1. Praise:

   The gospel of John says, No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father – He has declared Him. (John 1:18) With this truth revealed to us, then when we read in Shabbat's Torah portion that God appeared to Moses and the elders of Israel on Mount Sinai, they must of necessity have been in the presence of the pre-incarnate God the Son!

   • Moses, Aaron…and 70 of Israel's elders went up, and they saw the God of Israel…And on Israel's elders He did not laid His hand. They saw the God, and did eat and drink.Ex. 24:9-11

   • How blessed Moses was when he was with You, precious God the Son, receiving Your words, Your instructions on Mt. Sinai, and as the Scripture says seeing You face to face (Ex. 33:11).

   • How blessed we are to know You even more intimately – being one Spirit with You (1 Cor. 6:17).

   • Abba, thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your Son to die for us (John 3:16).

   • Father God, we bless You for first drawing us to Yeshua by Your Spirit, and then gifting us with the grace to respond (Gen. 12:1-3; Deut. 7:7-8; Eph. 2:8-9; 1 John 4:19).

   • We praise You for revealing Yourself in Your Son, Messiah Yeshua (Luke 10:22; Heb. 1:1-3).

   • It is incredible yet true that You, the Almighty God, desire to fellowship with us (1 John 1:1-3).

   • What a joy to know that in the midst of all the confusion in today's world, Your written and Your Living Word give us all the light we need to walk with You (Psa. 36:9; 119:105; 130; John 1:4).

   • We stand amazed and reassured to know that Your thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isa. 55:9) and that You are sovereign over all regardless of what we are going through (Psa. 103:19).

   • Because of Your love and mercy we are not consumed; great is Your faithfulness (Lam. 3:22-23)!

2. Government:

   We continue to intercede for Israel's current government, although we prefer to see it replaced by one which is more biblically oriented. Shabbat's Torah and prophetic portions both declare God's righteous decrees on how to have a righteous society, yet much of what it says is not in evident in most Western – let alone most other – nations today.

   • Abba, as Israelis, especially their leaders, read Your Word this Shabbat, release their minds and hearts from all their traditional humanistic filters (Psa. 119:18; Isa. 29:18).

   • Convince at least some of Israel's leaders that what You say is righteous – is actually righteous – and not what man says (Deut. 1:16; Psa. 7:9; 19:9).

   • Bring about through Israel's current government all that You have ordained for it (Rom. 13:1).

   • Block any legislation from being enacted that is not of You (Lam. 3:37).

   • We ask You to use the government's imperfections for Your name's sake (Psa. 118:9).

   • Abba, use Israel's current coalition to remove the dross and bring forth righteousness (Isa. 1:25-26).

   • You warn us to not speak evil of our leaders and judges, yet we have done that (Ex. 22:28; Acts 23:5). Show us how to speak the truth in love and not to curse our leaders (Eph. 4:15a; Jam. 3:10).

   • Lord, warn Israel's rulers and its wealthy citizens from the prophetic portion, to not enslave the rest of Israeli society in anyway whatsoever (Jer. 34:14-22).

   • It seems inhumane to all who have been brainwashed by humanism, yet You have ordained capital punishment for serious crimes – like murder and kidnapping. We ask for Israel to line up with Your Word in every case where the evidence is very clear against the perpetrators (Ex. 21:12, 16).

   • As corruption in Israeli society is on the rise, please save and cleanse Your people as You said now that they are back in Your land (Jer. 32:37-40).

   • Ex-PM Bibi Netanyahu is deciding whether to fight the vacuous charges against him or accept a plea bargain. Lord, guide him and let Israel know the truth in his cases (Prov. 12:17; 16:1).

   • Provide Netanyahu with godly counsel and remove anything else from him (Prov. 11:14; 15:22).

   • Use this difficult time to draw the Netanyahu family to Messiah Yeshua (Psa. 119:50, 107, 154).

   • Let Israel's next attorney-general be a lover of truth and righteousness (Deut. 1:17; 1 Sam. 16:7).

   • Turn PM Bennett back to Your Word and away from his pride and hunger for power (Psa. 80:3, 19).

   • Lord, please raise up god-fearing people to lead Your nation at this time (Eccl. 5:7; 12:13).

   • In mercy to Israel and to himself, do not allow Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to take over as prime minister in August 2023, and save him for Your glory's sake (Rom. 15:6; 1 Pet. 2:12).

   • Give Israel wisdom with Turkey's President Erdogan who wants to reinstate relations and demands certain things from Israel but is not willing to give Israel anything of substance (Psa. 55:20-21).

   • As Israel has good diplomatic relations with both Russia and Ukraine, give its foreign ministry wisdom to know what to say – and even more important – when to just be quiet (Amos 5:13).

3. Internal security:

   We again read in the Torah portion that God gave the land to the children of Israel and even fought for them against its previous inhabitants. We continue to believe that only as Israel extends its sovereignty over all of His land will it have peace with security.

   • Lord, we confess that one of Israel's problems is that it does not believe in You in the biblical sense of trusting in You and not in its own strength or wisdom. Yet You said You would bring Israel back home in unbelief and then save them (Ezek. 36:21-32; Zech. 12:2-10, etc.), so please have mercy on Your people and bring them face to face with Your Angel once again (Ex. 23:20-23).

   • Stir up a revival of passionate love in Your people for Your land (Isa. 62:4-5).

   • I will send My fear before you, and will destroy all the people to whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs unto you. (Ex. 23:27) Lord, thank You for doing this quite often in Israel's modern history and we ask You to continue to watch over Your word (Jer. 1:12)!

   • Abba, continue to use little things to rout out Israel's enemies – like You used hornets (Ex. 23:28).

   • In the Torah portion we read how You gave Israel the land a little at a time. We see this happening today as well (Ex. 23:29-30). Please bring more of Your land under Israel's sovereignty at this time.

   • I will set your borders from the Red Sea even to the Sea of the Philistines [the Mediterranean], and from the desert to the river [Jordan]: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and you shall drive them out before you. (Ex. 23:31) Set up circumstances so that Israel has no choice but to extend its sovereignty over all of this land today.

   • Deafen the ears of Israelis to not listen to the Jews living in exile who are, for the most part, very liberal and leftwing and humanistic – and who support dividing Your land (2 Sam. 15:31).

   • Show Israel what to do, and not do, after Palestinian Authority President Abbas leaves his office.

   • Let confusion and chaos reign among the top Palestinian leaders at that time (Psa. 40:14-15).

   • Lord, when Israel reconquers Gaza, forbid it from handing Gaza over to anyone else (Lev. 25:23).

   • God, forgive Israel for trying to make "peace" with Muslims in Your land which is totally against Your decrees to them as we read in Shabbat's Torah portion (Ex. 23:32-33; see also Psa. 10:16).

   • Change the hearts of any Israel leader who has an Esau spirit – or remove them (Gen. 25:34).

   • Guide the division of responsibility for Israel's security forces – especially in Judea, Samaria, the Negev, the Gaza fence, the Bedouin, and with the overzealous settlers (1 Chr. 27:1; Psa. 147:14a).

   • Let the government protect Israelis living in Judea & Samaria more effectively and righteously so that they do not feel like they have to take the law into their own hands (Eccl. 8:11; Rom. 13:1-4).

   • Continue to provide all needed intelligence for the IDF and protect it from deception (2 Kin. 6:12).

   • Enable all relevant intelligence to be passed on to the correct place (Jer. 11:18; 49:10).

   • Protect Israel's soldiers from any more training accidents, or friendly-fire incidents (Psa. 144:1).

   • Protect all of Israel's security forces from the cold and wet winter weather (Psa. 121:3-4).

   • Impart to Israel's security forces wisdom and courage to deal with the increase of violence in Israeli-Arab communities and a plan to rein in any rioters during the next Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

4. External security:

   Iran is the source of all threats from Israel's enemies to wipe Israel off the map today. It threatens Israel in the north, by Hizbullah in Lebanon; in the northeast by its proxies in Syria; by Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza in the south; and now from the Houthis in Yemen. Yet most of the world either wants to be Iran's ally – like Russia and China – or to appease it with money to become a nicer nation – like Europe and America.

   • Remove the blinders from Western leaders, intellectuals and their Churches so that they finally see that not all the world perceives life through a Judeo-Christian Western mindset (1 Thess. 1:9).

   • Overrule all that happens in the Vienna negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran (Psa. 33:10-11).

   • Judge of all the earth, You hear how so much of the west speaks insincerely, proclaiming friendship with Israel while financially supporting Iran. Expose this hypocrisy for all to see (Gen. 18:25).

   • Destroy every bit of trust between Iran and Russia and China (Psa. 55:9).

   • Creator God, break the trap that Iran is trying to set around Israel (Psa. 124:7-8).

   • Give Israel a "stiff-neck" to say no to its "friends" when it comes to defending itself (Psa. 20:7-9).

   • Let Israel come to grips with the reality that the current US administration is unreliable (Isa. 36:6).

   • Let Your hand guide the IDF's Iran Command as it makes plans to deal with Iran (Psa. 78:72b).

   • If Israel is missing any vital intelligence, please bring it to them (Job 34:21-22).

   • As Russian jets are now flying patrols with Syrian jets along the Golan Heights, guide Israel on how to continue to attack Iranian emplacements and weapons transfers in and through Syria (Prov. 21:31).

   • Confuse all communications between Iran and her proxies (Psa. 109:29; Jer. 17:18).

   • Dry up all financial support from Iran to its proxies – especially through its drug trade.

   • Intervene in such a supernatural way to destroy Iran's nuclear program that there will be no doubt that this is from You (Josh. 2:10-11).

   • Strengthen the growing resistance against the Iranian regime among its people.

   • Protect and build up the Iranian church – numerically and spiritually (Matt. 16:18).

   • Teach them how to intercede for their nation and their wicked rulers (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

   • May they understand Israel's place in Your plans (Psa. 102:13-16; Zech. 2:4-9).

5. Aliyah:

   International Holocaust Remembrance Day was observed this past Thursday. Yet in reality this is such hypocrisy as most of the world loves to honor dead Jews, but they refuse to support living Jews who try to defend themselves so that they will not also end up dead! Jews in exile need to see these fake tears and false comforters as they truly are and then flee from today's Babylon.

   • From the prophetic portion: Thus says YHWH, If My covenant is not with the day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his seed to be rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them. (Jer. 33:25-26) Amen.

   • Lord, in Your mercy, chase, draw or drag Your people home (Jer. 16:16; 31:3; Gen. 19:15-16).

   • As antisemitism rose drastically last year in the West, strip off from Your people all ties that bind them to exile and that blind them to coming home to Israel (Jer. 51:5-10).

   • Let Jews in exile learn from history to see that there is a time when it will be "too-late" to flee.

   • Help Jews return now with their silver and gold – and their cryptocurrency – with them (Isa. 60:9).

   • Open ways for the Jews who do not have much money – yet who need to return (Isa. 60:10).

   • Remove the pride from Jews in exile who say that anti-Semitic attacks will not drive them out – and replace it with a humility to perceive that You are using this to bring them home (Ezek. 39:28).

   • Remove all obstacles and red tape in Israel from those who want to make aliyah (Isa. 57:14).

   • [There are reports of Israel being ready to receive tens of thousands of Ukrainian Jews if Russia invades that nation.] Lord, let Israel be absolutely ready and forbid it from turning away anyone who has a right to make aliyah but may not have all their papers in order (Jer. 31:8-9).

   • Use the cooperation between Jews and believing Gentiles in supporting aliyah to provoke Your people to jealousy (Rom. 11:11).

   • Lord Yeshua, we thank You for the Christian Zionist remnant in Your Church who loves the Jews and the nation of Israel, yet it grieves us that so many have no clue or burden on how central aliyah is to Your plans and for Your glory (Isa. 43:5-7), Please remedy this quickly (John 15:7-8, 16).

   • Lord, one way to accomplish the above is to pour out a deep hunger for the truth of Your Word on Your Body, leading them to diligently searching of the Scriptures (Acts 17:11; 2 Tim. 2:15).

   • Cleanse Your Body from any spirits of antisemitism or anti-Zionism (Eph. 5:27).

   • In their place, plant a deep urge to know and follow Your biblical priorities (John 15:7-8).

6. Water:

   This has been very cold and wet week for Israel – with snow on many of the higher areas in the nation – including Jerusalem.

   • Thank You for Your continued provision of rain and snow (Matt. 5:45b; Acts 14:17).

   • Use this weather to destroy any demonic plans against Israel at this time (Job 38:22-23).

   • Lord, wake up many cities in Israel to repair their infrastructures to handle large rainfalls and also to strengthen buildings against earthquakes [Israel had two this past week] (Psa. 68:28; 147:12-13).

7. IFI:

   Please continue to pray for us for wisdom in leading prayer meetings, writing the prayer alerts, for finances and for God's leading of this – His ministry – into the near future. Thank you.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from a wet and cold Jerusalem

For the IFI team