1. Praise:

   In Shabbat's prophetic portion God used four lepers to chase away an invading Syrian army from Israel, which was at that time located in Samaria. This is a very encouraging story and it is one of many Tanach episodes in which God used the weak and foolish to confound the wise and mighty (1 Cor. 1:22-31). Is this not how we should see ourselves today? Otherwise God will let us try to do our best for Him, until we eventually understand through much grief, trial and error, that even our best is not good enough in His sight. Remember that Jacob became Israel and then walked with a limp for the rest of his life – symbolic of a man who learned to lean on God and not his flesh.

   • … the lame take the prey.Isa. 33:23b

   • God said to Paul, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is fulfilled in weakness.' Most gladly then will I rather boast in my weakness, that Messiah's power may abide in me. (2 Cor. 12:9)

   • We bless You Lord Yeshua for teaching us that without You we can do nothing (John 15:5), yet then also having You servant Paul declare that by Your Spirit we can do all things – including suffering and being in need – through You who strengthen us (Phil. 4:13)

   • Thank You Lord for not wanting us to be strong for You – but to be strong in You (Eph. 6:10)!

   • As You give grace to the humble (Jam. 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5b), we humbly receive Your grace as we see that before You – as well as in the eyes of the world – we truly are among the "weak and foolish".

   • God, we bless You that You dwell with those of humble and broken hearts (Psa. 34:18; Isa. 57:15).

   • We rejoice that Israel is also seen by many in the world as a weak and foolish nation through which You are accomplishing Your will and confounding the experts today (Neh. 4:1-5).

   • Lord Yeshua, in the face of all the chaos and violence in today's world, we praise You for being the center and circumference of our faith (Zech. 12:10; Matt. 11:28; 24:35; John 16:13-14; Heb. 12:1-2).

   • Thank You for being a faithful, promise-keeping God (Isa. 55:11; Rom. 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:20).

   • You are always Immanuel, God with us, whether we "sense" Your presence or not (Isa. 7:14).

   • We bless You Lord Yeshua for being at the Father's right hand interceding for us (Rom. 8:34).

2. Government:

   This week, a coalition member from Prime Minister Bennett's Yamina party quit. This leaves the coalition with only 60 members which, in a 120 seat Knesset is not enough to accomplish anything. Most political analysts see this as the beginning of the end of this government – although when and how that happens is anyone's guess. We were led to ask God to make sure that whatever happens in the Knesset it will not interfere with the prophetic events happening in Israel today – specifically the aliyah. As we get further guidance and pray into it, we will let you know.

3. Aliyah:

   A major survey of Israelis revealed that a significant minority see Israel as having a moral responsibility towards Jews who choose to remain in the nations. We do not, as that only encourages them to harden their hearts against God's will and refuse to return to the land that He has promised to them and their forefathers over 200 times in the Tanach. Yet on the positive side, this also shows the deep ties to the Jews in exile that many Jews in Israel have.

   • Thank You that we can see answers to our prayers about aliyah in today's headlines (Jer. 31:7-9).

   • We bear witness that You are building Jerusalem and are gathering in Israel's outcasts (Psa. 147:2).

   • Lord, we know that it is for Your glory and Your name that Your people return home (Isa. 43:5-7; Ezek. 36:22-24), so again we ask You to do whatever it takes to fulfill this (Jer. 16:16).

   • Yet we ask You to do this with as much mercy and lovingkindness as possible (Jer. 31:3).

   • Let Israel's finances be used to prepare a place for returning exiles and not to help Jews in captivity prepare a "comfortable" place so that they can remain there (Psa. 147:2; Isa. 14:32; Jer. 31:4).

   • Increase the building of affordable housing for both veteran and new Israelis (Ezek. 28:26).

   • As better than 50% of Israel's land area is in the Negev while less than 10% of Israelis live there, arrange it so that many new immigrants decide to settle there in the south (Jer. 33:13; Obad. 1:20).

   • Open the eyes of the Jews who remain in exile to the growth of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel hatred and then urge them to return to Israel as soon as possible (Jer. 16:16).

   • Thank You for showing Israel its need to remove many of the barriers – especially bureaucratic – so that the Jews fleeing especially from Ukraine can quickly become citizens (Isa. 62:10).

   • Let many of these obstacles be removed once and for all, crisis or no crisis (Isa. 22:22; 60:11).

   • Yet please guard Israel's gates and forbid any from entering who are not supposed to (Josh. 9:14-15).

   • Thank You for answering our prayers and using Israel's current coalition, which is not limited by the Ultra-Orthodox and their strict definition of "who is a Jew" to accomplish all of this (Prov. 21:1).

   • Supply everything that is needed for poor Jews in exile to make aliyah (Lev. 25:35-39; Ezra 1:4).

   • With Passover coming next week, we bless You for seeing Jeremiah 16:14-15 being fulfilled today.

   • When Jews say "Next year in Jerusalem" at the end of their Passover meal on April 15th, Lord, ignite a fire in their hearts to declare, "Why not for me and my family?" (Psa. 137:5-6; Jer. 51:6-10).

4. Salvation:

   We are in the midst of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. This is an excellent time to ask God to reveal His Son to Muslims worldwide. And as Passover begins next Friday evening, let's ask Him to save multitudes of Jews – including many who have just immigrated to Israel.

   • Lord Yeshua, we bless You for the many Muslims who have recently come to know You throughout the world – especially in the Middle East (Psa. 60:4). More, Lord!

   • Use them to witness to other Muslims during Ramadan (Isa. 51:5; Zeph. 2:11; Rom. 15:8-12).

   • Let every Muslim who at this time is truly seeking for spiritual reality find You (Heb. 11:6b).

   • Send a wave of salvation upon the Kurds in the Middle East and worldwide (Psa. 22:27; 86:9).

   • We ask for Your grace unto salvation to come on many Palestinians (Matt. 5:44; Rom. 12:14).

   • Use ex-Muslim believers to witness to Jews – provoking them to jealousy with their love for You, the God of Israel, and for the Jews themselves (Rom. 11:11).

   • Through Your amazing grace, grant many Jews a heart desire to seek You, for You promised to be found by those who seek for You with all their hearts (Jer. 29:13).

   • Save millions of Jews who are still trapped in sin and in exile (Deut. 4:27-29).

   • Reveal the true Lamb of God to every Jew who celebrates Passover for the first time in Your land (Isa. 53:7; John 1:29; 1 Cor. 5:7; Rev. 5:12-13).

   • Yeshua Lord, use the sense of displacement in all the Ukrainian immigrants who celebrate their first Passover in Israel, to see their need of a personal relationship with You (Psa. 5:2; 18:6; 61:1).

   • Comfort all families have been torn apart by the Russian-Ukrainian war (Isa. 40:1-2).

   • As Jews retell the Passover story, let the blood of the lamb which protected their forefathers from Your righteous judgment on Egypt become a major focus of conversation (Ex. 12:12-13; 1 Pet. 1:19).

   • Let the children ask very insightful questions of their parents (Ex. 12:26-27; Matt. 21:16).

   • Abba, in mercy remove the partial blindness You placed over Your people's eyes to the true identity of Your Son, Israel's Messiah and King (Matt. 2:2; Rom. 11:25-26).

   • Break down the false image of Yeshua that Rabbinic Judaism has created (Rom. 10:1-3).

   • In Your resurrection power, save every Holocaust survivor wherever they are (Jon. 2:2; Rom. 1:2-6).

   • Reap a harvest from all of the seeds that we have planted and watered this past year (2 Cor. 3:6-7).

   • Lord, in mercy, save unsaved family members of Messianic Jews (Acts 2:39; 16:31-33).

5. Internal security:

   In the midst of the recent terror attacks, including another one in Tel Aviv last night that took the life of two more Israelis and wounded many others, we recalled that God told us to pray for Israel to extend its sovereignty over all of the land west of the Jordan River, and retain possession of the Golan, in order to have the kind of security it desperately desires.

   • From Shabbat's Torah portion: When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession… (Lev. 14:34a) Thank You Lord for giving this land to Your people.

   • Speak to Israel's right-wing coalition ministers that this is the only way to provide security and let them implement it – even if this adds another nail to this government's coffin (Isa. 30:21).

   • With the security barrier between Israelis and the Palestinians almost in ruins, let Israel tear it down completely and then retake all of Judea and Samaria (Ex. 34:12; Judg. 2:1-5).

   • While we grieve over the loss of life of every victim of terrorism, we thank You that these deadly attacks were a wake-up call to Israel's security forces to be on high alert (Rom. 8:28).

   • We praise and thank You for helping Israel's security forces to eliminate a Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror cell that was on its way to commit a major mass-casualty terror attack (Psa. 44:4-5; 89:18).

   • Continue to give Israel accurate actionable intelligence that it needs for more successful operations like this, along with the wisdom and courage to pre-empt the enemy (Dan. 2:22).

   • Lord, expose all terrorism that is being planned by Israel's Arab citizens (Psa. 139:12; Obad. 1:6).

   • As many units in both Israel's army and police are redeployed in new areas, enable them to remain alert and to adjust quickly to their new responsibilities (Psa. 18:34; 144:1).

   • Watch over Your word: 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 to you. (Ex. 23:27)

   • Heal all the security forces which were recently injured while protecting Israel (Gen. 20:17).

   • Send angels to protect and reinforce the IDF in every area of Your land (Psa. 34:7).

   • Give wisdom, courage and faith to Israel's security forces in and around Jerusalem's Old City to deal with the nightly riots at the Damascus Gate during Ramadan (2 Sam. 22:3-4).

   • When Israel's security forces need to respond, may that response be quick and effective and without fear of international indignation(Eccl. 8:11).

6. External security:

   Egypt and Jordan stand with Israel at times and then at other times, they condemn Israel as it defends itself. They are not allies like the UAE, Bahrain or even Morocco who seem to be fully on Israel's side when it comes to fighting terrorism. As we prayed last week, Israel needs to perceive that it is dealing with the spirit of Islam and be very discerning in what it agrees to and what it shares with any of these nations, yet the threat of a nuclear Iran is moving most Middle Eastern Arab countries to work with Israel in some way or another – whether overtly or covertly.

   • [Jordan's King Abdullah warned Israel to not interfere with Ramadan "festivities" which are usually accompanied by riots and terror.] Lord, show Israel's leaders that this man is not a real friend of Israel and let them treat him and his nation with great discernment (Jam. 1:8).

   • Raise up many "sons of Issachar" to speak into the people of influence in Israel (1 Chr. 12:32).

   • Shatter the relationship between Russia, Iran and China, sowing distrust between them all (Psa. 2:9).

   • Thank You for using Russian President Putin to put major obstacles in the way of that evil nuclear deal that Iran is trying to sign with Western nations in Vienna (Prov. 19:21).

   • Impart wisdom to the IDF's Iran Command to know what to do regardless of whether this deal is approved or not (Isa. 21:11-12).

   • Use the IDF's Iran Command to keep the focus of the government on the Iranian threat.

   • With the world focused on the Russian-Ukrainian war, if this is the time for Israel to pre-empt all of Iran's nuclear weapons facilities – then guide them and release them to do just that (Jer. 51:20-25).

   • Lord, arise and destroy all of Iran's resources and sources of finances (Psa. 68:1) – yet have mercy with as many Iranians as possible who do not agree with their evil rulers.

   • Over Passover, Lord God, declare to the spiritual principality of Iran in reference to the 7,000 to 10,000 Iranian Jews, "Let My people go!" (Ex. 9:13-14).

   • Protect and use the Church in Iran for Your glory (Psa. 86:9; Isa. 24:15; Rom. 15:8-12).

   • Teach them how to pray (Luke 11:1) for their government (1 Tim. 2:1-4) and for Israel (Jer. 31:7).

7. The Body of Messiah:

   A verse from Shabbat's prophetic portion sums up the principle of the need to share the good news of Messiah: Then [the four lepers] said to one another, 'We are not doing what is right, for this day is a day of good news, and we are holding our peace… (2 Kin. 7:9a)

   • Yeshua Lord, You chose the weak and the foolish – lepers, fishermen, a tax collector, etc. and with them You confounded the wise – turning the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Please use us as well.

   • Lord, show Your Body that this sharing of the good news still applies to the Jews (Rom. 1:16).

   • Speak to all secret believers to come out of the closet - especially in Israel (Matt. 10:33).

   • Open the eyes of Your Body to understand that today's aliyah is both a fulfillment of Your Word and a sign of Your soon return (Psa. 102:13-16; 126:1-3; Jer. 31:3; 32:41-44).

   • Let every believer who does see this pray and seek for opportunities to help (Isa. 49:22; 60:3-11).

   • Reveal to all born-again believers that whenever the New Testament reads "scripture/s" the historical context means the Old Testament – although today it does include both (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

   • [In Exodus 12:48-49, God commanded the Passover to be kept forever by the native-born Israeli and the stranger who dwelt with His people – which is a type of gentile believers in the Body.] Lead more Gentile believers to hear Your call to meet with You on Your appointed feasts (Lev. 23:4).

8. Water:

   The Sea of Galilee is almost totally full. Let's continue to ask God to do just that and provide all of the water that Israel with its large influx of new immigrants will need (Isa. 41:17-20).

9. IFI:

   Thank you for your prayers that IFI will have all it needs to complete the task He has ordained for this ministry. This includes godly wisdom, His strength and stamina to fight the prayer battle, the finances to sustain this ministry and for Him to do His will for its future.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team