1. Praise:

   The Torah portion has a verse of great encouragement which Moses gave to Joshua just before Israel entered the land of promise. This verse applies to believers as well – as a spiritual principle – when we in obedience to God move forward. YHWH is He that goes before you; He will be with you; He will not fail you or forsake you. Fear not, neither be discouraged. (Deut. 31:8)

   • We praise You Lord, for going before us and leading us in paths of righteousness (Psa. 23:3b).

   • Hallelujah! You never forsake us so we do not need to fear what man can do to us (Heb. 13:5b-6)!

   • Thank You for being our Rock and shelter in times when we are discouraged (Psa. 61:1-3).

   • Lord God, You know our hearts and we bless You for how often You encourage us to not be afraid based on the truth that You are always with us (Psa. 46:1-3; 56:4; 118:6; Matt. 28:20b).

   • Thank You for being faithful to watch over Your Word to bring it to pass (Isa. 55:11; Jer. 1:12).

   • Lord, Your faithfulness to Israel over the centuries confirms the truth that You will also be faithful to those of us who believe in Messiah Yeshua (Phil. 1:6; Jude 1:24).

   • It is amazing to see that Israel still remains a nation before You – just as You said (Jer. 31:35-37).

   • Lord our God, We have great confidence in You because You exist outside of time and therefore You know everything that will happen in time before it even happens (Isa. 46:9-10).

   • Bless You God for giving us peace that passes all understanding through Messiah Yeshua (Phil 4:7).

2. Salvation:

   We are in the days of awe, the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. At this season many Jews make an extra effort to reconcile with each other and to get right with God. This is a great time to pray for their salvation. On Yom Kippur, this coming Tuesday at sunset through Wednesday at sunset, many Jews will also fast and pray asking God to forgive them their sins and to save them. Consider fasting on this day as well and praying in line with Jeremiah 31:7b: O YHWH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.

   • Lord, speak to Your people from the prophetic portion that they are being told to repent, to turn from their own ways and goals back to You (Hos. 14:1-2).

   • We rejoice for it is You who by grace give the gift of repentance, and we ask You to pour this out on many Jews, inside and outside of Israel, during these days (Matt. 16:15-17; Acts 15:11; Eph. 2:8-9).

   • Abba, apply this verse in the prophetic reading to Your people today: I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for My anger is turned away from him. (Hos. 14:4)

   • Yeshua, reveal Yourself to many Jews who are observing these feasts for the first time as Israelis.

   • King Messiah, remove all the false pictures Your people have of You whether from the rabbis or from the Church – and open their eyes to behold the Lamb of God (Isa. 52:13-15: John 1:29, 36).

   • As Your people call to You, pour out that spirit of grace and supplication upon them (Zech. 12:10).

   • Give to many Jews a holy dissatisfaction about their relationship with You and then draw them by Your love to seek You with all of their heart (Deut. 4:29; Jer. 29:13; John 6:44; Jam. 1:18).

   • Lord God of Israel, please save a huge remnant from these Jewish groups both in Israel and in the exile: IDF soldiers, pilots and sailors; professors and teachers; medical professionals; women who had abortions; prostitutes; drug dealers and users; the gay community; ultra-Orthodox rabbis and those of other Jewish sects; children and single parents; Israeli youth and the elderly; Holocaust survivors and their families; unsaved family members of Messianic Jewish households (Jer. 31:31-34).

   • Turn the hearts of Israeli politicians who will be leading Israel after the elections unto You (Prov. 21:1).

   • Turn the hearts of all religious Jews away from man's words – the Talmud – and back unto Your Word which is found in the Tanach [Old Testament] (Psa. 119:18; 130; Jer. 15:16).

   • Speak to every Jewish believer who is still in the closet to come out (Rom. 1:16).

   • Yeshua Lord, move on Your Body to pray for Your Jewish people during this time (Rom. 10:1).

3. Aliyah:

   60,000 new immigrants [olim] have entered Israel since Rosh Hashanah 2021! This is an indication that our prayers are being heard. Yet the majority of Jews still live in the captivity – and unfortunately many of them are very comfortable with no desire to move to Israel at all.

   • Lord, we give You the glory for hearing our prayers and bringing in 60,000 new olim (Psa. 50:15).

   • Download an adventurous spirit to Jews stuck in exile, stirring them up to come home (Num. 13:30).

   • We again ask You to either draw Your people home through Your covenant-faithfulness (Jer. 31:3), or chase them home through a further release of Your hunters (Jer. 16:16).

   • Keep the gates open for the Jews in Russia and Ukraine to return to Israel (Jer. 31:8-9).

   • Do not allow there to be any Israeli restrictions against any Jews – whether old, or poor or whatever their skin color or belief – which would block their return home (Isa. 43:5-7).

   • Awaken the Jews in the West who can come home today with all of their wealth and families to the sudden changes that have come on the world in the past few years and let them not delay their return any longer (Psa. 27:1; Prov. 6:9-11; Isa. 60:8-9; Jer. 51:5-10).

   • Let the rise of right-wing politicians in Italy, the UK and hopefully as a result of the November 8th US mid-term elections, cause many liberal Jews in exile to remember Jerusalem (Psa. 137:5).

   • For Your name's sake, root all new olim deeply in Your/their land (2 Kin. 19:30; Amos 9:13-15).

   • Bless the next government with a sense of Your priority towards the aliyah (Jer. 32:41).

   • Lord, stir up Your Body to pray for aliyah and to be actively involved with it (Isa. 49:22; 61:4-5).

4. Government:

   Last week Israel's transitional Prime Minister Yair Lapid told the UN that the "two-state solution" between Israel and the Palestinians was the only way for Israelis to live securely as both a Jewish and a democratic nation. Obviously, we disagree – but more importantly, God's Word disagrees with any division of His land that He has given to His people (Lev. 25:23). Yet what Lapid did is an answer to prayer as now Israelis know exactly where he stands on this issue.

   • Thank You God that a recent poll revealed that almost 65% of Israelis do not want to pursue a two-state peace agreement with the Palestinians at this time (Psa. 33:10-11).

   • Make the "two-state solution" an important election issue and renew among Israelis a Zionist vision.

   • Open the mouths of other politicians and let them reveal their heart intents as well (Luke 6:45).

   • As part of Your work in clearing out political dross, please block Lapid, Defense Minister Gantz and Finance Minister Liberman from having any authority in the next government (Isa. 1:25-27).

   • As politicians do reveal where they are at, let the Israeli electorate vote in a way that advances Your goal of Your will being done on earth as it is already settled in heaven (Psa. 103:19; Matt. 6:10).

   • Use the increase in terrorism in Israel at this time to sway voters to vote for the more right-wing, biblically-leaning parties (Rom. 8:28).

   • Hinder the mostly left-wing, anti-Bibi Netanyahu Israeli media from influencing Your people in a way that is not in line with Your will (Jer. 50:6).

   • Use the holyday season to convict many right-wing politicians of the need to heal their relationships with each other – especially with Netanyahu and Netanyahu with them (Matt. 5:24).

   • Let Israel's leaders be clothed with Your fear, and release them from all fear of man (Eccl. 12:13).

   • Bring alongside every Israeli politician godly advisors and let them be heard (Prov. 15:22).

5. Internal security:

   There is lots of talk about the dangerous chaos that will erupt among the Palestinians once Palestinian Authority [PA] President Abbas is no longer around. This has in fact already started, so we must persist in praying over this. There is also a dangerous increase in the use of guns by Palestinians against IDF actions. Of concern is that some PA security officers, who are supposed to cooperate with Israel's security, are involved in these gunfights against the IDF. Also, in the northern areas of Judea and in Samaria lawlessness in Palestinian areas is leading to anarchy.

   • Lord, guide us succinctly as we pray into the days after Abbas is no longer in charge (Luke 11:1b).

   • Guide Israel's political and military leaders so that as the chaos between the Palestinian factions is increasing and many are being killed by their Arab "brothers", Israel does not get involved in a way that is more merciful than You want Israel to be against Your/their enemies (Psa. 68:1, 30; 83:1-4).

   • Let the transition between the current IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi and the next one be done in Your perfect timing with the most amount of continuity and the least amount of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33).

   • Speak to Israel's security forces from this Shabbat's Torah reading: "Be strong and courageous; fear not, nor be afraid of them, for YHWH your God – He goes with you – He will not fail you, nor forsake you. (Deut. 31:6)

   • Increase the success of the IDF in stopping terror attacks which are being perpetrated against Israelis from inside Israel's borders daily (Deut. 11:25; Psa. 44:4-5).

   • Increase the excellent intelligence that Israel gathers and protect all who are feeding that intelligence to Israel (Psa. 139:12; Prov. 15:3; Isa. 29:15).

   • Filter out all disinformation and deception from that intelligence (Psa. 57:3).

   • We ask You to continue to guard over Israel's security forces – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually – as they battle the agents of Islam (Psa. 121:3-4; Jer. 31:10).

   • Abba God, You have sworn to give this land to Your people over 40 times. May this be the time when that which You have so emphatically declared is completely fulfilled (Deut. 31:7; cp. 31:23).

   • Use this current terror wave to show Israel that only when it extends its sovereignty over all of the land west of the Jordan River will Israelis possess any kind of peace with safety (Psa. 4:8; 29:11).

   • Lord, pressure the next government to build in every part of Your land (Jer. 32:43-44) – including in the areas surrounding Jerusalem and in the E1 corridor (Neh. 2:20).

   • As Israel possesses more of its inheritance, deafen its leaders to the criticism and even the threats from the rest of the nations – especially its so-called "friends" (Psa. 38:12-15; Isa. 42:19).

   • Erase the words of US President Biden, his Ambassador to Israel Nides and the US Ambassador to the UN Thomas-Greenfield who have all recently pushed for a two state solution (Isa. 40:22-24).

   • Also, shut the mouths of all who blame Israel and the terrorists equally for "the cycle of violence".

   • Lord Yeshua, protect, enlarge and mature Your Body among the Palestinians (Matt. 16:18b).

   • Cast out all spirits of anti-Semitism and/or anti-Zionism from Palestinian believers (Eph. 5:27).

   • Remove any misunderstanding from Arabic-speaking believers that comes from the Arabic Bible translating God as "Allah" – and let them know without any doubts that the Allah of the Koran is not the Allah of the Bible (2 Cor. 11:4).

   • As priests in Messiah Yeshua (1 Pet. 2:9a), we cry out to You, Spare Your people, O YHWH, and give not Your heritage to reproach, that the gentiles should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, 'Where is their God?' (Joel 2:17b)

6. External security:

   The riots in Iran over the death of a Kurdish-Iranian woman because her hijab – her head-scarf – was not worn properly, have shaken the regime greatly. This is another answer to prayer and while we rejoice, we continue to ask God for mercy on the Iranian people.

   • [The verses after Joel 2:17b (see above section) say that one of the responses to that prayer is God dealing with a northern army threatening Israel.] Lord, deal with Hizbullah in Lebanon, Iran's number one proxy, in this way and cause this demonic organization to implode (Joel 2:18, 20).

   • Put a hook in their jaw and draw them into Your trap (Ezek. 38:4; Mic. 4:11-13).

   • Thank You that the riots against the Iranian regime over the death of a Kurdish-Iranian woman's "improper" wearing of her hijab, have spread globally (Psa. 103:6).

   • May this be the straw that breaks the back of Iran's demonic regime (Psa. 37:10; Jer. 49:38b).

   • Use the growing Iranian Body of Messiah to pray in a way that contributes to the downfall of the spiritual forces that are propping up Iran's current government (Eph. 6:10-12, 18).

   • Let all of this wickedness block any advancing of the Iranian nuclear deal (Lam. 3:37).

   • Drain the Iranian regimes' financial resources (Jam. 5:1-6).

   • Break all ties between Iran and its various proxies in the Middle East and globally (Psa. 129:5).

   • Use the death of this woman to show the various Kurdish factions in many Middle Eastern Arab nations that it is time to humble themselves and work together (Job 22:29; Prov. 29:23).

   • Prepare the IDF to deal directly with Iran when You say "go!" (Prov. 21:31).

   • Download major breakthroughs which will advance Israel's development of new offensive and defensive weapons systems – especially in the area of lasers and cyberwarfare.

   • Give the IDF's Iranian Command out-of-the-box thinking and plans which will destroy Iran's ability to attack Israel (Josh. 5:13-6:5; Isa. 31:4-5).

   • Enable there to be total unity between Israel's government and its military leaders when the time comes for it to deal with Iran, Hizbullah and all other Iranian proxies (Psa. 133:1-3; Isa. 11:13-15).

7. Water:

   Here is a wonderfully encouraging verse in Shabbat's prophetic portion: Be glad then, children of Zion, and rejoice in YHWH your God: for He has given you the former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down…the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. (Joel 2:23)

   • Lord, let it rain on Your nation, not because it deserves it, but because of who You are (Matt. 5:45b).

   • Invigorate Your weary inheritance by sending plenty of water this rainy season (Psa. 68:9).

8. IFI:

   Thank you for standing with us in prayer and in many other ways. YHWH who made heaven and earth bless you out of Zion. (Psa. 134:3)

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team