1. Praise:

   Shabbat's prophetic reading has a prayer by Jeremiah which expresses his faith in God's ability to heal and to save: Heal me YHWH, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved – for You are my praise. (Jer. 17:14)

   • We bless You for how often Your healing and saving led to You receiving the praise (Matt. 9:4-8)!

   • Lord, we thank You for Jeremiah 17:13 in the prophetic portion which gives us insight into why You wrote on the ground and why the Jewish leaders turned away and left You (John 8:4-9).

   • We praise You that our names are written in Your book of life (Mal. 3:1; Phil. 4:3; Rev. 13:8; 17:8).

   • Lord God, we rejoice for Your Word providing us with light for our life with You (Psa. 119:105).

   • As You shake this world, we praise You for being our Rock (Deut. 32:4; 1 Sam. 2:2; Psa. 18:46).

   • We glorify You for the many answers to prayer that we see, especially as we look back (Psa. 50:15).

   • Thank You that all Your promises are "Yes" and "Amen" in Messiah Yeshua – and these include all Your promises to Israel in the Tanach [the Old Testament] (2 Cor. 1:20)!

2. Government & society:

   It is exciting and frightening to watch so many end-time prophetic events taking shape so quickly today concerning Israel and its relations to the nations. Because we do see God at work, even in events that are "anti-biblical," it is imperative for us to obey God's Spirit as we intercede so that we do not end up praying against His will at this time (1 John 5:14-15).

   • Abba, lead us in prayer for Israel, and help us to pray out of Your Word and not out of our anger or despair at the world's attitude towards Your nation (Psa. 42:5, 11; 43:5; Amos 3:7; John 15:15).

   • Lord, turn Israel's leaders to seek You for wisdom to lead their nation (Psa. 80:3, 7, 19; Prov. 1:1-7).

   • King of Zion, create more sons and daughters of Zion in Israel and give them the authority they need to guide Your nation in agreement with Your revealed will (Prov. 29:2; Isa. 32:1b; Zech. 9:13).

   • Also, totally remove all influence of Israel's humanistic children of Greece (Gen. 11:6-8).

   • Lord, we are so grateful for how You remind us to not trust in Israel's government, but in You who has ordained Israel's current government for this time (Psa. 75:6-7; 99:1; Dan. 2:21).

   • Messiah of Israel, protect and anoint PM Bibi Netanyahu – for Your glory's sake (Psa. 115:1-3).

   • Support him in his very strong stance to resist anyone, whether from inside or outside of Israel, who demands that Israel capitulate to Islamic terrorism and intimidation (Psa. 20:1-2; 68:28; 119:28).

   • Make Israel's leaders very discerning about that which is good, and that which is evil (Isa. 5:20-21).

   • Shield them from demonic distractions – regardless of what those distractions may be (Psa. 12:2-4).

   • You see how the media, both globally and in Israel, lies and distorts the narrative about Your nation, so arise and deal with this satanically-inspired anti-Zionist spirit (Job 12:17; Isa. 59:14-19; John 8:44).

   • God, baptize Israeli Jews, and also Jews in exile, in a biblically-correct mindset and wash away from them all politically-correct thinking (Psa. 119:138, 142, 148, 151; Isa. 40:7-8; Luke 16:17).

   • As part of the above request, use Jeremiah 17:5-8 in Shabbat's prophetic portion to convict many.

   • Hasten the fulfillment of Isaiah 1:25-27 in the judicial and in all other areas of Israeli society.

   • Precious God, enable the unity, courage and faith in the rightness of Israel's cause which permeates the soldiers fighting in Gaza, to infuse the rest of Israeli society as well (Deut. 31:6-7; Josh. 10:25).

   • Also expel the spirits of rebellion and arrogance out of Israeli society (Ezek. 20:38a; Mal. 3:3).

   • Release Your perfect shalom on Israelis whose loved ones have been murdered or sexually abused, are still held hostage, or whose fate is as yet unknown (Isa. 61:1-3; Matt. 5:4).

   • Protect Israel from the emotional blackmail Hamas uses because of the hostages (Psa. 107:14-16).

3. Foreign relations:

   If God is watching over Zechariah 12:2-3 to fulfill it today, then seeing many nations and NGO's, like the International Criminal Court [ICC] and the International Court of Justice [ICJ], condemning Israel is what we should expect. And this is exactly what we are seeing, so one of the lessons of history, that what starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews, must be of great concern for believers and their nations!

   • As Numbers 23:9b is rapidly being fulfilled, guide us to prayer in agreement with Your will which is to further separate Israel from the nations, and to have it drawn closer to You (Ex. 33:16; 1 Kin. 8:53).

   • Being separated from the world and unto You is one definition of being "holy," so we praise You for making Israel into that holy nation which You have called it to be (Ex. 19:5; Deut. 14:2; 26:19).

   • Lord, defend Your nation against its enemies – whether political, physical, through lawfare, or who continually condemn its leaders, its army, and Israelis/Jews in general (Psa. 35:1-3; Isa. 41:11).

   • Shield Netanyahu and other Israeli political and military leaders from the unrighteous lawfare being waged against them by the ICC, the ICJ and by the UN itself (Psa. 43:1; 119:126, 154).

   • Lord, You hear the false accusations that have been laid at Israel's feet by the ICC and the ICJ – so stir Yourself up and protect and justify Your nation and exalt the truth (Isa. 54:15-17; 59:14-18).

   • Anoint Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan as he confronts the UN, and most of the world's nations, with their ungodly focus and condemnations upon Israel (Job 12:16-21; Psa. 119:21; Eccl. 7:5).

   • May Israel rethink its relations with, and its need for, the UN (Psa. 118:10-12; 119:161a).

   • Impart to Israel's leaders wisdom and courage in dealing with US President Biden's administration's betrayal of Your nation and glorify Yourself as they do that (Psa. 115:1-3; Prov. 19:21; Isa. 8:9-10).

   • Only allow Bibi to speak to the joint session of the US Congress if it is 100% Your will (Prov. 16:9).

   • Remove Israel's dependence on the US and move it to depend on You alone (Isa. 10:27; 31:1).

   • As Ireland, Norway and Spain have "recognized" a non-existent "Palestine," which means they want to see Your land divided, Lord arise and fulfill Joel 3:1-2 in such a way that other nations recognize it as Your judgment and turn from following their anti-biblical path (Psa. 9:19-20).

   • Fulfill Psalm 33:10-11 in relation to "threats" from Israel's so-called "friends" among the nations.

4. "Operation Swords of Iron":

   Israel continues to fight against Hamas in Gaza, despite the hypocritical cries of the nations and NGOs. It is like most people, many nations and most NGO's have totally forgotten who started this war and what Hamas actually did on October 7th!

   • Shield Israel's government and society from the unjust pressures that nations place on it to not kill its enemies, but to sheepishly walk into the gas chambers once again (Deut. 33:29; Psa.. 89:18)!

   • Lord, show Israel how to expose the lies being spread in the media and among the nations that the ICJ ruled that Israel must stop its war with Hamas – which the ICJ did not say (Luke 21:15)!

   • Let Israel continue its offensive against Hamas in Rafah as the essence of what the ICJ said was to warn Israel against committing acts of genocide against Gaza's civilians (Psa. 44:4-6).

   • Increase the effectiveness and lethalness of the IDF and shock the world with this open fulfillment of Your prophetic promise to make out of Israel an exceedingly great army (Ezek. 37:10).

   • Lord, remove all the sons of Greece from the IDF's leadership and raise up more sons of Zion to lead Israel's current and future wars in a much more biblical manner (1 Chr. 11:10; Zech. 9:13-16).

   • Do not allow Israel to be more merciful with its enemies than is Your will (Psa. 97:10; 139:21-22).

   • We praise You for Your protection over Israel's warriors as IDF estimates were of 1000s who would die in any invasion of Gaza, and yet after 7 months, there are still less than 300 deaths (Psa. 32:7).

   • Intensify the soldiers' protection from friendly fire and any other deadly accidents (Psa. 121:4).

   • Go before the IDF while they battle in Rafah on the Egyptian-Gaza border (Job 5:19-20).

   • Uncover every terrorist tunnel connecting Rafah and Egypt (Jer. 11:18; 23:24).

   • As Egypt's betrayal of Israel is revealed, Lord deal with Egypt in line with Isaiah 19:1-5.

   • Urge Israel to increase the intensity of its attacks and end this war swiftly (Isa. 11:13-14; Eccl. 8:11).

   • Lead the IDF to find more hostages – even if it is only their bodies, as even that helps tremendously to bring closure to the hostages' families and friends (Num. 21:1-3; Psa. 44:4).

   • After the war, let Israel remain in Gaza, which is part of Judah's inheritance, forever (Judg. 1:18).

   • Show Israel's intelligence services their necessity to seek You about what is important and what is not as they decipher the gathered intelligence data (Deut. 29:29; Jer. 33:3).

5. Internal security:

   Jews in Israel have been under attack by Muslims even before 1948. This fight to possess their God-given land has been ongoing in modern times at least since the early 1920s, and it will not fully end until the King of Israel returns (Zech. 14:9-11).

   • Thank You for using the Oct. 7th pogrom to show more Israelis that the "two-state solution" is no real solution as they watch Palestinian backing for Hamas increasing (Job 18:5-6; Psa. 120:7).

   • Let Israel respond biblically against the pressure to establish a "Palestine" terror-state on Your land by spreading out its sovereignty over much more of its land (Judg. 2:1-5; Psa. 105:5-11)!

   • Now that Israel has annulled the disengagement law regarding the Samarian communities uprooted by ex-PM Sharon, let them be repopulated quickly and flourish mightily (Jer. 31:3-5).

   • Lord, block all kidnapping attempts, drive-by shootings and car-rammings (Psa. 5:4-5; 10:15-16).

   • Guide Israel on how to deal with the thousands of terrorists recently imprisoned (Psa. 5:4; 10:15).

   • Let Israel obey You and put to death all terrorist murderers (Num. 35:16-18, 21, 30-31).

   • Increase the hatred and distrust which already exists between the Palestinian Authority [PA] and Hamas and turn them against each other (Psa. 55:9; Joel 3:19).

   • God, remove PA President Abbas and release chaos as various factions fight for control (Jer. 17:18).

   • Lord, in mercy save many Palestinians and turn them into lovers of Zion (Matt. 5:44; Rom. 11:11).

6. External security:

   Iran's Shi'ite leaders have been declaring their goal for the past 45 years. They want to create a global caliphate under Islamic Shi'ite Sharia law. Yet most of the West rejects this as just political hype or religious hyperbole. Yet most Iranians do not hate the US, Israel or the Jews. In fact, they want a real peace pact between Israel and Iran. So praying for the Iranian regime's removal, means we are also praying for that which is best for both Israelis and Iranians!

   • Lord, as Moses stood in the gap for Israel because Your Name and Your Word was in the balance, so do we as the stakes are the same, and plead with You to preserve Israel and scatter Your enemies – Iran and its various proxies who delight in war (Ex. 32:11-13; Psa. 68:1, 30; 83:1-4).

   • If Iran's President Raisi and its foreign minister's deaths are part of You answering our prayers for the fulfillment of Jeremiah 49:38b, then Lord, complete that regime's destruction suddenly and soon.

   • Use the vacuum left by Raisi's demise to bring in massive turmoil and infighting (Psa. 40:14-15).

   • Let Iran's leaders who curse Israel reap what they sow (Gen. 27:29; Num. 24:9b; Rev. 2:23).

   • Lord, we plead with You to break the bow of Elam [ancient Iran] (Jer. 49:35).

   • Lord, increase, protect and mature the Iranian Body of believers (Jer. 49:38a; Matt. 16:18b).

   • Encourage them as they pray for their nation (1 Tim. 2:1-4), and for Israel (Psa. 122:6).

   • God of Israel, sovereignly destroy all of Iran's nuclear facilities (Psa. 99:1; Jer. 46:10; Nah. 1:2).

   • If You choose to use Israel instead, then clearly guide Your nation as to both the timing and the method so that the resulting destruction is complete (Isa. 34:8; Jer. 51:20-25).

   • When the war between Israel and Hizbullah in Lebanon starts in earnest, lead the IDF fight in such a way that multitudes recognize it as Your exceedingly great army of Ezekiel 37:10 (Mal. 1:5).

   • Since South Lebanon up to the Latani River is part of the inheritance that You gave to the tribes of Asher and Naftali, please show Israel when and how to reclaim it (Deut. 11: 24; Josh. 13:2-7).

7. Aliyah:

   Yeshua returns to a Jerusalem under siege (Zech. 14:1-4). So Jerusalem remains under Jewish rule until that time (Matt. 23:37-39). Jews returning to an independent Jewish State (Jer. 30:8-10), is a sign that God is about to wrap up this age, as the timing of His return is when He both builds up Jerusalem (Psa. 102:16) and gathers Jewish outcasts into it (Psa. 147:2)!

   • Reveal to believers their biblical duty to bring Your people home – in prayer, by finances, through good works, and by speaking to their Jewish friends and acquaintances that their "captivity" is over and it is time to return to home to Israel (Psa. 106:47; Isa. 49:22; Rom. 15:26-27).

   • Show Christian Zionists, who are still unaware of the centrality of aliyah, how You see it (Jer. 32:41).

   • Change Israel's attitude about its relations with Jewish groups in exile, and instead of thinking it has a duty to protect and sustain them, to focus on encouraging them to come home (Isa. 11:11-12).

   • Let the results of the upcoming UK and US elections encourage more Jews to see that the time to flee "Babylon" is now, as is the time to return to Israel and not to go anywhere else (Jer. 51:8-10).

   • Especially in the West, set many Jews free of the false hope that everything will return to "normal" since neither history nor Your Word indicate that that is true (Deut. 30:3-5; Mic. 2:12-13).

   • Even now in the midst of war, prod Israel to be ready to receive many new immigrants – preparing houses, jobs, schools and Hebrew learning facilities (Isa. 54:2-3; Ezek. 36:8-12).

   • As today's anti-Israel demonstrations in the West are at least a partial fulfillment of Your prophetic hunters, make them super-effective in chasing Your people home (Jer. 16:16).

   • Show Jews who want to make aliyah where to obtain or find all needed paperwork (Psa. 23:1-3).

   • Send an incurable homesickness on the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who live in the gentile nations, especially those who have become believers in Messiah Yeshua (Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

   • Deepen the roots in the land of every Jew who has returned (Psa. 80:8-9; Isa. 27:6; 37:31).

   • Prepare "righteous gentiles," believers or not, who will hide Jews when needed and help them make aliyah in whatever way they can as anti-Semitism continues to explode (Prov. 28:12; Isa. 49:22).

8. Salvation:

   Brothers, my heart's desire and request to God for Israel is that they might be saved. (Rom. 10:1) As this was written by Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the burden for Israel's salvation should be a part of our personal and congregational prayers. While God has said all Israel will be saved, still He waits for us to ask Him (Ezek. 36:37; Luke 18:1; John 15:16).

   • Lord Yeshua, influence Your Body to persist in praying for Israel's salvation (Luke 18:1).

   • Abba Father, with so many Jews back in the land, for Your name's sake, remove the partial blindness which You have sovereignly placed over Your people (Ezek. 36:23-32; Rom. 11:25-26).

   • As Your people read the Tanach, place in them a holy dissatisfaction concerning their relationship with You as compared to that which the Jews had in biblical times (Psa. 42:2; 63:1).

   • Abba, reveal Messiah Yeshua as Lord and King to: Holocaust survivors; terror attack survivors; all hostages, ex-hostage, and their loved ones; IDF soldiers and their families; loved ones of soldiers who died or were severely injured; widows and orphans, especially new ones since Oct. 7th; rabbis and their congregations; yeshiva students; Jewish politicians, diplomats, teachers, professors, university students, including Jews facing vicious anti-Israel demonstrations; medical personnel; Jews and Israelis in exile; Iranian Jews; Jews recently provoked to jealousy by gentile believers; unsaved Jews married to believers, whether a Jew or a gentile; unsaved loved ones of Messianic Jews (Psa. 6:4; 20:9; 28:9; 31:6; 34:18; Rom. 11:11).

9. The Body of Messiah:

   As major prophetic events occur more frequently and with increasing intensity, the Body must be cognizant of the central place of Israel in God plans today. You who pray through this alert understand that God's Word includes the Tanach as well as the New Testament, yet apparently many born-again believers do not understand this or else they would be praying much more for, and standing very boldly with, Israel today.

   • Lord, teach Your Body that "scripture" in the New Testament historically refers only to the Tanach, although today it can mean all of God's Word (Matt. 21:42; Mark 12:24; Luke 24:27, 32; Acts 8:32).

   • Messiah Yeshua, heal Your Body of its biblical anorexia by giving it a deep desire to read and study Your Word (1 Sam. 3:1; Job. 23:12; Jer. 15:16; Amos 8:11; 2 Tim. 2:15; Rev. 6:9).

   • Impart understanding of Jeremiah 16:19-21, which is in Shabbat's prophetic portion, to more born-again gentiles so that they can see that gentile salvation is not only a New Testament teaching.

   • Lord Yeshua, reveal to Your Body the biblical links between aliyah, Israel's salvation and Your return in glory (Psa. 53:6; 106:47-48; Jer. 24:6-7; Zech. 14:1-4; Matt. 23:39; Rom. 11:25-27).

   • Increase the authority of every son or daughter of Zion in Your Body, and decrease the authority of all of the children of Greece (Matt. 7:28-29; Gal. 4:16; 2 Tim. 4:2-5).

   • Expel from the Body every anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic spirit and the anti-biblical teachings of replacement and fulfillment theology (Gen. 21:10; Psa. 5:10; 144:6; 2 Tim. 4:1-4).

10. IFI:

    Thank you for lifting us up in prayer as well as our nation.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

2 John 1:3