1. Praise:

    In Shabbat's Torah portion, Jacob flees from his brother Esau. He lies down, unaware that God is in that place (Gen. 28:16). Luke 24 relates a similar story of the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. They are joined by the resurrected Messiah and do not recognize Him until later when He reveals Himself as He breaks bread with them.

    • Lord, we thank You that You said You would never leave nor forsake us – and we bless You that this does not depend on our awareness of Your presence (Matt. 28:20b; Heb. 13:5).

    • We praise You God for challenging us to trust in the reality of You being with us, especially as the days we live in are growing increasingly darker (Gen. 28:15; Psa. 77:19; Isa. 60:2).

    • We bless You for the encouragement of Your Word in the prophetic portion, where we read of how Jacob prevailed over the Angel of the Lord through intercession (Hos. 12:4-5; Luke 18:1).

    • Abba Father, we thank You for fulfilling in us, and eventually in Israel as well, Hosea 13:14 in the prophetic reading because Your Son, Messiah Yeshua was resurrected out from the dead.

    • We are so grateful that You said that if You have begun a good work in us, You are committed to complete it (Num. 23:119; Phil. 1:6).

  2. Government & society:

    In both biblical and secular history we see God using a fallible man to fight for that which is just and right in His sight. Moses, King David, Churchill and so many others had character faults yet He called them and used for His purposes. Israel's PM Bibi Netanyahu is like that, and until God removes him from office, we will pray for Bibi to complete the task God has laid upon him – and in the process we also pray for him to meet Israel's real King, Messiah Yeshua.

    • Abba Father, use Hosea 13:9-10 in Shabbat's prophetic portion to challenge all of Israel, leaders and people, to look to You as their Savior and King – both now and forever (Isa. 33:22; 60:16).

    • God of Israel, You have kept Netanyahu to be Israel's leader at this time, so please also equip him to complete the task for which You have ordained him (Psa. 75:5-7; Dan. 5:21; Phil. 1:6).

    • Lord, use his knowledge of history to make him a son-of-Issachar type of leader (1 Chr. 12:32).

    • King Yeshua, surround Bibi with godly advisors to whom he will listen (Prov. 11:14; 24:6).

    • Righteous Judge, break the ungodly trap of Israel's humanistic courts who insist on Bibi testifying in some very questionable legal cases against him – in this time of war (Psa. 124:6-8; 149:8; Rom. 8:28).

    • Almighty God, use Israel's current coalition for Your glory and make them united in all that is Your will for Israel today (Psa. 115:1-3; 133:1).

    • Abba, caution Israel's right-wing leaders to be careful with what they say publicly, so that is not taken out of context and twisted by the mostly left-wing Israeli media (Prov. 10:19; 15:1).

    • Lord God, speak to every government minister through Hosea 12:6 in Shabbat's prophetic portion.

    • Messiah Yeshua, pour out Your comfort on all Israelis who are grieving over their loved ones that have been murdered, severely wounded, or are still hostages (Isa. 61:3; 63:7-9; Matt. 5:4).

    • Creator, command Your land to abundantly supply Israel's needs today (Psa. 135:15; Ezek. 36:8-12).

    • Lord of hosts, continue encouraging the IDF to look to Israel's local military industries to supply its needs and to look less to its "broken-reed allies" among the nations (Isa. 30:1; 36:6; 41:10-1t6).

  3. Foreign relations:

    God is using Israel's pariah status in the eyes of many nations to fulfill Numbers 23:9b: Behold, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be counted among the nations. He has to do this as a pre-saved Israel looks on this situation with fear and dread.

    • Lord God, Your fulfilling of Your foreign policy is often hard to see (Psa. 33:10-11; Isa. 55:8-9), so as You do it, show us (Amos 3:7) so that we can then give You the glory (Psa. 115:1-3; Luke 11:2).

    • Lord, as we see in the Torah portion, we ask You to also guard over Your people from the gentile powers as You guarded over Jacob when he was at the mercy of Laban (Gen. 31:42).

    • We thank You for Donald Trump becoming the next US president, but prohibit any Israeli in any position of authority from trusting in him – instead of trusting in You (Psa. 118:9; Prov. 29:25).

    • Since You Abba, have raised Trump up once again (Jer. 27:5) please send him trusted advisors who will boldly warn him against dealing with Israel as if it were like any other nation (Psa. 135:4).

    • Let them also tell him to "Make America Blessed Again – By Blessing Israel!" (Num. 24:9b)

    • God, protect Your nation from any last-minute traps of the US Biden administration (Psa. 124:1-8).

    • Messiah Yeshua, extend Your scepter of authority over the UN and all of its outreaches which curse Israel through their lies and false accusations, and shut them up (Jer. 10:25; 30:20; Zech. 2:13).

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

    • Messiah Yeshua, raise up more believers to warn their birth-nations of Your judgments which are upon many of those countries today as a result of their betrayal of Israel (Ezek. 29:6-7; Joel 3:1-2).

    1. External security – "Operation Northern Arrows:"

      Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a 60 day ceasefire. Hizbullah is not a signature to this, yet it is supposed to move north of the Latani River while the Lebanese Army [LAF] and UN's "peacekeepers" [UNIFIL] move south as a buffer between Israel and Hizbullah. The US, overseeing this ceasefire with France, will now release weapons and ammunition to Israel which it has previously withheld. So basically Biden and company bribed Israel to accept this questionable ceasefire, although there are some good aspects in it for the Jewish nation.

      • Lord of hosts, God of Jacob (Psa. 46:7, 11), based on Psalm 46:9, we look to You to cause this war with Hizbullah to cease – and not to any man-made ceasefire (Mic. 4:3).

      • God, as we intercede as priests before You, fulfill Joel 2:17-21 and strip Hizbullah's of all of its spiritual protection, as well as completely removing them from Israel's northern border (Mal. 1:5).

      • Lord God, use this ceasefire for Your glory and Israel's good (Psa. 106:4-5; 115:1-3; Rom. 8:28).

      • Abba, grant the IDF wisdom concerning the enforcement of the ceasefire (Psa. 32:8; Isa. 30:21)

      • Thank You that so far Israel has attacked Hizbullah's attempts to go around this ceasefire, even to the extent of killing and capturing some of its members (Eccl. 8:8, 11).

      • Shut down US and French criticism against Israel's strict application of this agreement (Isa. 54:17).

      • Guide Israel's war against Hizbullah as it uses LAF and UNIFIL as human shields (Psa. 18:34).

      • Lord God, supernaturally expand the effects of Israel's attacks on all of the supply routes from Syria to Lebanon through which Iran ships weapons to Hizbullah (Judg. 5:20; Isa. 59:7).

      • Lord God, aid Israel's intelligence units to interpret its collected data accurately (Luke 12:2).

      • Stir up the Lebanese people to finally expel Hizbullah from their nation (Prov. 28:15; 29:2).

    2. External security – Iran:

      Today's war against the Syrian regime by Islamic rebels is a very fascinating development. Syria's President Assad is backed by Iran and Russia, while the rebels are supported by Turkey. At this stage having these forces fighting against each other is to Israel's benefit, yet regards of who comes out on top, Israel will still be facing many Jew-hating enemies in Syria.

      • Lord, as the prophesied destruction of Iran's leaders (Jer. 49:38b) would be a great mercy for most Iranians, many other Middle East nations, and Israel, please use this war in Syria to hasten that.

      • Guardian of Israel (Psa. 121:4), watch over Your nation and be the One to decide whether and how Israel should respond to this war that has exploded on its northeastern border (Psa. 23:3b).

      • We thank You for this partial answer to prayer to confound all who hate Zion (Psa. 129:5): terrorists, Iran's leaders, the Yemenite Houthis, Jew-haters in Syria and Iraq (Psa. 70:2; Jer. 17:18).

      • As in days past, let Israel's enemies fight and destroy each other (1 Sam. 14:15-16, 20; Hag. 2:22).

      • God, suddenly, and soon, supernaturally destroy Iran's nuclear facilities (Psa. 99:1; Jer. 51:25-26).

      • Lord, if You desire to use Israel as Your weapon of war instead, direct the timing and tactics and let Iran's nuclear weapons program be totally eradicated (Prov. 21:31; Jer. 46:10; 51:20-25).

      • God of wisdom (Rom. 16:27; 1 Tim. 1:17; Judg. 1:25), give wisdom to the IDF's "Iran Command" to know Iran's current plans now that its two main anti-Israel proxies, Hizbullah and Hamas, have been removed as existential threats to what they call "the Zionist entity" (Prov. 21:30-31).

      • Let the many curses Iran's leaders have declared against Israel boomerang on them (Gal. 6:7).

      • Messiah, bless Your Body in Iran; protect them; help them to grow numerically and spiritually; and use them mightily to impact the rest of Iranian society (Jer. 49:38a; Matt. 5:13-16; 16:18b).

  5. "Operation Swords of Iron:"

    Right after the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon, Hamas said it is now ready to negotiate a serious ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement as well. Yet there are differences in these two enemies as Hamas ruled Gaza while Hizbullah does not rule Lebanon in the same way and Hamas has Israeli hostages which are not the case, praise God, with Hizbullah.

    • Lord, again we pray that if Israel's reluctance to possess Gaza is the main hindrance to You giving it a complete victory, then make this very clear to its leaders and people (Judg. 2:1-4).

    • God, rescue the hostages and remove them from being bargaining chips for Hamas (Isa. 49:24-26).

    • Or Lord, lead Israel to find the hostages, both living and dead (Psa. 95:4a; Isa. 49:25; Jer. 50:31-34).

    • Block the current US administration from pressuring Israel to accept a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas if it is not 100% in Your will (Num. 23:23; Lam. 3:37).

    • Sovereign Lord, harden Hamas' hearts to reject any hostage deal that is bad for Israel (Ex. 7:13-14).

    • Lord of all, equip all IDF soldiers to fight like the prophesied sons of Zion (Zech. 9:13-15; 10:3a-7).

    • God of hosts, maintain Your wings of protection over each one of them (Psa. 17:8; 91:4; 141:9-10).

    • Lord of the whole earth, open Muslims' hearts both in the Middle East, and the rest of the world, to see how Allah is so ineffective in protecting his servants from Israel and Israel's God, and use that to shame them and then to cause them to seek Your face (Est. 8:17; Psa. 83:16-18).

  6. Internal security:

    If Israel obeys God and possesses all of its land through the extension of its sovereignty over it, then its chances of living more securely increases. We praise God that more Israelis are open to this move, partly because they see the next US administration as being a lot less negative towards this biblical demand.

    • Lord, let Genesis 28:13-14 in the Torah reading convince many more Israelis of how serious You are in giving them all of the land that You have promised to their forefathers (Gen. 12:7; Rom. 15:8).

    • God of Israel, either through Your Word or through circumstances, show Israel's leaders of the need to possess more of their land today (Deut. 8:17-18; Psa. 44:3).

    • Lord Yeshua, give boldness to America's next ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, to share what Your Word says about the land openly to both Israelis and Americans (Isa. 55:11; Jer. 1:12).

    • Almighty God, do not allow Israel to accept any partial sovereignty over parts of Your land in trade for allowing the establishment of a Palestinian State on any of Your land (Lev. 25:23; Isa. 8:9-110).

    • God of Israel, continue using Finance Minister Smotrich to quietly push for Israel's extension of sovereignty, and use him mightily to see this come to pass (Isa. 45:3; Obad. 1:17-20).

    • Lord, thank You for the plans Israel has approved to build power plants in Judea and Samaria and a solar farm in the Jordan Valley and ask for more construction like this on Your land (Isa. 54:2-3).

    • Considering the amount of attempts to kill Jews, we praise You God for protecting them throughout Your land over this past year – and pray for that to continue (Psa. 121:4; Jer. 31:10).

    • Lord God, expose all terrorist plans and any tunnels in Judea and Samaria (Psa. 59:12; Obad. 1:6).

    • Lord, let all of the terrorists in Judea and Samaria battle against each other (Psa. 55:9; 129:5).

    • God of Israel, let them fall into the traps that they have set for the Jews (Est. 7:10; Psa. 35:8; 57:6).

  7. Aliyah:

    "Captivity" is the biblical term which describes Jews living outside of the land. While around 7 million now are living in freedom in Israel, still the majority remain captive to the nations. Since aliyah is declared to be for His glory (Isa. 43:5-7, 21), whatever excuses they make to remain there pale in comparison to their diminishing of His glory by refusing to return home.

    • Messiah Yeshua, we thank You for being alive today as the building up of Jerusalem is one of the sure signs that Your return is near (Psa. 102:16; 147:2).

    • As much as possible, God of Israel, draw Jews home by Your great mercy (Isa. 54:7; Jer. 31:3).

    • Yet Lord, release more hunters to chase home all who refuse to hear the fishers (Jer. 16:16).

    • Set all Jews free who are mentally and emotionally trapped in exile (Psa. 107:14-16; 137:4-6).

    • Abba, bring whole families and communities back home together (Ex. 12:37-38; Jer. 31:3-5).

    • God Almighty, tear apart all the false "comfort zones" of Your people in the West (Job 7:13-14).

    • Let them see that today they can come home with their "silver and gold" and bitcoins (Isa. 60:9).

    • Teach the Jews the lessons of history, that when they live in gentile nations, at some point those nations could not, or would not, protect them and their families (Deut. 28:37, 64-67; Psa. 137:3-4).

    • Abba, free Your people of their false hopes that life will return to pre-Oct. 7th "normal," as this increase of anti-Semitism will not stop until You return (Deut. 30:3-5; Zech. 10:8-10; 12:2-3).

    • Lord Yeshua, speak to the huge mountain which hinders aliyah for many Jews, which is the rabbinic definition of who is a Jew, and replace it with the biblical definition (Isa. 62:10; Mark 7:9, 13).

    • Also, King of Israel, remove from Israel's Interior Ministry and the Jewish Agency all those who are lukewarm towards aliyah and fill their positions with those who have Your zeal for it (Zech. 8:1-8).

    • Lord God, abundantly bless and bring to completion all Israeli plans to absorb millions of new immigrants (Ezek. 36:8-12).

    • Lord, show believers that Isaiah 43:5-6 speaks of them working with You to bring the Jews home, and have them tell their Jewish neighbors that now is the time to do that (Deut. 30:3-5; Psa. 106:47).

  8. Salvation:

    The goal of Yeshua's life while on earth, including His dying for sinners, was that God would be glorified (John 13:31-32; 14:13; 17:1-5; Phil. 2:9-11)! This needs to also be our goal as we intercede for Israel – including for its salvation (Psa. 79:9; 106:47).

    • As You declared in the prophetic portion, please make this the time when You cure Your people's backsliding and love them freely – by grace alone, through faith alone, in Messiah alone (Hos. 14:4).

    • King Yeshua, please stop hiding from Your people (Isa. 45:15)!

    • Lord, move upon many more believers to pray for all Israel to be saved at this stage in history and let them do it for Your holy name's sake (Isa. 45:25; 46:13; Ezek. 36:23-32; Luke 2:32; Rom. 10:1).

    • Give opportunities for Christian "lovers of Israel" to provoke Your people to jealousy (Rom. 11:11).

    • God, anoint Messianic Jewish soldiers to provoke other IDF soldiers to jealousy (Rom. 11:14).

    • Gracious God, pour out that prophesied spirit of grace and supplication upon You people who now live on Your land, and save multitudes of Jewish-Israelis today (Zech. 12:10; Acts 19:20).

    • [Ask God to show you which specific group or groups of Jews He wants you to pray for this week.]

  9. Body of Messiah:

    When Messiah Yeshua returns, He will sit upon King David's throne and judge the world as the King of Israel from Jerusalem. This is the real reason for Satan's fury at Israel's restoration today. Yet why are so many believers blind to this and thus do not perceive what the spiritual battle over Israel is all about?

    • Lord Yeshua, let Your Body open its gates to You – the Lord of glory (Psa. 21:7-10) – instead of leaving You waiting outside, knocking to get in (Rev. 3:19-20).

    • King of Israel, remove from them the stigma of needing to bow the knee to a Jewish Messiah (Gen. 41:42-43; Isa. 45:23; Matt. 27:24; Phil. 2:10).

    • Messiah Yeshua, show Your Body that it is impossible for them to see the fulfillment of Your Word today if they have no clue as to what Your Word teaches about these last days (Luke 24:25:27).

    • King Messiah, use those who do understand this to be spiritual leaven and impact all others in their fellowships and wider communities (Luke 13:20-21).

    • Lord God, gift Your flock with godly shepherds who will feed them with Your Word (Eph.4:11-14).

  10. Water:

    We bless God for the wet weather that has returned to Israel. Let's pray for an open heaven over Israel – both physically and spiritually – during this season (Isa. 41:17-20; Ezek. 34:26).

  11. IFI:

    We appreciate your prayers, words of encouragement and financial support. All of them enable us to continue to stand on our appointed positions on Jerusalem's walls today. Thank you,

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Jerusalem

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Rev. 22:21