1. Praise:

   Tomorrow, the 8th day of Sukkot is known as Simchat Torah – the rejoicing of God's Law, or a more accurate translation – His Teaching/His Word. And it is His Word, both written and Living, which provides us all that we need to live with, and for, Him in these days.

   • We bless You for Your Word giving us a revelation of who You are, as without it we would never conceive of God as a loving Father: He loved the people; all His saints are in Your hand: and they sat down at Your feet; everyone shall receive of Your words. (Deut. 33:3 from Shabbat's Torah reading)

   • Thank You Lord Yeshua for revealing to us, in bodily form, God Almighty (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:1-3).

   • We praise You for giving us in Your Word an overview of what You are doing today (2 Pet. 1:19-21). [Towards the end of his life, Derek Prince was asked by a US Senator what he thought God was doing in today's world. He responded that God is restoring Israel and judging the nations!]

   • Thank You for watching over Your Word to make sure it is accomplished (Isa. 55:11; Jer. 1:12).

   • We bless You for the comfort we receive in, and by, Your Word (Psa. 23:4; 94:19; 119:50, 76, 82).

   • We rejoice that the wisdom contained in Your Word, taught to us by Your Spirit, is exactly what we need to live a life that is pleasing unto You (Prov. 1:2; 4:5; Jer. 8:9; 1 Cor. 2:13; Col. 3:16).

   • Thank You that Your Word and Your Spirit work together to accomplish Your will – in us as well as in the world (2 Sam. 23:2; Prov. 1:23; Isa. 59:21).

   • We praise You that Your Word is spiritual food and the joy and rejoicing of our heart (Jer. 15:16).

   • Thank You for the verses of encouragement, like Joshua 1:9 in the prophetic portion: Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid or dismayed, for YHWH your God is with you wherever you go."

   • We bless You that Your Word is true and the truth, and while in today's world truth is relative, our Messiah Yeshua was very clear that Your Word is the truth (John 17:17; cp. Psa. 119:89).

2. Salvation:

   When we pray for Jews to be saved, their salvation is not our ultimate goal, but our goal is that through Israel's salvation – God will be glorified (Psa. 79:9; 85:9; Isa. 46:13)!

   • Thank You Lord Yeshua for teaching us that God's glory should always be our goal, whether in our prayers or in our lives (Matt. 5:16; John 12:27-28; 17:1, 5; Rom. 15:6; Phil. 2:5-11).

   • Send forth laborers into the harvest field of Your people at this season (Luke 10:2).

   • Abba, as Your people rejoice during Simchat Torah, elevate all of the Tanach [Old Testament] in their hearts and minds to be seen as Your Word (Psa. 18:30; 56:4; 119:89, 97-100, 105, 130).

   • Also, use that to restore the Tanach's portrait of Your Messiah (Deut. 18:18-19; Isa. 53:1-3).

   • Lord God Almighty, save a huge remnant of Israel for Your holy name's sake (Jer. 31:7b; 33:6-9).

   • We specifically ask for a remnant of the following groups to be saved: Jews in every religious sect, including the Haredi [ultra-Orthodox]; Religious Zionists and other Jews living in Judea and Samaria; secular Jews worldwide; those who recently immigrated; Israeli and other Jewish politicians; Jews in non-Western nations; IDF personnel in all branches and all ranks; Jewish doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers, professors, and students; hi-tech workers; archeologists; tour guides; Jews seeking truth via the occult; alcoholics, drug and sex-addicts; Jews in LGBTQ+ communities; Israeli anti- government demonstrators; terrorism survivors and families; families of terrorist victims; Holocaust survivors and families; Jews plagued with survivor's guilt; loved ones of Messianic Jews, including gentiles married to them and their children (Psa. 16:7; 53:6; Jer. 31:31-34).

   • Anoint Messianic Jews and Christians to be a light in Israel's society (Psa. 36:7-10; Phil. 2:15).

3. Aliyah:

   God's ingathering of His people is basically for His glory (Isa. 43:5-7). We emphasize this as much of the true Church, at least in the West, is deaf and blind to this connection because of a lack of being taught the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27), which comprised only the Tanach when Paul said this to the elders of Ephesus!

   • Lord, thank You for the 66,000 new immigrants [olim] who came since last year's feasts, yet for Your holy name's sake, please miraculously increase that number this year (Ezek. 36:22-28).

   • Show Western Jews how essential it is that they flee "Babylon" today to save their lives and the lives of their loved ones – even if they need to forsake their "comfortable" lifestyles (Jer. 51:6-10).

   • Send an incurable homesickness upon all Israelis who dwell in the nations today (Isa. 62:4-5).

   • God, scatter Your "enemies" which invade Jewish hearts, causing so many to not even consider making aliyah (Psa. 68:1; 89:10-11).

   • King Messiah, amend Israel's Law of Return so that those with only Jewish fathers will be legally recognized as fully Jewish as they make aliyah (Gen. 49:1-2, 28; Ruth 4:18-22).

   • Spread new olim throughout the length and breadth of Your land (Jer. 33:12-14).

   • Root them so deeply into Your land that they will never be uprooted again (Amos 9:14-15).

   • Let Israel extend its sovereignty over more of its land in order that there will be more than enough room for all of the olim You are bringing home, both now and in the near future (Isa. 43:5-7; 54:2-3).

   • Lord Yeshua, speak to every Israeli who has been saved in exile to come home (Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

   • Also Lord, use believers who see the centrality to Your kingdom purposes of aliyah today to be like leaven wherever they are in Your Body (Matt. 13:33).

   • Let them also see that praying about aliyah is like a marathon and to not stop or be discouraged, but to pray and not to faint (Luke 18:1; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:1b)

4. Government & society:

   Most of Israel is still shocked by the radical secular Jews who stopped other Jews, both secular and religious, from openly praying together in Tel Aviv on Yom Kippur, and again during Sukkot. While public prayer during the feasts has been done for years without any problems, yet this year the "liberal" city of Tel Aviv banned prayer if men and women prayed apart as is traditional in Orthodox Jewry. Yet no one was forcing anyone to pray that way and many men and women were praying together. Did Satan overplay his hand?

   • Lord, use these very painful events to expose what the anti-Bibi/anti-government groups have sown with their aggressive intimidation, hatred and their illegal actions (Prov. 11:11).

   • Turn many of them to see the fruit of their anti-democratic, anti-Jewish acts (Psa. 85:4; Prov. 1:23).

   • Lord God, protect Your people from the spirits trying to divide them (Psa. 121:4; Jer. 31:10).

   • Cast out all spirits of hate that have infiltrated Israeli society (Prov. 10:18; 1 Tim. 4:1-2).

   • God, dry-up all outside sources of finances backing the anti-government demonstrations (Isa. 44:27).

   • Lord, for Your glory, please bring forth good from these demonstrations (Psa. 115:1-3; Rom. 8:28).

   • Anoint and use PM Bibi Netanyahu as long as You have him as Israel's leader (Jer. 27:5; Dan. 4:17).

   • Lord, show us who You are preparing to take Bibi's place so that we can pray for him (Amos 3:7).

   • Guide Israel's coalition to fulfill all for which You have created them and nothing else (Matt. 6:10).

   • Judge of the earth (Psa. 82:8), and Lord of all (Acts 10:36), overrule Israel's High Court's decisions' relating to the judicial reforms, and any other cases that come before them (Prov. 19:21).

   • Again we ask You to bring about Isaiah 1:25-27 as soon as possible.

5. Internal security:

   The Torah portion contains verses that are definitely not politically correct, yet they are God's command to Israel concerning its enemies: The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and He shall thrust out the enemy from before you, saying 'Destroy them'! Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of grain and wine, and His heavens shall drip down dew. Happy are you Israel; who is like you O people saved by YHWH, who is the shield of your help, and the sword of your majesty! And your enemies shall be found liars unto you and you shall tread upon their high places. (Deut. 33:27-29) Amen!

   • We ask You fulfill these verses for Your holy name's sake, while You also pour out great mercy on many Palestinians and save a remnant from them (Psa. 44:4-8; Isa. 41:14-16; Matt. 5:44).

   • Lord Yeshua, again we ask You to build up the Palestinian Church spiritually and numerically, and to anoint them to provoke both Arabs and Jews to jealousy (Matt. 16:18b-19; Rom. 11:11).

   • Create unity of purpose in Israel's political and military leaders in all security issues (1 Chr. 29:24).

   • Replace any leader who because of fear of what the nations may say, is not willing to wage total war against the Palestinian terrorists and their leaders (Ezek. 25:14; Rom. 13:3-4).

   • Guard IDF leaders from political ambitions which could distort their decisions (Prov. 29:23).

   • Raise up those "governors" [Modern Hebrew = generals] of Judah who will be an unstoppable force and gain a complete victory over Israel's enemies, especially in Judah and Samaria (Zech. 12:6).

   • Stop Israel from giving financial help to prop-up the Palestinian Authority when it is the main source of terrorism and death against both Israelis and Palestinians (Prov. 1:21; 16:5).

   • Cause Israel's enemies to fall into the traps they always set for Your people (Psa. 35:8; Prov. 11:27).

   • Help Israel to provide increased protection on the roads against terror attacks (Psa. 121:8).

   • Increase the hatred and division in between all Palestinian terror groups (Zech. 14:13)

   • Continue to anoint Israel's skill to obtain and interpret intelligence correctly (Job 34:21-24; 42:2).

   • Show more Israelis that "peace" with the Palestinians based on them creating an Islamic state on Your land is totally anti-biblical and will lead to Your judgment (Lev. 25:23; Joel 3:1-2).

   • We rejoice that You affirm once again in the Torah reading of how You "swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" to give all of Your land to their descendants (Deut. 34:4a).

   • As Israelis read this, let faith rise up in them to demand that the government extend its sovereignty over the land – and to take back all lands which were foolishly given away to Your enemies (Josh. 1:2-3, 6 from the prophetic portion).

   • Use PA President Abbas' demand of all of Area C to push Israeli leaders to extend sovereignty over most, if not all of, that area (Jer. 31:3-5; 32:41-44; Zeph. 2:4-7).

   • We bless You for Israel's building of many new homes in Judea and Samaria (Isa. 54:2-3).

6. External security:

   Iran and its proxies remain Israel's main existential threats. Iran supports Israel's internal and external foes, and is moving forward with its nuclear weapons program and still supplies Russia with weaponry – yet most of the world treats Iran with kid-gloves.

   • Lord, it seems that only Israel is fighting Iran militarily, so we ask You to give Your army such supernatural success that the world must acknowledge Your presence with the IDF (Jer. 51:20-24).

   • Reestablish in Israel's enemies' minds a paralyzing fear of the IDF (Josh. 2:11; Ezek. 37:10).

   • Guide Israel both when and how to take pre-emptive action against Iran and its proxies (Josh. 10:8).

   • Use angelic hosts to protect all of Israel's borders, including the Mediterranean (2 Kin. 6:17).

   • Lord, also protect Israel's Lebanese border and if it needs to pre-empt Hizbullah and Hamas – who have also set up bases there – let it be in a way that brings You the glory (Mic. 4:11-13)

   • Impart wisdom to Israel in the use of Artificial Intelligence to defend itself (Prov. 8:12; 11:14)

   • Intensify Your shaking in Iran – physically, socially, financially and politically (Jer. 49:38b).

   • We bless our Iranian brothers and sisters, and again ask for You to guide them as they pray for their nation (1 Tim. 2:1-4), and for Israel (Psa. 122:6).

   • Protect the Iranian Body against any anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic spirits (Eph. 4:15-20).

   • Lord, if the Israel-Saudi Arabia normalization deal is of You, please oversee all the details, including the timing of when it should be done (Prov. 16:1, 9: Jer. 10:23).

   • If it is true that America is insisting that the Palestinians benefit from any deal while both Israel and Saudi Arabia are not wanting that – then block all US involvement whatsoever (Psa. 33:10-11).

   • Use the current internal political chaos in America to answer the above prayer (Job 5:12; Isa. 46:10).

   • Show both Israel and Saudi-Arabia how unreliable an ally America has become (Isa. 36:6).

   • Block Bibi from ending his career as Israel's leader by arranging something that would be good for his legacy – yet would not be good for Israel (Job 33:16-18, 27-28; Eccl. 7:8).

7. Body of Messiah:

   There is nothing more vital for the Body today than to know the full counsel of God – that is, all of God's Word. How else can we perceive the signs of the times in which we find ourselves other than by God's prophetic words, especially those found in the Tanach?

   • Reveal to Your Body how important a knowledge of the Tanach is in order to perceive what You are doing in the world today (Luke 24:25-27; 2 Tim. 3:1-17).

   • Expose the hypocrisy in the Body of trusting in and depending on You, Lord Yeshua, while not trusting in and depending on the only Bible that You had (Psa. 19:7; Isa. 8:20; Jer. 8:7-9).

   • Remind believers that You and all of the writers of the New Testament only had the Tanach as their proof texts to affirm that what they were declaring was Your truth (Luke 24:25-27; Acts 2:16).

   • Cleanse Your Body from all anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic teachings and tendencies – especially replacement and fulfillment theologies (Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:21-23).

8. Water:

   Israel is in its rainy season. We rejoice that so many Israelis see rain as a gift from God.

   • Thank You that so many Israelis perceive rain as a blessing from You (Isa. 41:17-20).

   • Lord, in mercy, pour out all of the water Israel needs and please protect Your land from floods and other rain-related damages (Job 12:15; Matt. 5:45b).

   • Use the rain as a witness to Your glory and draw many to You at this time (Job 5:9-10; 36:26-29).

   • We bless You for the breakthroughs in water technology which You have given Your nation and we thank You for Israel being so willing to share that with less fortunate nations (Deut. 28:11-13).

9. IFI:

   There was a Christian song that I used to listen to when I first got saved in the late 1970s that had the line, "We don’t know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future." That is so true and brings me much comfort whether I consider Israel or IFI's situations. Thank you for standing with us as we look to Him to supply all of our needs, until He takes us home.

Shabbat shalom, chag Sukkot sameach and blessings from Jerusalem

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Num. 6:24-26