1. Praise:

   While we are about to enter into a new year, God dwells in eternity, outside of space and time where all of time is before Him – at the same time! And God, who knows the end from the beginning, has chosen us before creation to be His family in Messiah Yeshua.

   • Abba, we praise You for revealing to us that Your love is eternal (Jer. 31:3; 2 Thess. 2:13-16).

   • Thank You for choosing us in Messiah Yeshua before creation, for foreordaining us to be Your adopted children in Him (Eph. 1:4-5), and for preparing works for us to fulfill (Eph. 2:10).

   • To know that You knew us before we were created in the womb (Jer. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:9) is one more reason to trust You – even when we do not understand what You are doing (Prov. 3:5).

   • We exalt You because while we do not know what the future holds – we know You, the One who holds, and controls, the future (Psa. 90:1-2; Isa. 42:9).

   • What blessed assurance we have in knowing that our times are in Your hands and that You have a hope and a future for each of us individually, and for Your nation, Israel (Psa. 31:15; Jer. 29:11).

   • We praise You knowing that as You exist in eternity, nothing takes You by surprise (Psa. 139:1-6).

   • Lord, we rest in the revelation that You are the same, yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

   • Thank You for renewing Your covenant-faithfulness and love to us every morning (Lam. 3:22-23).

   • Messiah Yeshua, precious Word of God, thank You for humbling Yourself and becoming a man so that God the Father would be glorified through You and then through us (John 1:14; Phil. 2:5-13).

2. Government:

   Israel's new coalition government under Prime Minister [PM] Bibi Netanyahu was sworn in this past Thursday. Meanwhile, most of the news reports and rumors of what will or will not be done, aim at increasing fear and resistance to his new coalition. Yet these reported moves, which most of Israel's headlines and opposition politicians scream about, are moves in line with God's revealed will, so we continue to ask God to rule over the new government for His name's sake.

   • Lord, thank You for being a God who hears and answers our prayers (Psa. 50:15; 1 John 5:14-15).

   • Bless Israel with an effective, stable government – for the glory of Your name (Psa. 148:13-14).

   • God, Netanyahu's heart is in Your hand, so turn it into the paths that please You (Prov. 21:1).

   • Work a miracle and bring real unity between all the parties in the new coalition (Jer. 32:17, 27).

   • Arise and conquer egos (Mic. 7:19b), and bring about a real desire to do what is best for the nation and not what is best for one's own personal political career (Deut. 16:18-20; Psa. 82:3-4).

   • Arrange the priorities of this coalition to line up with Your priorities (Prov. 16:1, 9; 19:21).

   • As the coalition begins to work together, guide Bibi in how to use the reins to hold the coalition together and to know when to use a "whip" to drive it forward (Psa. 32:9; Jam. 3:3).

   • Protect him and all the other coalition members from manipulation and deception (Num. 23:23).

   • Deafen them to the tirades of the humanistic spirit from within and outside of Israel (Psa. 38:13).

   • Please Lord, continue to strain out the political dross and create more righteousness (Isa. 1:25-27).

   • Show all of the new ministers that they need patience as they will not be able to accomplish all of their stated goals at once (Psa. 37:7; Heb. 6:12).

   • Guide the coalition to move more in line with biblical truth than rabbinic tradition (Psa. 119:105).

   • Set Your fear in the hearts of Israel's new leadership (Job 28:28; Prov. 1:7; Eccl. 12:13).

   • [Likud's Amir Ohana who is the new Knesset Speaker, a very influential role in the government, is openly gay, yet he appears to be a man of much integrity and is a firm backer of Bibi.] Lord, we ask that You quickly save Ohana and his "husband" and set them free from their sin (Matt. 9:10-13).

   • Provide godly counselors to every minister in the government (Prov. 11:14; 15:22).

   • Bring the leaders of the new coalition and the heads of the IDF and Israel's other security forces into agreement about who is supposed to set policy – which should be the elected officials (Rom. 13:1-4).

   • Change whatever laws should be changed so that Israel's Supreme Court will also be submitted to the laws that the Knesset [Israel's parliament] makes and not be able to overturn any laws because it does not line up with their mainly left-wing, liberal and anti-biblical worldviews (Deut. 16:18).

   • [Here is a list of ministers in Israel's new coalition government]

3. Foreign relations:

   We already hear threats and demands from the US administration, the EU, the UN and other foreign elements concerning what the new government should do or not do, especially in relation to Judea and Samaria. Israel needs God's wisdom in respect to its relations with these "friends" and all the other nations as well.

   • Lord, guide Israel to be that prophesied nation set apart from all the other nations (Num. 23:9b).

   • You are already making Jerusalem a cup of trembling to the nations, so give Israel clear guidance as to when it will be time for it to withdraw from the UN (Zech. 12:2-3).

   • Protect Israel from any anti-biblical advice it receives from its so-called "friends" (Psa. 33:10-11).

   • Give to Netanyahu and Eli Cohen, the new foreign minister, an excellent working relationship, and help Cohen to learn from Bibi's vast experience in this field of international diplomacy (2 Tim. 2:2).

   • Impart wisdom to them in dealing with Ukraine and Russia and China (Prov. 8:14-16; Matt. 10:16).

   • Give them godly discernment to understand the real motives of international leaders (Dan. 2:22).

   • May Israel's foreign policy decisions not be based on international pressure, but on what is best for Israel – which obviously will be that which lines up with Your Word (Neh. 2:20).

   • Continue exposing the EU's underhanded dealings in Israel's Area C, which is legally under total Israeli control according to the Oslo Accords, and let Israel's response be very strong, very public and very embarrassing for the hypocrites in Brussels (Matt. 12:36; Jude 1:15).

   • Awaken the church in nations that curse Israel to stand in the gap and plead for mercy (Ezek. 22:30).

4. Internal security:

   The Palestinian Authority [PA] was already using the new coalition, before it had even been established, to proclaim all sorts of blasphemous lies about Israel.

   • Abba, we condemn all of the PA's lies and ask You to make them totally ineffective (Isa. 54:17).

   • Lord, as they consistently curse Israel, please watch over Your word and let them reap what they are trying to sow (Gen. 12:3a; 27:29b; Num. 24:9b; Prov. 16:4; Gal. 6:7).

   • Send confusion and disunity into the midst of all Palestinian terror groups who hate Israel and want to murder every Jew wherever they live – as per Hamas' charter (Psa. 40:14-15; 129:5).

   • Increase the discord inside the PA as they fight over who takes control once Abbas dies (Psa. 40:14).

   • Lord, thank You for enabling Israel's security forces to consistently stop terror attacks (Prov. 21:31).

   • Continue providing the accurate intelligence they need to save innocent lives (Psa. 121:4).

   • Bless and protect those who provide this intelligence used by Israel (Josh. 2:4, 15, 23-24).

   • Guide this information to the right place and be interpreted accurately (Acts 23:12-22).

   • Watch over the new government's commitment to expand the "settlements" in Judea and Samaria and may they be quickly filled with Israelis (Jer. 33:10-14).

   • Release Your angelic protection to provide increased safety on Israel's roads – from traffic accidents and from various terror attacks (Psa. 91:11-12).

   • Pour out Your Spirit among the Palestinians, saving many of them and then using them to provoke many Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11).

5. External security:

   Iran and its proxies are the main external threat to Israel today.

   • We trust in You who continues to guard over Israel regardless of who leads the nation (Psa. 121:4).

   • Aid Netanyahu and Israel's new Defense Minister Yoav Galant to quickly be brought up to speed on all intelligence surrounding Iran and its anti-Zionist activities (Jer. 11:18; 49:10).

   • Unite Netanyahu, Galant and, as of mid-January, the IDF new Chief of Staff Hertzi Halevi, into a strong threefold cord (Eccl. 4:12b).

   • Help Israel to navigate the confusing responses to the Iranian threat from the West (1 Cor. 14:33).

   • Continue shaking Iran socially, physically, financially and spiritually until the Iranians are set free from their current evil Islamic Shi'ite overlords (Job 9:4-8; 38:12-13; Psa. 18:6-7).

   • Use the Iranian Church like a wrecking ball against the foundations of Islam in Iran (Jer. 49:38).

   • Provide accurate intelligence and insight concerning Hizbullah in Lebanon (Prov. 21:31; Obad. 1:6).

   • If Israel needs to pre-empt Hizbullah, may it be so overwhelming that Your fear would fall on all of the nations in the Middle East who are not in alliance with Israel (Ex. 14:25b; 2 Chr. 17:10).

6. Aliyah:

   So far over 70,000 new immigrants [olim] have come to Israel in 2022. While some have left, the vast majority has stayed – and for that we are most grateful.

   • Thus says Lord YHWH, 'Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the gentiles… will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land'; (Ezek. 37:21) Amen!

   • Lord, the majority of Jews still remain in exile, so we pray for a larger aliyah in 2023 (Isa. 43:5-7).

   • Move especially on the Jews trapped in their deceptive "comfort zones" in the West (Zech. 8:7).

   • Chase them back either by Your hunters or draw them back in Your mercy (Jer. 16:16; 31:3).

   • Send forth many angels to pull many Jews out of their particular Sodom (Gen. 19:15-16).

   • Reunite Jewish families in Israel who have families scattered among the gentiles (Jer. 31:10).

   • Abba, we pray for many more Jews to return to their land so that they can meet their Messiah (Jer. 32:37-40; Zech. 12:10) and through their salvation You can be glorified (Psa. 115:1-3; Isa. 45:22-25).

   • Give the new government the same sense of urgency and high priority concerning aliyah and the successful absorption of Jews back to Your land that You give it (Jer. 32:41).

   • Enable them to provide all that is needed to help the olim come and be rooted in Israel (Isa. 37:31).

   • Use Bibi's burden of connecting the periphery of Israel with its center to settle new olim throughout the country, from the Galilee and the Golan to the Jordan Valley and in all of Judea and Samaria, as well as in the south in the Negev and along the Gaza periphery (Jer. 32:42-44; Obad. 1:19-20).

   • Let the illegal houses being built by the EU for the Palestinians in Area C eventually go to housing tens of thousands of new Jewish olim (Ezek. 36:8-12).

7. Salvation:

   In the Torah portion, Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers (Gen. 45:1-4). We trust that Yeshua also did that over the past weeks of Chanukah and Christmas. Pray for these new believers as they start their adventure of walking with and living for their King Messiah.

   • Lord, You are now their personal Shepherd, so lead them in paths for Your name's sake (Psa. 23:3b).

   • Train each one to be able to hear Your voice (John 10:2-5, 27).

   • Lead them into fellowships where they can be built up into mature disciples (Eph. 4:11-16).

   • Prevent them from being deceived by "well-meaning" Christians who tell them, or teach them, that now since they believe in Israel's Messiah, they are no longer Jewish (1 Cor. 7:18).

   • Give all new believers a deep hunger to read – and trust in – Your Word (Jer. 15:16).

   • Use Your Word to produce all the fruits of the Spirit in their lives (Isa. 32:15; Gal. 5:22-23).

   • Fill them with Your Holy Spirit and release the gifts of the Spirit through them (1 Cor. 12:4-11).

   • Thank You for those who have served You by preparing the ground, planting seeds and pulling weeds in preparation for Your harvest among Your Jewish people (1 Cor. 3:6-7).

   • Bring all those seeds that have been planted and watered to fruition in 2023 (Luke 8:8).

8. Body of Messiah:

   One reason why gentiles are saved is to provoke Jews to jealousy (Rom. 11:11). In the Torah portion we see Pharaoh doing this through providing whatever Jacob needed to come and be rejoined with his son, Joseph (Gen. 45:17-18).

   • Lord Yeshua, we read how Jacob finally believed that his son was alive because gentiles sent him provisions to bring him to Joseph (Gen. 45:26-28). Show the gentile members of the Body that words alone will not be enough to draw the Jewish people to You – but faith with works will (Jam. 2:17-26).

   • Messiah Yeshua, remove the blindness from off gentile believers who do not see, or who refuse to see, their spiritual debt to the Jewish people (Rom. 11:29-32; 15:27).

   • Let them recognize how much they owe to a Jewish Savior, like we read in the Torah portion how the Egyptians recognized it and said to Joseph: You have saved our lives: let us find grace in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants. (Gen 47:25)

   • Re-graft many gentiles believers back into Israel's olive tree in which they are saved and from which they are to get their sustenance (Rom. 11:17-18).

   • Replace "replacement theology" and convict "New Testament believers" that they really need to be, especially in these last days, "Bible believers" (Acts 20:27: 2 Tim. 3:15-17).

   • [For a three part in-depth teaching on this topic, go here.]

9. Water:

   The rains have started to fall in earnest on His land – hallelujah!

   • Thank You for the rain throughout Your land and for the first snows on the Golan (Job 37:6).

   • Please protect Your people from flooding and deaths (Job 12:15).

   • Direct the rain to fall in all of the right places (Job 5:9-10; 36:26-29; 38:25-27).

10. IFI:

    As of this time no future IFI leader has been made know to us. Please ask God to give wisdom about what He is saying as IFI's current active leader, Chuck Cohen, has passed the 75 years-old stage. Also pray for God to provide for all of IFI's needs for this ministry to continue at this time, including finances, health and strength and encouragement. Thank you.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team

Rev. 22:21