1. Praise:

   In today's very chaotic, complicated and confusing world this verse from Shabbat's prophetic portion should bring to all believers a deep sigh of relief and peace from above.

   • How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that brings good news, that declares peace … that declares salvation; that says unto Zion, 'Your God reigns!'Isa. 52:7

   • Abba, we thank You that all who believe in Yeshua are grafted into Israel's olive tree and are part of Israel's commonwealth, so this verse now applies to believers as well (Rom. 11:17; Eph. 2:12-13).

   • What joy and peace to recognize that whether we perceive it or not – You still reign (Psa. 103:19)!

   • In the face of all the global conspiracies – real or not – You are very much in control (Rev. 17:17).

   • Thank You that You tell us to trust in You and to not lean on our own understanding (Prov. 3:5).

   • We praise for being our Rock, our shield, our refuge and our strong tower (Psa. 18:1-2).

   • We take comfort that Your heart is toward us as You work all things for our good (Rom. 8:28).

   • We declare that You, Messiah Yeshua, are Lord of all (Acts 10:36).

   • What an incredible truth that You, Lord Yeshua, love us like Your Father loves You (John 15:9)!

   • YHWH, Yours is the greatness, and the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth belongs to You. Yours is the kingdom, O YHWH, and You are exalted as head above all.1 Chr. 29:11

2. Government:

   The Bennett-Lapid coalition is trying to govern, and while we are not convinced it will lead Israel in the ways of the Lord, still we are told to pray for it (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

   • We thank You that You are in control regardless of what this government does (Prov. 19:21).

   • In Shabbat's Torah portion, You tell Israel to set up righteous judges and officials, so we pray for Your mercy so that will be a reality in this government and in Israel's court system (Deut. 16:18-20).

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

   • Hedge in any legislations/decisions that are not of You and allow everything that is (Psa. 33:10-11).

   • [In Shabbat's Torah portion, God lays out His rules for Israel's kings, to encourage in them humility, a lack of covetousness, and a familiarity with His Word.] Lord, we ask that these edicts would be applied to Israel's leaders today – in both the coalition and the opposition (Deut. 17:14-20).

   • Turn Prime Minister Naftali Bennett back to Your path for Israel and back to You (Psa. 80:3, 7, 19).

   • Deter Foreign Minister Yair Lapid from working against Your revealed will (Psa. 141:3).

   • Have mercy and save him through a divine encounter with the risen Messiah (John 20:27-29).

   • Lord, do not allow Israel's new ambassador to America, Michael Herzog, the brother of Israel's president, to be a flag-bearer for a two-state solution – as he has been in the past (Lev. 25:23).

   • Instead of a politically correct diplomat, make him a vessel for Your Word out of Zion (Mic. 4:2b).

   • Bless You that Finance Minister A. Liberman has formed an economics advisory committee, headed by a former Bank of Israel president, to recommend a broad economic policy (Prov. 11:14; 15:22).

   • May all their recommendations in line with Your will be heard and acted upon (Psa. 37:30).

   • Let the final budget provide a righteous division of finances in all areas (2 Sam. 8:15; Psa. 82:3).

   • Lord, give the coalition the "Nehemiah 2:20 vaccine" against all US demands about Jerusalem.

   • Forbid that Bennett would look to America as opposed to trusting to You (Psa. 118:8-9; Isa. 31:1).

   • Do not allow Israel to give the US permission to reopen their Jerusalem consulate for Palestinians, so that the city is in effect re-divided (Zech. 8:2-3).

3. Coronavirus:

   Israel's infection rate and death rate are both going up and Israel's current leadership is struggling to put together a coherent plan to protect it citizens against this.

   • We declare that You Yeshua are Lord of this whole chaotic situation (Matt. 28:18; 1 Pet. 3:22).

   • Give the government Your wisdom as they seek to lead Israel in a way "not known" (Isa. 42:16).

   • Hedge in the coalition and the health ministry from passing any restrictions or guidelines that are not from You, yet allow all that are to be passed and communicated clearly to the nation (Jer. 10:23).

   • Lord, You see how many Israelis are tired, and confused of all the coronavirus guidelines, as well as frustrated about what is true and what is not. We ask You, Israel's Shepherd, to restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness – for Your holy name's sake (Psa. 23:3).

   • Let the Israeli public cooperate with all government guidelines that are from You (Rom. 13:1).

   • Give great wisdom the Minister of Education on went to start the Israeli schoolyear so that children, teachers and parents can better cope with all the addition stress of Covid-19 (Psa. 107; 8-9, 31-32).

   • Protect Israel's children from any mistaken government decisions (Isa. 54:13).

   • Help Israel to be at the head of the nations in finding a path through this pandemic (Deut. 28:13).

   • Anoint Israeli researchers to develop better vaccines and inventive cures against corona (Jam. 3:17).

4. Security – external:

   Iran is testing Israel's responses to attacks from Gaza, Lebanon, and on the sea. The last two occurred after the installation of Iran's new radical President Raisi. Hizbullah took credit for a rocket barrage from Lebanon and in international waters in the Persian Gulf Iranian drones attacked an Israeli-run ship killing two Europeans. So far Israel's response has been lukewarm at best. Because of that, a major war could be just around the corner. Yet, our God reigns!

   • Lord, is this a trap You are setting for those nations who come against Zion (Mic. 4:11-13)?

   • Whether yes or no, please lead us as we pray for Israel's security (Psa. 121:4; Isa. 41:10-16).

   • God, none of this takes You by surprise, so please use the current very fragile government to defend Israel despite what some of the left-wing and Arab parties in it have threaten to do (Psa. 44:1-4).

   • If this government will fall because of left-wing and Arab members who resist Israel taking strong military action against its enemies, we ask You to bring this coalition to an end sooner rather than in a warfare crisis period (Eccl. 3:1, 8; Dan. 5:21b).

   • Remove all fear of man – and of America – from Israel's military decision makers (Prov. 29:25).

   • Prepare Israel to be that weapon of war we have read about in Jeremiah 51:20-24.

   • Bless Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi with unity of vision, strategies and tactics (Eccl. 4:12).

   • Give wisdom and strategy to Israel's government and IDF leaders to know when and how to defend Your nation and when and how to preempt all enemy attacks (2 Sam. 5:18-25).

   • Lord, we bless You that in Shabbat's Torah portion You declare that as Israel goes out to battle its enemies, You Yourself go forth with Israel's armies (Deut. 20-4). Yes and amen!

   • And in the prophetic portion, You say You will afflict Israel's enemies who attack Your nation for no reason other than that it is Your nation (Isa. 51:23; Psa. 83:1-5). Fulfill this word today.

   • Let what You say to Israel in Shabbat's prophetic portion bring great courage – even in the reality of Israel being surrounded by so many demonically empowered enemies: I, even I, am He that comforts you: so why are you afraid of man who shall die…and forget YHWH your Creator, who has stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? (Isa. 51:12-13a)

   • Lord, be known as Israel's God and receive the glory for defending this nation (Psa. 83:16-18).

   • Protect all Israeli intelligence sources, at home and abroad, from misinformation (Psa. 3:3).

   • Any intelligence that Israel needs – but is not yet known – please reveal it quickly (Job 12:22).

   • Impart supernatural wisdom to all those who are analyzing the intelligence (1 Kin. 3:11-12).

   • We give You glory for hearing our prayers and drawing Iran into an economic crisis (Psa. 50:15).

   • Use Iran's drastic water shortage to bring down its wicked leaders (Jer. 49:38b).

   • Strengthen and encourage the believers in Iran, and please meet their daily needs (1 Pet. 5:7-11).

   • Guide the Iranian Church to know how to pray for their nation (1 Sam. 12:23).

   • Lord, save multitudes in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, turning them into friends of Israel (Matt.5:44).

   • The just released report that Chinese hackers spied on Israel did not take You by surprise. Please guard Israel in the area of cyberwarfare as You have been doing in many other areas (Psa. 121:4).

5. Security – internal:

   We continue to ask God to expand Israel's sovereignty over more of the land He has sworn to give to His people. This is how He is leading us to intercede in response to the continual resurrection of that anti-biblical "two-state solution" which demands that God's land would be divided and another Islamic terrorist state created on it.

   • From Shabbat's Torah portion: When YHWH your God has cut off the nations, whose land YHWH your God gives you, and you possess them, dwell in their cities, and in their houses; (Deut. 19:1)

   • Also in Shabbat's Torah portion: If YHWH your God enlarges your borders, as He had sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land which He promised to give to you fathers; (Deut. 19:8)

   • God Almighty, arrange for Israel's borders to be enlarged very soon and very suddenly (Isa. 54:2-3).

   • Biblically and historically this has only happened through war, so we ask for mercy on the Israelis, the Palestinians and the Lebanese (Psa. 78:38; Jer. 10:24; Hab. 3:2).

   • Bless the government's approval of 2,223 new homes to be built for Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, and do not allow anything to hinder this (Isa. 49:19-20). [Yet out of fear of the US response, they reduced the original number by a third, and still were blasted by the US State Department!].

   • Lord, unless this is part of Your plan, confront the government for also giving permission for 863 Palestinian homes to be built on Your land (Psa. 10:16).

   • Thank You that the Palestinian leaders are already enraged against the homes for Jews. Use that to make them reject totally the approval of their houses (Ezek. 35:5-7; Obad. 1:10).

   • Lord, bless IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi who, in the face of 13 Palestinians killed over the past three months, most of whom were terrorists, openly supported the Israeli soldiers in Judea and Samaria.

   • Protect him from the criticism that will fly at him from left-wing Israelis and Arabs (Prov. 26:2).

   • Prepare Israel's security forces for the day after President Abbas is removed from being the head of the Palestinian Authority (Prov. 21:31).

   • Save many Palestinians by showing them that Israel's God reigns (1 Kin. 8:60; Psa. 83:18).

6. Aliyah:

   The coronavirus has brought latent antisemitism out in the open. Whether the Jews are blamed for creating it, or manufacturing the vaccine to make money off of it, the old Middle Age anti-Semitic demons are on the loose once again. It is way past time for the Jews in exile to come home.

   • Abba, use September's High Holiday season to cause many Jews in exile to recognize how out of place they are still living in exile and give them an urgency to return to Israel (Psa. 137:4-6).

   • Let the explosion of anti-Semitism in the West shattered the gilded cages of many Jews (Jer. 16:16).

   • With more and more Jews are feeling very uncomfortable to live openly as Jews in exile, turn their hearts and minds back to Zion (Jer. 50:4-5).

   • As needed, send Your angels to drag Your people out of today's various Sodoms (Gen. 19:15-16).

   • Help Israel make it easier for new immigrants to integrate into Israeli society (Isa. 62:10).

   • Encourage Israel to build more homes to bring the price of housing down (Jer. 32:43-44).

   • Bring home Messianic Jews to help build Your Body in Israel (Isa. 35:10; Eph. 2:21-22).

   • Lord, pour out a deep hunger for the complete Word of God on Your Body so that they will not be just New Testament believers, but Bible believers – like Your Body was in the New Testament (Jer. 15:16; Luke 24:44-45; Acts 20:27; 2 Tim. 3:15-17).

   • Wake up the gentile believers in Your Body to see their God commanded responsibility to help with the restoration of Israel in these last days (Isa. 49:22; 60:10-12; 61:5; Rom. 15:26-27).

   • Reveal to Your Body that aliyah is all about You being glorified (Isa. 43:5-7; Ezek. 36:23-24).

   • Let believers understand that when "all Israel" is saved, it happens in the land of Israel (Psa. 53:6; Jer. 32:37-40; Ezek. 36:24-28; Zech. 12:2-3, 10).

7. Salvation:

   All creation waits to be set free when the sons of God are manifested (Rom. 8:19-22). Paul wrote this with an eye on the Tanach which says in several places that creation will rejoice when all Israel is saved. Here are a few of those verses from Shabbat's prophetic portion:

   • Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem, for YHWH has comforted His people' He has redeemed Jerusalem. YHWH has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.Isa. 52:9-10

   • Thank You Yeshua for being that prophet like unto Moses who was prophesied to come in Shabbat's Torah portion (Deut. 18:15-19; John 6:15; 7:40).

   • As Your people read this portion, reveal to them that You are its fulfillment (2 Cor. 3:14-18).

   • Lord, as many Jews prepare for the High Holidays next month by attending synagogue each morning and praying prayers of forgiveness, quicken to them what is said in Shabbat's prophetic portion: You have sold yourselves for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. (Isa. 52:3)

   • Hasten the day when this verse is fulfilled: Therefore My people shall know My name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am He that speaks: behold, it is I. (Isa. 52:6)

   • For Jews who are disillusioned with religion, show them that You want a relationship (Psa. 27:8).

   • Lord, water all of the seeds that have been sown in Jewish hearts this past year (1 Cor. 3:6).

   • Let Your Holy Spirit move like a wind across Israel during this upcoming feast season (John 3:8).

   • May all the words out of the Scriptures that are read or prayed not return empty to You (Isa. 55:11).

   • Remove the rabbinic blinders that have been placed on Your people against Yeshua and also against the Apostle Paul, who did not start a new religion (Acts 24:14; 26:22; 28:23).

   • Save Your people, bless Your inheritance; shepherd them and bear them up forever.Psa. 28:9

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Israel

For the IFI team