1. Praise:

   We often read in the Bible the exhortation to fear not. In Shabbat's prophetic portion, God clearly states why we never need to fear: Fear not; for I am with you: do not be dismayed; for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness. (Isa. 41:10)

   • Lord Yeshua, thank You that You are with us and will never leave us nor forsake us (Matt. 28:20b).

   • We rejoice because as You are with us – we need not fear (Deut. 20:1; Psa. 46:1-2, 7, 11).

   • Since God is for us, we will not fear what man can do to us (Isa. 51:12-13; Rom. 8:31; Heb. 13:6)?

   • Lord Yeshua, we confess that You now sit at the right hand of the Father, and that You are His hand of righteousness hinted at in Isaiah 41:10 (Psa. 110:1; Isa. 45:24; 1 Cor. 1:30-31; 2 Cor. 5:21).

   • Abba, we bless You for nothing can separate us from Your love in Messiah Yeshua (Rom. 8:31-39).

   • Shepherd of Israel, we thank You for humbling Yourself and becoming the Incarnate Son of Man whom we now know as our King, Messiah Yeshua – our Lord and our God (Psa. 23:1; 80:1; John 10:11; 20:28; Phil. 2:5-11).

   • Regardless of the headlines, we rejoice that Zion's God reigns (Isa. 52:7).

   • Thank You for inviting us to come boldly into Your throne of grace to receive grace and mercy in a time of need – which we see is now for both Israel and Your Body (Heb. 4:14-16).

2. Government:

   Israel's elections are over, and now we need to pray concerning the negotiations between the parties to form a governing coalition under Bibi Netanyahu who is slated to become Israel's prime minister for the third time. Israelis voted for a right-wing Zionist government which is what they have done in all of the recent elections in Israel, yet because of hatred against Netanyahu, many "right-wing" politicians betrayed their voters and joined hands with who are in reality anti-Zionist, anti-land, left-wing parties.

   • Thank You for lifting "voter fatigue" off of Israelis and guiding them to vote for a right-wing Zionist government – which, with its many issues, is still closer to Your will than the alternative (Luke 11:2).

   • We ask You to please guide us as we pray for the formation of the new government (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

   • We are asking for a miracle – that the new coalition comes into being quickly (Jer. 32:17, 27).

   • Create a Bible-loving (Psa. 119:140), land-of-Israel honoring (Jer. 3:19), stable coalition.

   • Lord, may the negotiations between the parties takes place without any manipulation (Num. 23:23).

   • Oversee every aspect of the negotiations and use them to continue clearing out the dross in Israel's political scene and then filling those spaces with righteous men and women (Isa. 1:25-26).

   • Give Your wisdom to Bibi Netanyahu as he forms a coalition, in particular when it comes to handing out the various ministry portfolios (Ex. 31:3; Ezra 7:25; Prov. 2:7; 3:21).

   • Prevent Bibi from compromising the voters' wishes in anyway whatsoever (1 Kin. 18:21; Jam. 1:8).

   • Let more of Israel's leaders start looking to Your Word as the ultimate truth (Psa. 119:89, 152, 160).

   • Create a coalition that sees aliyah and security as their top priorities (Jer. 32:41-42; Rom. 13:1-4).

   • Anoint the next government to aggressively tackle the high cost of living in Israel (Prov. 8:14; 16:9).

   • Lord, show the new government the need to build in all of Your land (Jer. 32:43-44).

   • Empower them to tackle the issue of judicial reform and redirect Israel's Supreme Court and its other courts to be more in line with Your justice and righteousness, and not man's (Psa. 33:5; 72:1-2).

   • Block the media in Israel and worldwide from distorting and exaggerating the views of some of the more Zionistic politicians who will likely be part of the new coalition (Prov. 12:17; Zech. 8:16).

   • Create an Israeli government that is willing to stand against the pressure of the nations, especially its "friends," when it comes to doing what is right in Your sight (Prov. 21:1; Luke 21:15; Acts 4:19).

   • Place in authority those who will not bow down to the idol of America, but will recognize that Israel can survive without their help, yet will cease to exist without Yours (Psa. 62:8-9; Isa. 31:1).

   • Based on the last two requests, Lord God of Israel, increase Your fear and decrease the fear of man in every person who will make up the new Israeli coalition (Psa. 19:9; 25:14; Prov. 29:25).

   • Lord God, at this time, hedge in Israel's current transitional government so that it only touches that which is in Your will for it and nothing else (Psa. 33:10-11; Prov. 21:1).

3. Internal security:

   The Torah portion begins to tell Abraham's story. Included in this portion are numerous promises of God to give all the land of Canaan, and more, to Abraham and his descendants.

   • I will establish My covenant between me and you and your seed…for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to you, and your seed. And I will give you and your seed the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession…Gen. 17:7-8; cp. 12:7, 13:14-18; 15:7-21

   • Lord, as we read further, we see that circumcision is the sign of this covenant (Gen. 17:9-14), and we want to thank and bless You that the Jews have been obedient to keep this sign unto today.

   • Establish a government that will extend Israel's sovereignty over the land west of the Jordan Valley, including dealing with the illegal Palestinian building going on in Area C in that area (Obad. 1:17).

   • Give courage to Israel's next leadership to be able, in unity, to say to the world: The God of heaven, He will prosper us; therefore we His servants [+ worshippers] will rise up and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem. (Neh. 2:20) Amen!

   • Deafen Israel's political and military leaders to the demonic criticism that is aimed at it whenever it tries to defend itself, whether from the UN, the US, the EU, or others (Psa. 38:12-15; Isa. 42:19a).

   • Watch over Israel's security forces as they continue to battle terrorists in Judea and Samaria and in all other areas of Israel's land which You have promised to it (Psa. 3:1-8; 23:4-5).

   • Improve Israel's already excellent intelligence gathering so that all future planned terrorist attacks can be quenched before they get off the ground (Obad. 1:6; Luke 12:2).

   • Prevent the security forces from being weary in this constant endeavor to protect Israelis (Gal. 6:9).

   • Lord God of hosts – guide the new government to support its soldiers implicitly.

   • Enable the IDF to have all of its genuine needs met so that it can defend this nation (Isa. 41:15-16).

   • Increase Israel's cyberwarfare capabilities – both offensively and defensively (Jer. 51:20).

   • Surround the new IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi with anointed godly advisors (Prov. 20:18; 24:6).

   • Continue to prepare him for taking over the reins of the IDF in mid-January (Eccl. 2:26a).

   • Grant him excellent relations with Israel's next prime minister and defense minister (Eccl. 4:2).

4. External security:

   Iran is still being shaken internally which is a definite answer to prayer. They are also being exposed as liars concerning their nuclear weapons program, but so far very few nations – other than Israel and some other Middle East nations – appear to be too concerned.

   • Thank You Lord, that You tell Israel in the prophetic portion to fear not, as You will defeat all of its enemies by making Israel a very powerful army – which will give You the glory (Isa. 41:11-16).

   • Continue confounding Iran's thinking as it deals with internal and external crises (Psa. 129:5).

   • Use this confusion to cause a deep division between Iran and all of its proxies (Psa. 55:9).

   • Encourage and protect the Iranian demonstrators, and use them to bring their demonic regime to its final destruction (Ezek. 32:24-25).

   • We bless You for establishing Your throne in Iran via the building up of the Body of Messiah there (Matt. 16:18b) and ask that You would accomplish suddenly the reminder of that promise, destroying Iran's king and its princes (Jer. 49:38).

   • Guide the Church in Iran on how to pray for their nation and leaders at this time (Psa. 10:17; 19:14).

   • Lead them to pray for all new leaders to have a Cyrus-type of relationship with Israel (Isa. 44:28).

   • Protect and use all hidden believers who hold influential positions in Iran (Neh. 1:11; Est. 4:14).

   • Comfort and anoint mightily all Iranian believers who are in prison at this time, and allow their testimonies to save multitudes – sending shock waves against the spirit of Islam (Dan. 3:1-30).

   • We bless You that Iran's internal crisis has put a stop to any efforts to restart the wicked nuclear deal, at least at this time.

   • Do not allow the IDF to lower its guard against Hizbullah just because the deal with Lebanon on maritime borders has been signed, especially as Lebanon's government has just dissolved (Neh. 4:9).

   • Lord, arise and defend Israel against this very dangerous enemy to its north (Joel 2:17-21).

   • Let Hizbullah and the rest of Iran's proxies fall into the traps they are laying for Israel (Psa. 35:8).

   • Give the new government the type of wisdom You imparted to Solomon in relation to the maritime deal with Lebanon and in dealing with Iran as well (1 Kin. 3:28; 5:12).

5. Aliyah:

   It is extremely sad and unfortunate that most of the Western Church totally misses the centrality of aliyah as God's will today. Even in Shabbat's prophetic portion, God speaks about aliyah. But you, Israel, are My servant; Jacob whom I have chosen; the seed of Abraham My friend. I have taken you from the ends of the earth… (Isa. 41:8-9a)

   • Lord, we bless You for being alive to see You planting Your people back in Your land – with all of Your heart and all of Your soul (Jer. 32:41-44).

   • We ask that You remove anything – inside or outside of Israel – that dares to interfere with this end time prophetic action of Yours (Psa. 33:10-11; Isa. 62:10).

   • Oversee any attempt by parties in the new coalition to change the Law of Return so that if changed, it is 100% in line with Your will – and if not, forbid any changes whatsoever (Prov. 19:21).

   • Use the new Israeli coalition to clear the pathways for all Jews who want to return regardless of their financial status, skin-color, their religious belief, missing documentation, etc. (Jer. 3:18; 23:8).

   • Clear the way for Jews to have licenses and college degrees readily accepted in Israel (Psa. 90:17).

   • Remove all fear from the Jews in the exile and replace it with a sense of adventure as they make the commitment to come home (Num. 14:6-9; Deut. 1:25).

   • Release more fishers and hunters to draw or chase Your people home today (Jer. 16:16; Zech. 2:6).

   • Release all Jews who are trapped by their current nations from being able to leave (1 Chr. 16:21).

   • Release all Jews who are trapped by their comforts and wealth in today's Babylon (Jer. 51:6-10).

   • Speak to many influential Jews in the West to consider becoming influential from Israel (Isa. 2:3b).

   • With the rise of the new pro-Palestinian, pro-Iranian Brazilian leader, wake up Brazilian Jews to return to Israel as soon as possible (Isa. 43:5-7; Obad. 1:20b).

6. Salvation:

   In the Torah portion, Abraham meets Melchizedek, a type of Messiah Yeshua who is our High Priest before our Most High God, who was also Abraham's God as well.

   • Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of the Most High God. And he blessed [Abram], saying, 'Blessed be Abram of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the Most High God who has delivered your enemies into your hand'. And Abram gave [Melchizedek] tithes of all.Gen. 14:18-20

   • Abba, as Your people read this passage, show them that even Father Abraham submitted to a priest who was a representative of Abraham's God (Psa. 110:4; Heb. 7:1-17).

   • Reveal to unsaved Jews that belief (faith, trust) in God, makes one righteous (Gen. 15:6; cp. Rom. 10:1-4 [Note: The word in Romans 10:4 often translated as "end" should be translated as "goal".])

   • Remove Your veil from many of thousands of Jews who have recently come home (Jer. 32:37-40)

7. Body of Messiah:

   Why is there such a lack of biblical teaching on the topic of Israel in most of today's Church? Is it fear of being non-politically correct? Is it a fear of dividing the congregation? Do Church elders erroneously think that to be pro-Israel is to be anti-Arab? Or is it an insidious spirit of anti-Semitism that has set up shop in the Church even from the days of the New Testament?

   • Lord, reveal to every born-again preacher and teacher the intimate link between Your initial promise to Father Abraham and the gospel to the gentiles (Gen. 12:3b; cp. Gal. 3:8).

   • For those who know the truth yet refuse to speak it for whatever reason, confront them with Your Word as found in Jeremiah 20:9 and Galatians 4:16.

   • Lord, not sharing about Israel, which is a huge part of the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), stains the Body with huge spots and wrinkles. Please cleanse Your Body – for Your sake (Jude 1:24-25).

   • Let more believers see Your prophetic words coming to life through Israel's restoration (Isa. 43:5-7; Jer. 30:1-3; Ezek. 36:23-36; Amos 9:13-15).

   • With a new Israeli government which will be more right-wing than what most Western nations have, Lord pour out wisdom on every Christian-Zionist to know how to respond – especially in prayer for Your nation and people.

8. Water:

   We just heard a report that the Sea of Galilee is about full – hallelujah!

   • We rejoice and thank You that Israel is not entering into its rainy season fearing a drought as it had done so many times in the recent past (Psa. 104:13a).

   • Still Lord, we ask You for more rain as You told us to do in Zechariah 10:1.

   • Please visit Your land with water now – preparing it for the heavier rains to come (Psa. 65:9).

9. IFI:

   Please pray that God will give us fresh grace and a new anointing for the battles still to come. Now that the elections are over, we still desperately need Him to lead us in prayer. Also ask our Lord to continue supplying IFI's needs – physically, mentally, emotionally and financially.

Thank you, Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team

Psa. 134:3