1. Praise:

   Shabbat's prophetic portion concludes with Isaiah's declaration of the birth and rule of God the Son: For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end; upon David's throne, and upon his kingdom, to establish and to sustain it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of YHWH of hosts will perform this. (Isa. 9:6-7)

   • Lord Yeshua – we praise You for being that human child who was born, as well as God's Son whom He gave to the world because of His love (Luke 2:11-12; John 3:16).

   • King Messiah, considering that "name" in the Bible is often synonymous with "essential nature," we are so grateful and full of praise for this revelation of who You are (Isa. 7:14; John 20:28).

   • To us who believe, You are our Prince of peace – and so much more (John 14:27; 16:33; Rom. 5:1).

   • We thank You that as we allow Your rule over us to increase – our peace increases (Luke 6:46-49).

   • Bless You for giving us the gift of a peace that passes all understanding as we pray (Phil. 4:6-7).

   • Abba, we praise You for Your zeal which will make sure that Your Son reigns upon King David's throne to the ends of the earth (Num. 14:21; Psa. 8:1; 72:19; Isa. 6:3; Hab. 2:14; Zech. 2:10-12)!

   • From the prophetic reading: Holy, holy, holy, is YHWH of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory. (Isa. 6:3) Amen! And we bless You for the times when You open our minds to perceive this.

   • Thank You Lord that in fearing You we need not fear anything else (Psa. 86:11; Jer. 32:40).

2. Government:

   The more we hear the insane and uncalled-for rage against the proposed judicial reform – from Israelis, Jews and Israelis in exile, the US administration, the left-wing media, Israel's opposition politicians, as well as its judges, lawyers, Supreme Court, and many others – the more we see that this reform must happen as this was one of the reasons why the current government, under Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, was elected overwhelmingly by a majority of Israeli Jews.

   • Lord, do not let the accusations of wanting to destroy democracy, which are being shouted from the rooftops against this coalition, stop it from doing all that is from You for Israel (Psa. 31:20).

   • Block all manipulation and witchcraft from hindering the government from doing all those things that are Your will for it (Num. 23:23; Psa. 118:6; Isa. 46:10).

   • Strengthen the coalition members against the media and international anti-God onslaught that comes in response to any plans which are in line with Your will (Isa. 54:17).

   • Concerning the judicial reform, let it be passed – modified if and as needed – so that it ends up being a gift from You to help Israel become a more righteous nation (Isa. 1:26; 32:1b; 60:17b; Ezek. 45:8).

   • Use the judicial reform as a answer of prayer to see the fulfillment of Isaiah 1:25-27.

   • As some big companies pull out, or threaten to pull out, monies from Israel over the possible judicial reform, Lord move counterintuitively and bless Israel's economy abundantly (Deut. 28:8).

   • Let Netanyahu take the God-inspired advice which Jethro gives Moses in Shabbat's Torah portion and surround himself with able men, God-fearers, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over [Israel]…letting them judge the people at all times: (Ex. 18:21-22a)

   • Do not allow Bibi to put his foot on the brake of anything that is of You at this time (Prov. 21:1).

   • In Your zeal, establish and sustain a righteous government in Israel today (Isa. 9:7b).

   • Use the outside attacks against the coalition to draw all the ministers closer together (Eccl. 4:9-12).

   • Encourage Israel's current governmental leaders to do that which they said they would do in their election campaigns (Deut. 23:23; Matt. 5:37).

   • Lord, we look to You to shield all ministers from ungodly advice and influence (Prov. 20:24).

   • Expose any plans of Israel's opposition to overthrow the current government (Job 12:22).

   • Give the police and National Security Minister Ben-Gvir wisdom and unity on how to not allow the demonstrations against Bibi and the coalition's judicial reform plans to turn into riots (1 Tim. 2:1-4).

3. Internal security:

   In line with God's clear directives to Israel – we continue to pray for the new coalition to extend Israel's sovereignty over all of the land west of the Jordan River.

   • As many of Israel's current leaders read the Torah portion, may the promise in this command cause them to desire to possess all that You have given to Israel: Honor your father and mother so that your days may be long on the land which YHWH your God gives you. (Ex. 20:12)

   • Remind them that this gift of the land was written by the finger of God etched in stone (Ex. 31:18)!

   • Aid Israel to tear down all illegal Arab buildings on Your land despite the hypocritical outcry of the nations who would be irate if another nation interfered with their internal affairs (Psa. 9:19-20).

   • Encourage Israel to do this even in the face of the threats of massive violence from the Palestinians and use our intercessions before You like the blasts of the silver trumpets in Numbers 10:9.

   • Show Israel's leaders clearly that whatever they do to further Your plans will be criticized, so they might as well do it and trust You to protect and prosper Your resurrected nation (Psa.33:10-12).

   • Lord, destroy once and for all any hope of a Palestinian State in Your land (Isa. 14:29-30)

   • Yet save many Palestinians before the remainder are cast out from Your land (Psa. 10:16; 101:8).

   • Guide and protect Israel's security forces as they battle against terrorism (Psa. 140:7; Isa. 41:10-16).

   • Anoint Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to know what Israel should do what it should not do to protect all of its civilians (Prov. 21:31).

   • Edit all commands from the IDF leadership so that they are very clear to those who are supposed to carry them out in the field (1 Cor. 14:8).

   • Lord God, we ask for You to root out from many Arabs the foundations of the hatred against Your people today – the spirits of anti-Semitism and of fundamentalist Islam (Psa. 83:1-4).

   • Protect and prosper all of Israel's spies and collaborators among the Palestinians (Josh. 6:17, 25).

4. External security:

   Israel has sent help to Turkey and Syria after the deadly earthquakes that have hit those nations. May God use this to show many Turks and Syrians how they have been fed lies concerning Israel and the Jews. Meanwhile, Iran remains a danger to Israel and much of the rest of the world and still talks about renewing that evil Obama nuclear deal.

   • Lord, have mercy and send many dreams and visions of Your Son to the people in Turkey and Syria who are suffering so severely (Rom. 8:28).

   • Let the truth of Israel's quick response to help not be hidden by anti-Israel politicians (Luke 12:2).

   • May many respond as Jethro did in Shabbat's Torah portion: Now I know that YHWH is greater than all gods… (Ex. 18:11a; cp. Gen. 21:22; 26:26-28).

   • Protect all of Israel's rescue teams and doctors (Psa. 121:4) and use them miraculously (Psa. 96:3).

   • Shield Israel from all attempts by Iran or Hizbullah in Lebanon to use this disaster as a distraction to ship weapons to Syria or as a diversion under which to attack Israel (Deut. 33:29; Psa. 3:3).

   • Lord, if Israel needs to destroy Hizbullah, reveal to it very clearly as to when and how and also show it how to pre-empt this very dangerous enemy (Psa. 144:1; Prov. 21:31; 1 Cor. 14:8).

   • We much prefer that You destroy this "northern army" – so as we pray, please do that (Joel 2:17-21).

   • Abba, send huge earthquakes under every Iranian nuclear facility, and destroy them all (Psa. 18:7).

   • Also send dark clouds of confusion into the thinking of every Iranian leader and scientist who hates Israel and the Jews (Psa. 129:5), resulting in huge accidents and internal divisions (Psa. 55:9).

   • Destroy Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp – the military and financial arm of the ayatollahs.

   • We bless You for building Your Body in Iran, and ask You to use them for Your glory (Jer. 49:38a).

   • Now Lord, fulfill the next part of that verse and destroy Iran's wicked leadership (Jer. 49:38b).

   • Use the praises and prayers of Iran's believers to tear down the foundations of Islam (Matt. 16:18b).

   • Lord, prevent Israel's security forces from putting too much trust in Artificial Intelligence to bolster their ability to protect Your nation; instead let them trust in You – the Real Intelligence (Psa. 20:7-9).

5. Aliyah:

   There's coming a day when not one Jew will live outside of Israel (Ezek. 39:28). Only God knows whether that will happen before or soon after Messiah's return, yet regardless of the timing, this seems to indicate that all Jews will either be in Israel – or dead. And so we pray with a sense of urgency for most of them to return today.

   • Thank You for increasing the number of people making aliyah over the last number of years and we ask for many more than the 75,000 who came home in 2022 to return in 2023 (Jer. 31:8; 32:37).

   • Let the new government zealously prepare the ground for all new immigrants [olim], and to aid them to settle throughout Your land – from the river to the sea (Jer. 32:43-44; 33:12-14).

   • Use the earthquakes to shake the Jewish community in Turkey out of exile (Psa. 107:3).

   • Shake out all Jews who can freely return today, and can bring their wealth with them (Isa. 60:9).

   • May the increase in the West of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic attacks be more widely reported and taken to heart by every Jew who thinks it is more dangerous in Israel (Jer. 31:10).

   • Show all the Jews who live in exile and criticize Israel, not liking what it is doing especially at this time, that they can impact this nation better by coming home, becoming Israeli and then voting.

   • Show all Jews who do love Israel yet think they can do more for it by remaining among the gentile nations – that that time is over (Jer. 51:6-10).

   • Lord Yeshua, place Your burden for aliyah upon Your Body worldwide (Jer. 32:41).

   • Let wealthy Christians help to carry Your people home (Isa. 49:22; Isa. 60:3-11; Rom. 15:27).

   • God of Israel, remove the roadblocks that the Jewish Agency and Nefesh b'Nefesh have against Messianic Jews making aliyah (Isa. 62:10).

   • At the same time Lord, place a godly desire in Messianic Jews to come home (Psa. 137:4-6).

6. Salvation:

   Yeshua was very clear that if people did not believe Moses, then they could not believe in Him (John 5:46-47). The Torah reading contains a verse that is foundational to this: YHWH said to Moses, 'Behold, I come unto you in a thick cloud that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever'. (Ex. 19:9a)

   • Lord, show Your people their need to believe in Moses more than their rabbis (Psa. 119:97-99).

   • Impart a love for Your Word into the hearts of Jews – especially those back in the land (Jer. 15:16)

   • As you do not change, let them see that You still require bloodshed to atone for sins (Lev. 17:11).

   • Move Jews away from establishing their own forms of righteousness (Rom. 10:1-3), and instead to understand that You declared Abraham righteous because he believed/trusted in You (Gen. 15:6)

   • Then give them revelation to see Yeshua as the Lamb of God who bears the sin of all who put their trust in Him (Psa. 2:12; Isa. 53:4-5; John 1:29; 3:16).

   • We bless You that there are more Jews who follow Yeshua as Messiah today than any time since the book of Acts, yet we still pray, YHWH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel. (Jer. 31:7)

   • Save a huge remnant of Israel's politicians, both left and right wing; its judges and lawyers; doctors and nurses; professors and teachers; IDF personnel in all branches; its security forces; criminals in jail and those who guard them; sex traffickers and their victims; many in the LGBTQ+ community; movie and TV stars and models; Jewish youth seeking for truth; hippies of all ages; rabbis in all of the sects of Judaism; religious Jews who have abandoned rabbinic Judaism; Jews in exile in all of the above groups; Jews in mixed marriages; and unsaved loved ones of Messianic Jews (Rom. 11:26).

7. Body of Messiah:

   In these increasingly chaotic and confusing times, we need to claim what Yeshua stated – that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27). This need is especially great in Israel where we will soon see an incredible revival and will need to be ready to disciple new believers.

   • Lord, train us to know Your voice by hearing it as we read Your Word and gaining discernment to know Your voice from our own voice or the voice of the enemy (John 8:47).

   • Messiah, show ministers throughout the world how to train the Body to do the work of the ministry as that is why You gifted the Body with these ministries in the first place (Eph. 4:8-16).

   • God, help us to acknowledge our need to fear You with a godly fear (Ex. 20:20; Deut. 10:12; Job 28:28; Isa, 8:13; Luke 7:16; 2 Cor. 7:1; Eph. 5:21; Heb. 10:31; 12:28; 1 Pet. 2:17; Rev. 19:5).

   • We rejoice King Yeshua, that You showed Isaiah Your glory, and immediately Your fear fell on him (Isa. 6:5): In the year that king Uzziah died I also saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. (Isa. 6:1; cp. John 12:41)

8. Water:

   We have had a wet and cold week here in Israel – including snow falling on Mount Hermon and the higher places in His land. Israelis are always excited to see snow and also many do understand that water from heaven is a gift from God. Thank you for praying for this.

   • Please Lord, use this to refresh Your inheritance (Psa. 68:9).

   • Let it also be a witness to Your people that You are living God who really does care for them (Isa. 41:17-20; Jer. 14:22; Ezek. 34:26).

9. IFI:

   We truly appreciate and treasure your prayers as you hold up our arms in the battle. Thank you also for all the other ways you support this ministry.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team

Psa. 134:3