1. Praise:

   Isaiah 61:10a in Shabbat's prophetic portion is a wonderful response for what God has done with us in Messiah Yeshua: I will greatly rejoice in YHWH: my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…

   • Lord Yeshua, we praise You for being the author and completer of our salvation (Heb. 12:2a).

   • Thank You that You who began a good work in us – and in Israel – are committed to finish it (Phil. 1:6; for Israel see Jer. 31:35-37).

   • We bless You for becoming our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30).

   • Thank You for clothing us before God because of our relationship with You (Rev. 3:5; 7:9; 19:14).

   • Lord, Deuteronomy 29:29 in the Torah portion says that You do not reveal everything to us, but we praise You for all You do show us so that our prayers can be in line with Your will (1 John 5:14-15).

   • We bless You that all of Your promises, including those to Israel (as when Paul wrote, he only had the promises in the Tanach – the Old Testament), are yes and amen in Messiah Yeshua (2 Cor. 1:20).

   • We will likely be so grateful in heaven when we see all of our prayers which You did not answer, or answered in ways we did not consider, so we want to thank You for that in advance (Isa. 55:8-9)!

2. Government & society:

   Today, Israel's situation is very convoluted. And while we are sure that God is fulfilling His plans and counsel (Psa. 33:10-11), it is often difficult to clearly see what He is doing when we are in the midst of prophecy being fulfilled. Yet we look to Him to guide our prayers.

   • Lord, we bless You for reminding us to trust in You and not in Israel's government, yet knowing that You have appointed its government for today, we ask You to lead us in praying over it (Dan. 2:21).

   • Abba, we praise You as we see more sons and daughters of Zion being raised up in Israel, and ask for many more at this crucial time in history (1 Chr. 11:10; Obad. 1:21; Zech. 9:13; 12:8).

   • Lord, thank You that PM Bibi Netanyahu appears to be thinking and acting more like a son of Zion, especially as the challenges of leading Israel increase with every passing day (Psa. 68:27-28).

   • Use his understanding of history to aid him to be an insightful and bold leader (Eccl. 3:14-15).

   • Abba, bring wise and godly advisors to him and give him time to consider their advice (Prov. 11:14).

   • Lord God, give a spirit of discernment and humility to all government decision makers (Eccl. 8:5-6).

   • God, close every mouth which instigates hatred and violence against Bibi (Dan. 6:22; Zech. 3:2).

   • Abba, lead him to encourage himself in You as many are accusing and cursing him (1 Sam. 30:6).

   • Messiah, cast out the spirit of insanity that has control of Israel's Bibi-haters (Eccl. 9:3; 2 Pet. 2:16).

   • Lord, if Defense Minister Gallant is to stay in his position, then let him continue to try and repair his contentious relations with Bibi, and turn him into a son of Zion (Psa. 34:14; Jer. 26:13; Rom. 12:18).

   • Lord Yeshua, comfort every Israeli who is hurting over loved ones who have been killed or are still hostages, and turn them to read Isaiah 63:7-9 in this Shabbat's prophetic portion.

   • God Almighty, silence the Israeli and global media who always seem to condemn Israel whenever it defends itself or acts in line with Your will for it at this time (Psa. 52:1-5; Prov. 22:12; Isa. 54:17).

   • Speak to Your land to abundantly provide all of Israel's needs today (Psa. 135:15; Ezek. 36:8-12).

3. Foreign relations:

   Israel is despised because the world despises Israel's God (Psa. 83:1-4). Today, part of this hatred of God is because His Word defines right from wrong, and dares to label certain acts as sin! Also, Yeshua declares God's Word to be the ultimate truth (John 17:17), which is very offensive to so many in today's "how dare you judge me" and "my truth is as valid as any other truth" humanistic and anti-God-of-the-Bible world.

   • Lord of all, may Your foreign policy be manifest through Israel today (Psa. 33:10-11; Luke 11:2).

   • Use the nations' betrayal of Israel to turn Israelis unto You and away from man (Psa. 118:8-9).

   • Regardless of who will be the next US president, rule over Israel's relations with America, and wean Your nation off of depending on the US to relying on and trusting in You (Psa. 146:3-5; Jer. 17:5-8).

   • Lord, bring to nothing that anti-God UN General Assembly resolution which passed overwhelming last week, demanding Judea and Samaria to be Judenrein (free of Jews), and encouraging nations to embargo arms shipments to Israel (Num. 24:9b; Job 12:16-25; Isa. 54:17).

   • Anoint Danny Danon, Israel's UN Ambassador, as he confronts this wickedness (Job 18:5; 20:5).

   • Since the UN resolution was presented by the Palestinian Authority, it broke the Oslo Accords, so let Israel respond with strength and courage and extend sovereignty over all of its land (Obad. 1:17-20).

   • Lord God of Israel, multiply the sons and daughters of Zion and of Issachar in all areas of Israel's diplomatic corps (1 Chr. 12:32; Job 22:21-22; Isa. 48:17).

   • Abba, put Your words on the lips of Israeli politicians and diplomats as they speak (Jer. 1:9; 23:29).

   • Lord Yeshua, let believers warn their nations that You will not be mocked, but as their nations push Israel to divide Your land, their societies will reap deeper divisions (Joel 3:1-2; Gal. 6:7).

4. External security:

   Israel is finally dealing with Hizbullah in Lebanon through its Operation "Northern Arrows." It has killed many of its leaders, attacked its weapons and storage facilities, and exploded many Hizbullah "military communication devices," killing dozens of terrorists and disabling thousands. Hizbullah's leadership is being targeted and killed daily – even in Beirut. Israel is keeping the pressure on and if Hizbullah does not move north of the Latani River, which is what UN Security Council resolution 1701 demanded of them, then Israel will likely launch a massive ground invasion. Also, since Hizbullah is Iran's main proxy, Iran is also feeling the heat.

   • King of Israel, reinforce Your angelic armies guarding Your nation today (Psa. 35:4-6; 78:49).

   • Lord, if You are fulfilling Micah 4:11-13, make Israel Your prophetic threshing tool and use the results to bring You much glory and honor – both in Israel and in the world (Ezek. 39:13).

   • Fulfill Numbers 24:8 and let Israel's "arrows" pierce through its enemies (Psa. 45:5)!

   • We praise You for answering our prayers to make Israel's attacks against Hizbullah more powerful and deadly both to the terrorists and to Lebanon itself (Deut. 2:25; Psa. 73:19).

   • God, release Israel from every unbiblical influence which stops it from battling against its enemies in a biblical fashion – whether US elections, hostage deals or lawfare (Psa. 18:36-40; 124:6-8).

   • We bless You for Israel's wealth of intelligence from both human and artificial sources, and ask You to protect all of them (2 Kin. 6:12).

   • Guide and guard the IDF in the strategy and timing of this operation, and be the Final Arbitrator of whether Israel needs to invade Lebanon with ground troops (2 Sam. 5:17-23)

   • Thank You for Israel's attacks creating fear and paranoia in the minds of Israel's foes (Josh 2:9-11).

   • Abba Father, in mercy let many of the wounded Hizbullah terrorists be so ashamed and angry at how Allah did not protect them from "those Jews," that they actually seek Your face (Psa. 83:16-18).

   • Protect Israel from the US and France pushing a diplomatic solution to the threat of Hizbullah as that was tried [UNSCR 1701] and has proven to be an absolute disaster (Job 12:17; Psa. 74::22).

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

   • Lord God, swallow up both Hizbullah's and Iran's finances (Job 20:28-29; Prov. 11:4a; Zech. 5:3-4).

   • God of all, deal harshly with all nations who continue to deal financially with Iran – despite it being known as the world's number one supporter of terrorism (Deut. 28:38; Mic. 6:15; Hag. 1:6).

   • Lord God, again we remind You of Your Word, asking You to break Elam's [ancient Iran's] bow (Jer. 49:35), and to destroy its evil leaders (Jer. 49:38b).

   • Since Hizbullah is Iran's main proxy, if Israel's destruction of so many of Hizbullah's launchers, which are a modern bow to launch missiles, then we thank You and ask for more Lord (Psa. 46:9)!

   • Messiah, bless Your Body in Iran; protect them; help them to grow numerically and spiritually; and use them as Your witnesses to the rest of Iranian society (Jer. 49:38a; Matt. 16:18b).

5. "Operation Swords of Iron:"

   While on Oct. 8th it was reasonable for Israel to declare its war goals as both the defeat of Hamas and the rescue of the hostages, today we see that these goals were not compatible. The fight against Hizbullah has taken much of the emphasis that was on the hostage crisis off the front pages, but Israel still needs to accomplish a complete victory over Hamas and to do whatever it can to rescue the hostages – preferably alive.

   • Lord God of hosts, as the focus of war shifts to the north, we ask You to be in control of the IDF's deployment of personnel and equipment still in Gaza (1 Chr. 19:10-15; Prov. 21:30-31).

   • God, renew the strength, courage and motivation of the troops still fighting there (Isa. 40:28-31).

   • Use Deuteronomy 31:6 in the Torah portion to greatly encourage those IDF warriors.

   • Lord, maintain Bibi's insistence on keeping to his redlines for any ceasefire/hostage deal as they are both sane and sound and contribute to Israel's victory over Hamas (Psa. 118:6; Jer. 20:11; Ezek. 3:9).

   • God, especially support his demand that the IDF have full responsibility for all security over Gaza and along the Philadelphi Corridor on its Egyptian border for the foreseeable future (Mal. 1:5).

   • Let the internal investigations as to what went wrong on Oct. 7th reveal the anti-biblical thinking that prevails in the higher ranks of the IDF and give Israel's political leaders wisdom to fix it (Psa. 109:8).

   • God, we thank You for hardening Hamas' leaders thinking into making unreasonable changes in any proposed deals that are ultimately not in Israel's best interests (Josh. 11:19-20; Rom. 9:17-23).

   • Abba Father, as Hamas has threatened to murder Israeli hostages if the IDF gets near them, we plead with You to supernaturally set these captives free (Gen. 18:14; Psa. 124:6-8; Isa. 49:24-26).

   • Or, Lord God, lead the IDF to find and free all remaining hostages, alive or dead (Isa. 49:24-26).

   • Uncover all undiscovered tunnels in Gaza, including on the Egyptian-Gaza border (Obad. 1:6).

   • God of Israel, as Egypt's betrayal of Israel is revealed, deal with Egypt as per Isaiah 19:1-5.

   • Lord, for Your holy name's sake, guide Israel to repossess Gaza as it is part of the inheritance of Judah (Josh. 15:1, 47; Judg. 1:18; Prov. 16:9).

6. Internal security:

   Israel is aggressively pre-empting further terrorist attacks coming from the many Palestinian terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria. It is having great success but we need to remember that this area is not like Gaza as Jews live all though it as it is Israel's biblical heartland.

   • Lord, since You are regathering Israel, we ask You to continue guarding them (Jer. 31:10).

   • God, spread Your protection over Your land during the high holydays (Psa. 105:38-39; 121:4),

   • Lord of hosts, with the focus now on the north, let the IDF increase its activities against terrorists in the center and destroy their very will to fight (Ex. 15:14-16; Deut. 30:7).

   • Also increase the viable intelligence pertaining to these areas (Job 12:22; Psa. 139:12; Obad. 1:6).

   • Send Your fear and a spirit of paranoia upon all Palestinian terrorists in all of Your land as they truly consider what Israel has done, and is continuing to do, to Hizbullah (Josh. 2:9-11; 2 Chr. 20:29).

   • God, expose and destroy all of Iran's attempts to ignite terrorism in Israel (Psa. 59:12-13; Isa. 60:18).

   • Abba Father, speak clearly to Your people that possessing their possessions is 100% Your will for Israel today – and tomorrow (Num. 33:51-53; Deut. 8:1; 9:5; 19:8; Obad. 1:17; Zech. 1:17).

   • Lord God, judge all those nations who are plotting to divide Your land (Psa. 33:10-11; Joel 3:1-2).

7. Aliyah:

   Interest among Western Jews to return to Israel has increased, but there has been a decrease in Jews actually making aliyah, most likely because of the war which Israel is fighting today. Yet since aliyah is for His glory, for His holy name's sake, we continue to pray for multitudes to return very soon (Isa. 43:5-7; Ezek. 36:22-24; plus other verses).

   • Lord, watch over Deuteronomy 30:3-5 in Shabbat's Torah portion, and fulfill it at this time!

   • Abba Father, turn the increase of interest in aliyah into an actual increase in aliyah (Jer. 50:4-8).

   • Almighty King, as Ellul, the current Hebrew month, is a time of introspection and repentance, let many Jews living in today's Babylon repent of not coming home (Jer. 51:9-10).

   • Lord God, continue to draw Your people back to Your land in great mercy (Isa. 54:7-8; Jer. 31:3).

   • Or Lord, if need be send angels to drag them out of the captivity (Gen. 19:19:15-16; Acts 12:7-11).

   • God, confront the Jewish pride which boasts, "They will not chase us out!" and show them that You are doing the chasing as well as the drawing (Prov. 16:18; Jer. 31:3-5, 8-10; Zech. 8:1-8).

   • God, make the Jewish people learn the lessons of their history in exile – that gentile nations cannot, or at times will not, protect the Jews who live in their midst (Deut. 28:37, 64-67; Psa. 137:3-4).

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

   • Draw back home all Israelis living in the nations, including Messianic believers (Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

   • Messiah of Israel, remake Israel's diplomatic outreach to Jews in exile to emphasize aliyah and to de-emphasize remaining safe in the captivity (Deut. 28:65-67; Psa. 53:6; 107:1-9).

   • Abba Father, strip off from Israel's bureaucracy all blockages to making aliyah (Isa. 62:10).

   • God of Israel, press Israel, even in its wartime situation, to arrange houses, jobs, schools and Hebrew classes to facilitate the successful integration of every new immigrant (Ezek. 28:25-26; 36:8-12).

   • Lord God, reveal to more believers how aliyah is an answer to the Body's 2,000 year old prayer for Your name to be sanctified through Your will being done on earth (Ezek. 28:25-26; Luke 11:2).

   • Abba Father, release funds from wealthy Jews and rich Christians to support both the aliyah and the successful integration of new immigrants into Israeli society (Ezra 1:4; Isa. 60:9).

8. Salvation:

   Save us, YHWH our God, and gather us from the gentiles, to give thanks to Your holy name, and to triumph in Your praise. (Psa. 106:47) This verse clearly links Israel's salvation with aliyah – both of which bring God glory!

   • Abba, let Jews reading Isaiah 62:11 in the prophetic portion perceive that their salvation is a Person!

   • Father God, remove that partial blindness which You placed on most of Your people for the past 2,000 years and show them that Yeshua is their Messiah and King (Deut. 29:4; Rom. 11:25-26).

   • Show born-again gentiles that Romans 1:16 and 11:11 are still valid for them today.

   • Abba, use Israel's increased isolation to draw many Israelis closer to Yeshua (John 6:44).

   • With Jews praying prayers of repentance at this season, give them a "holy dissatisfaction" as they consider their personal relationship with You as compared to many Jews in the Tanach (Psa. 42:2-3).

   • Watch over all verses from Your Word that are in the high holyday prayers so that not one of them returns empty (Isa. 55:11; Jer. 1:12).

   • Pour out Your prophesied spirit of grace and supplication upon You people who are today back in the land – leading to a deep period of repentance over You, their pierced Messiah (Zech. 12:10).

   • Lord Yeshua, as Joseph did with his brothers (Gen. 45:1-4), reveal Yourself to many more Jews and let them share with their families how You are alive and rule in many gentile hearts (Gen. 45:24-28).

   • By Your grace Abba, during Your feasts (Lev. 23:2-4) that so many unsaved Jews still observe, save many of them, including: Holocaust survivors and their families; terror attack survivors; hostages still alive and their loved ones; IDF soldiers and their families; loved ones of soldiers killed or severely wounded; widows, widowers, and orphans; rabbis in Israel and exile; radical Jewish anti-missionaries; Israeli diplomats and lawyers; university students in Israel and in exile; professors, teachers, scholars; medical personnel; Israeli media personalities; tour guides; archeologists; anti-Bibi demonstrators; anti-government demonstrators; Israelis living in gentile nations; woke and LGBTQ+ Jews; Jews in Iran, Ethiopia, India, China; unsaved loved ones of Messianic Jews.

9. Body of Messiah:

   I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse [i.e. make little of; denigrate; make despicable, treat with contempt and despise] you. (Gen. 12:3a). It is very important for believers to take this biblical truth to heart. "Cursing" Israel or the Jews is an open door for deception to enter the Body and be accepted as if it were from God – like replacement theology!

   • Lord Yeshua, cleanse Your Body of all anti-Semitic and anti-Zionistic spirits (Num. 24:9b).

   • Raise up many sons and daughters of Zion as teachers in Your Body to specifically expose this critical issue of believers' relations with Israel and the Jews (Psa. 119:99; Eph. 4:10-15)

   • King of Israel, use the remnant who have revelation of Your plans for Israel today to be like leaven and have a huge impact in their meetings with other believers (Luke 13:20-21).

   • Remove from Your Body its biblical anorexia and prophetic illiteracy and give it a deep hunger to "eat" all of Your Word (Jer. 15:16; Amos 8:11; Acts 20:32; 2 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 5:13-14; Rev. 6:9).

   • King of kings, let Your Body realize that You are not only the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36), but the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5), and a Man of War today (Ex. 15:3; Isa. 42:13).

   • Teach Your Body the joy and efficiency of true corporate prayer (Psa. 133:1; Matt. 6:9; 1 Cor. 6:19).

10. IFI:

    Thank you for your continued prayer and financial support and for your precious words of encouragement. They are all needed and appreciated.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Israel

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Num. 6:24-26