • Lord, reports are that Lebanon is about to implode financially and societally and that Hizbullah is ready to take over. Please prepare Israel for that very dangerous scenario (Prov. 21:31).

    • God, move in mercy and stabilize Lebanon, yet at the same time, let Hizbullah implode (Psa. 101:1).

    • Let the Lebanese situation become a Your trap to Iran and its main proxy Hizbullah (Eccl. 10:8).

    • Let Iran and Hizbullah reap what they have sown throughout the ME and in the world (Gal. 6:7).

    • Move by Your Spirit and save many Lebanese; even save many Hizbullah terrorists (Matt. 5:44).

    • Continue to direct, protect and effectively use the very frequent unacknowledged attacks in Iran to bring down the Iranian leadership (Jer. 49:35-37).

    • Use these attacks to make Iran's leaders very fearful and super paranoid about Israel's capabilities so that they end up not even being able to trust each other (Psa. 146:3; 2 Thess. 2:10-11).

    • Increase the intensity and frequency of the massive street demonstrations in Iran against their wicked regime, and use the common Iranians as Your tool to destroy Iran's "king and princes" (Jer. 49:38b).

    • Divide Iran's allies and bring distrust and miscommunications between them (Psa. 83:16-18).

    • Move in a way that America's reentry into the Iran nuclear deal becomes impossible (Psa. 2:4-5).

    • May the fear of the success of these negotiations with Iran cause the ties between Israel and her new ME allies to increase and to also draw other Arab nations into this circle.

    • Bless the Iranian church with growth, maturity and protection (1 Thess. 5:23-24).

    • Lord Yeshua, bless all true believers in the ME with these same things (2 Thess. 3:3).

  5. Security – The IDF: How exciting to see Ezekiel 37:10 come to pass before our eyes today!

    • Build a strong bond between Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi on all security issues (Psa. 133:1; Eccl. 4:12).

    • Give godly wisdom to Finance Minister Liberman as to all real IDF budget needs (Isa. 41:10-16).

    • Protect and anoint all of Israel's intelligence sources throughout the ME (Num. 24:9b; Psa. 91:7-8).

    • Impart to the IDF's Iran Command Division Your wisdom of all Iranian activities (Eccl. 9:18a).

    • Give the IDF Your wisdom and tactics to know exactly what to do in each situation (Psa. 44:4-6).

    • Let the development of new Israeli weapons comes to fruition speedily (Psa. 64:7; Isa. 48:3).

    • Guide all the new IDF recruits who will enter into their IDF service this summer, including all of the Messianic Jews who also will be defending this nation (Psa. 140:7).

    • Let the gifts of the Spirit work mightily through Messianic Jews in the IDF and use these miraculous signs to provoke unsaved Jews and others to jealousy (Rom. 11:14; 1 Cor. 12:7-13).

  6. Security – internal: Politically correct attempts to bring peace between the Palestinians and Israel have resulted in massive bloodshed for both. It's time to pray for God's biblical answer – that is, for Israel to possess all of its possessions – Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley and the Gaza Strip (Obad. 1:17). And as we read in Shabbat's Torah portion, Israel's inheritance includes the northern part of what is the Kingdom of Jordan today (Num. 32:2-33; Jer. 49:1-2). By the way, the Promised Land of Israel also includes all of Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River (Gen. 15:18-21).

    • The land shall not be sold in perpetuity [or permanently], for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me.Lev. 25:23

    • We ask You to lead us in prayer concerning Your solution which will fulfill Your Word and which will bring You the most glory (Psa. 85:9; 115:1-3; 140:6; Ezek.36:5-15).

    • Watch over Your Word concerning Your land, preventing any further division of it (Psa. 33:10-11).

    • Expose every terrorist plot being hatched against Your nation and Your people (Jer. 23:24).

    • Thank You for the government responding to every balloon attack as if it were a rocket. May they continue to stay this course (Psa. 140:8-10).

    • Prepare Israel's security forces for the day after Palestinian President Abbas is gone (Psa. 33:16-17).

    • Download to the IDF Your strategy and tactics to confront the likely attempt by Hamas to take over after Abbas goes the way of all flesh (Psa. 35:1-3).

    • If it is not Hamas, handpick Abbas' successor, but forbid it from being a man who comes across as a "moderate" which would cause the world to pressure Israel to create a Palestinian State (Dan. 4:17).

    • Lord, as both biblically and historically, the land came to Israel through war, with as much mercy as possible, use the IDF to drive Your enemy out from Your land (Num. 32:21).

  7. Aliyah & salvation: God will pour out His Spirit – and all Israel will be saved. Yet all the prophetic verses mentioning this declare that it happens in the land of Israel, and this is the ultimate reason why aliyah is so important in God's kingdom plans.

    • Thank You for the continuation of aliyah even during the pandemic (Ezek. 39:28).

    • We thank and praise You for beginning to pour out Your Spirit upon Your people (Ezek. 39:29).

    • We rejoice over Your expression of great zeal – great jealousy – to see Jerusalem restored with Your people brought back from exile, living in it and coming to know You (Zech. 8:1-8).

    • As many nations are being drawn together against Jerusalem today, so open the eyes of Israeli-Jews today, and let them look unto You whom they have pierced (Zech. 12:2-3, 10).

    • As Jews go to High Holiday services in early September, and see all the security precautions, remind them that You promised safety in Israel, but not in the nations, in these last days (Jer. 31:10).

    • Let every Jew who has toured Israel and fallen in love with it – but still resides in the exile – make a decision at this time to come home (Isa. 62:4-5; Jer. 50:4-5).

    • Remove the pride from Jews in exile who boast that the anti-Semites will never chase them out, and show them that it is You who are chasing them out and drawing them home (Deut. 30:4-5; Jer. 16:16).

    • Remove all the Israeli bureaucracy which prevents some Jews from making aliyah (Isa. 57:14).

    • Open the way for Iranian Jews to come home with their families (Isa. 43:5a; Jer. 46:27).

    • Do the same for all the remaining Ethiopian Jews, bringing them back quickly (Isa. 43:6b).

    • Bring back multitudes of Jews who live in so-called "Third World" countries (Isa. 43:5-7).

    • Prevent those who have had poor aliyah experiences from giving a bad report (Num. 13:27-33).

    • Provide affordable housing in Israel for new immigrants especially (Jer. 32:44; Mic. 4:4).

    • As per Your Word, settle Your people in the land, never to be uprooted again (Amos 9:14-15).

    • Bless all the various agencies – both Jewish and Christian – working to bring Your people back, and grant them wisdom and all the finances that they need (Psa. 84:11; Phil. 4:19-20).

  8. The Church in Israel and worldwide: It is essential for the Body of Messiah to co-labor with their Lord Yeshua as He sets the stage for His dramatic return. Yet if believers do not know, or do not trust, that the Old Testament is still God's Word today, then they will never truly hear this call.

    • Lord, remove this blindness from Your saints when they read Old Testament today (2 Cor. 3:15).

    • Raise up and anoint Jewish and Gentile leaders in Your Body to teach on the need for aliyah at this season in history, through a proclamation of the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

    • Show gentile believers how they are specifically called upon to aid aliyah (Isa. 14:1-2; 49:22).

    • Remove all leaders who teach and promote false teaching (Matt. 7:15-20).

    • Encourage every intercessor to press on in prayer and not to faint over the issues that are very clear in Your Word for today (Luke 18:1; Jam. 5:17-18).

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion,

For the IFI team