1. Praise:

   In Shabbat's Torah portion Joseph comforts his brothers about their betrayal of him saying, Do not be grieved or angry with yourselves that you sold me here – for God sent me before you to set a remnant in the land, and to give you life by a great deliverance. (Gen. 45:5a, 7)

   • Lord God of Israel, You truly do work all things together for good (Rom. 8:28).

   • We praise You for this biblical example of offering forgiveness based on Joseph's acknowledgment of Your total sovereignty in his life and in the affairs of humanity (Psa. 22:28; 103:19).

   • We bless You for Your sovereignty as 2025 is already upon us (Psa. 103:19; Mal. 3:6).

   • Thank You that we can trust You even if we do not understand what You are doing (Prov. 3:5).

   • We are so grateful that You invite us to pray and promise to hear us (Jer. 33:3; 1 John 5:14-15).

   • We rejoice that in Messiah Yeshua, we are now new creations (Psa. 102:18; 2 Cor. 5:17), despite our old selves still hanging around trying to influence us in sinful ways (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9).

2. Government & society:

   Since God directs us to pray for those in authority (1 Tim. 2:1-4), we then expect Him to lead us. And as we persistently stand in the gap for Israel's political leaders we do see this, although we usually need to look back in time in order to see it clearly (Psa. 50:15).

   • Lord, thank You for the successful operation PM Bibi Netanyahu had this past week (Psa. 103:3).

   • Abba, give him wisdom on how to rest and heal up as well as how to lead Your nation (Dan. 2:21).

   • Lord Yeshua, as he is recovering show Yourself to him and be his strength (Psa. 63:6; 2 Cor. 12:10).

   • God, prepare even now the person whom You have already ordained to replace Bibi (Psa. 75:5-7).

   • Lord God, promote more sons and daughters of Zion in Israel (Psa. 1:1-6; 48:11; Zech. 9:13).

   • Almighty God, use Israel's current governing coalition for Your glory (Psa. 115:1-3).

   • Abba, let each member of that coalition humble themselves before You (Prov. 29:23; 1 Pet. 5:6).

   • Messiah Yeshua, comfort Your nation (Isa. 61:1-3) and heal all ex-hostages who are back home of their intense mental and emotional trauma and, most likely, their survivor's guilt (Psa. 30:2-3; 147:3).

   • Break the snare that the hostage deal holds over Israeli society (Psa. 124:6-7).

   • Turn the hostage families rage away from Bibi, and turn them to cry out to You instead (Psa. 86:7).

   • Block any hostage deal that is not of You and would end up hurting Your nation (Prov. 19:21).

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

   • As "friendly" nations embargo weapons shipments to Israel, let Israel manufacture much more of its own weapons and ammunition locally (2 Chr. 32:5b; Jer. 50:25; Rom. 8:28).

3. Foreign relations:

   Much of the world hates Israel because it hates Israel's God (Psa. 83:1-4). A big part of that is because God's Word dares to define right from wrong, and actually calls certain acts "sin"! Also, His Word confronts the world with "ultimate truth" (John 17:17).

   • King of kings, may Your foreign policy be established on earth as it is in heaven, and let Israel have a major role in enabling that to be fulfilled (Deut. 28:9-10, 13; Psa. 9:19-20; 33:10-11; Luke 11:2).

   • Almighty God, since You raise up the leaders of every nation (Prov. 8:15; Dan. 2:21a), use today's leaders to advance Your plans (Psa. 33:11), and guide us in praying for them (Eccl. 8:5).

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

   • Abba Father, turn Israelis away from viewing Trump as a "savior" (Psa. 118:9; Prov. 29:25).

   • Lord, have Trump's trusted advisors warn him clearly against touching Your land (Joel. 3:1-2).

   • Sovereign Lord, thank You for the sons and daughters of Zion and of Issachar whom You are raising up throughout Israel's diplomatic corps (1 Chr. 12:32; Job 22:21-22; Isa. 48:17).

   • Lord God, help Israel's representatives – professionals or not – to use Your Word when they speak, as what You have said will not return empty (Num. 23:19; Isa. 40:8; 55:11: Gal. 4:16).

   • Messiah Yeshua, make Gideon Sa'ar, Israel's Foreign Minister, a faithful ambassador (Prov. 13:17).

   • Anoint Dr. Yechiel Leiter in his position as Israel's next US Ambassador (Psa. 75:6-7; Prov. 16:1).

   • Continue imparting godly boldness into Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon (Psa. 81:10; 119:13).

   • Messiah Yeshua, anoint every believer who prays over their nation's relations with Israel, and let their prayers enable You to be merciful to their nations (Ezek. 22:30-31: cp. Isa. 60:12).

4. "Operation Swords of Iron:"

   We are very grateful that even under the intense pressure to achieve a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas, Netanyahu remains committed to continue Israel's war against Hamas until its rule in Gaza is eradicated.

   • Lord God, refresh our burden and vision to pray into the Gaza war in 2025 (Psa. 92:10b).

   • If Israel's reluctance to repossess Gaza is the main blockage to gaining a total victory in this war, Lord, please speak clearly to Israel's leaders and its people about this (Judg. 2:1-4).

   • Abba Father, support Bibi's insistence that Israel must be in total security control in all of Gaza on the "day after" so that Hamas cannot take back control (Prov. 2:21-22; 12:7; Mal. 1:5).

   • Anoint the IDF soldiers in Gaza to fight like those prophesied sons of Zion (Zech. 9:13-15; 10:3a-7).

   • God Almighty spread Your wings of protection over all of them (Psa. 17:8; 91:4; 141:9-10).

   • Lord of hosts, in line with Obadiah 1:3-4 and 1:8 use Hamas' pride to deceive and destroy them.

   • Let the investigations of what went wrong leading up to Oct. 7th 2023 expose the unbiblical mindset of many of the IDF's current leadership, and either change them or replace them (Ezek. 34:10).

   • Abba Father, like Abraham and David rescued all of their hostages, so we ask that You would aid the IDF to do the same thing today (Gen. 14:14-16; 1 Sam. 30:18-20).

5. Internal security:

   It is vital for Israel to obey God's Word and extend its sovereignty over its land in 2025. This is not annexation, as a nation does not annex that which is already theirs. Also this move is the only chance Israelis have of living more securely until Messiah returns.

   • Use Ezekiel 37:25 in Shabbat's prophetic portion to convince more Jews that it is most definitely Your will to give them all of the land You have promised to their forefathers (Rom. 15:8).

   • God of Israel, increase the many voices inside of Israel demanding the extension of sovereignty over all of their land, at least from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea (Psa. 102:13-14; Isa. 54:2-3).

   • Lord Yeshua, also increase the prayers of Your Body for this to happen ((Psa. 20:5; 122:6).

   • Abba Father, as You are jealous over Your land (Ezek. 36:5-7), block and destroy all plans from the UN or other nations to divide Your land and create a "Palestine" (Psa. 33:10-11; Zech. 14:1-3).

   • Lord God Almighty, in 2025 restore to the Jews these biblical land titles (Psa. 125:3): Hebron (Gen. 23:17-18), Shechem [Nabulus today] (Gen. 33:19) and the Temple Mount (2 Sam. 24:24).

   • God, even as Israel is in the midst of a multi-front war, expand the populations and businesses of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and everywhere else in Your land (Isa. 49:19-20; 51:3).

   • Lord, thank You for the approved plans to build power plants in Judea and Samaria and a solar farm in the Jordan Valley and we ask for more initiatives like this throughout the land (Neh. 2:20).

   • Abba Father, we bless You that even as an terror attempts increase, most fail, and there have been no successful kidnappings of Israelis anywhere in the land since Oct. 7th (Psa. 50:15; 121:4; Jer. 31:10).

   • Lord God, let Israel increase its war against terrorists throughout Judea and Samaria (Deut. 30:7).

   • God of hosts, strip off all demonic protection from all terrorist groups (Num. 14:9; Josh 2:24).

   • God of Israel, snag all terrorists in the traps they have set for the Jews (Est. 7:10; Psa. 7:14-16).

   • Lord, uproot Your enemies out from of Your land – and do it suddenly (Psa. 125:3; Jer. 12:14-17).

6. 1. External security – Middle East [ME]:

      Iran's proxy in Yemen, the Houthis, are Israel's most immediate and dangerous enemy today. While some Israeli leaders are pushing for an attack on the head – the Iranian regime – so far that does not seem to be its plan. But after Trump is inaugurated as America's president on January 20th, a lot could change.

      • Now that the IDF has feet on the ground in southern Lebanon and Syria, as well as in Gaza, use this as the beginnings of Israel possessing these areas of the Promised Land (Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:3).

      • Lord of hosts, fulfill Micah 4:11-13; make Israel Your weapon described there, and use the results to bring You glory and honor – both in Israel and throughout the world (Isa. 41:15-16).

      • God, let Islam's extreme pride drag all radical Muslim Jihadists into ruin (Prov. 11:2a; 17:19).

      • Guardian of Israel (Psa. 121:4), guard over Your nation and show it what it needs to do in respond to the sudden change of leadership in Syria and the resulting turmoil in the ME (Psa. 23:3b).

      • Lord, maintain Israel's distrust towards Syria's new Sunni Muslim radical leaders and let it continue to destroy anything that might be used against it which Assad's army, or Iran, abandoned (Psa. 27:11).

      • Lord, fight against the Houthis for Israel, releasing Your Angel upon them (Psa. 35:1-6).

      • Also, direct Israel's attacks against the Houthis and their bases in Yemen (Prov. 21:30-31).

      • Our God who sees all, increase Israel's skill in gathering accurate intelligence and in interpreting all collected data precisely (2 Kin. 6:12; Isa. 29:15).

      • God, reveal to the world if the Iranian regime's shame over their proxies and ally Syria's destruction are causing them to press ahead with the development of nuclear arms (Job 6:19-20; Psa. 6:10; 44:7).

      • Lord of hosts, Your prophesied destruction of Iran's leaders (Jer. 49:38b) would be a great mercy for the Iranians, most ME nations, and Israel, so use the shock of Assad's fall to hasten that fulfillment.

      • God, reveal the anti-Israel plots of Turkey's anti-Christ-like leader Erdogan (Prov. 5:21; Jer. 32:19).

      • Increase the division that has sprung up between Erdogan and Syria's new leadership (Psa. 55:9).

      • Lord God, use Erdogan for Your glory like You did with Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar (Rom. 9:17).

      • Lord Yeshua, guard over Your Body in the ME; help them grow numerically and spiritually; and anoint them to greatly influence their nations for You (Jer. 49:38a; Matt. 5:13-16; 16:18b).

   2. External security – Lebanon:

      Israel will likely not pull the IDF out of south Lebanon after the 60 day ceasefire has ended. The concerns are that Lebanon's army's obligation to take over that area will not be accomplished by then and there are worrying signs of Iran trying to rearm Hizbullah, who is also trying to reestablish itself in South Lebanon.

      • God of Israel, we continue to hit the "arrows" on the ground in prayer, asking You to aid the IDF to totally remove Hizbullah from being a threat to Your nation (2 Kin. 13:17-19).

      • Lord God, thank You for using the Assad regime's fall to answer our prayers to destroy the routes through Syria that Iran had used to resupply Hizbullah's weapons (Judg. 5:20-22; Isa. 59:7).

      • If Israel's destruction of many Hizbullah launchers, which are a modern "bow" to launch missiles, is a partial fulfillment of Your Word (Jer. 49:35), we thank You and ask for more Lord (Psa. 46:9)!

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

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

      • God, direct Israel to rebuild its north more securely and more populously (Isa. 54:2-3; Eccl. 3:3b).

7. Aliyah:

   The biblical term to describe Jews living among the gentiles is "captivity". There are close to 8 million Jews who are no longer in "captivity" because they live in Israel. Yet still a majority remains in a self-imposed exile. As aliyah is for His glory (Isa. 43:5-7, 21), the excuses they make to stay there pale in comparison to their diminishing of His glory by refusing to return home.

   • God of Israel, we bless You for the 31,000 people who made aliyah in 2024 (Ezek. 39:27-29).

   • Now Lord God, bring many millions more home and do it quickly (Psa. 106:47; 107:2-3).

   • Use Ezekiel 37:21-23 in the prophetic portion to show Your people that coming home is Your will.

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

   • Yet if Jews resist Your wooing – drag them out using Your angels (Gen. 19:15-16; Acts 12:7-11).

   • God, tear apart the dangerous "comfort zones" trapping Your people in the West (Job 7:13-14).

   • Almighty One, today's anti-Israel acts throughout the West are at least a partial fulfillment of Your prophetic hunters, so use them to chase Your people home (Jer. 16:16).

   • Teach the Jews history's lessons, that whenever they lived 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).

   • God, show Your people that they will always be seen as the stranger in gentile lands (Psa. 137:4).

   • Lord, release Jews in Turkey, Iran and other anti-Israel nations to return home (Jer. 16:14-15).

   • Lord God Almighty, marry Your people to the land, and show them that it is a marriage – for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health – and not just a love affair (Isa. 62:4-5).

   • We ask You to make the government's program of incentives to get new immigrants to settle in areas of Your land that are outside of the large cities in the nation's center very successful (Jer. 33:12-14).

   • Thank You that Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is encouraging Israel to prepare for massive aliyah.

   • Lord God, tear down Israel's bureaucratic man-made blockages to the aliyah process (Isa. 62:10).

   • In fact, Abba, draw home such a huge flood of immigrants all at once, that it washes away all these barriers which make aliyah more difficult than it needs to be (Psa. 66:6; 98:8).

   • 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 return (Deut. 30:3-5; Psa. 106:47).

8. Salvation:

   The Torah portion contains that wonderful scene of Joseph revealing himself to his brothers. This is a prophetic picture of Yeshua revealing Himself to His Jewish family. [Note how Joseph first commands all gentiles to leave the room. When I have asked Messianic Jews how many were saved alone, just them and Yeshua, as I was, it was usually at least 50%. Yet most of them have had Messiah Yeshua shared with them by gentile believers before that – as I did (Rom. 11:11)!]

   • Lord, speak to many believers to intercede for all Israel to be saved at this time, and have focus on doing this for Your glory's sake (Isa. 45:25; 46:13; Ezek. 36:23-32; Luke 2:32; Rom. 10:1).

   • King Yeshua, please stop hiding from Your people (Isa. 45:15), but like Joseph in the Torah portion, remove Your "Egyptian" garb and show Yourself to them – in Israel and in the nations (Gen. 45:1-3).

   • Lord, just like Jacob was shocked into realizing his son was alive because of the material wealth that a gentile Pharaoh sent to him, so let the financial help of gentiles towards Israel today shock many Jews to understand that You are the living Messiah, or else this would not happen (Gen. 45:27-28).

   • Abba, by grace and mercy, save many Holocaust survivors and their families; survivors of terrorism; hostages still alive and their loved ones; IDF soldiers and their families; loved ones of soldiers killed or severely wounded; widows, widowers, orphans; Jews who are angry with God; rabbis in Israel and exile; Israeli diplomats, lawyers; Jewish university students in Israel and in exile; professors, teachers, medical personnel; Israeli media personalities, tour guides and archeologists; anti-government/anti-Bibi demonstrators; Israelis living in exile; Jewish hippies, LGBTQ+ and new agers; Jews in Iran, Turkey, Ethiopia, India, and China; Spanish and Portuguese speaking Jews; and unsaved loved ones of Messianic Jews.

9. Body of Messiah:

   For believers to co-labor with God today, they must see what He is doing prophetically. For us, it is clear that this focuses on Israel's place in His end time plans (Jer. 32:41). Yet for it to be obvious, believers need to be familiar with all of His Word.

   • Abba Father, show believers that it is not possible to see You fulfill those end time prophecies You are fulfilling today if they remain ignorant of what Your Word says about these days (Luke 24:25:27).

   • King Yeshua, let those in the Body who do see this be spiritual leaven and influence everyone else in their fellowships and wider communities (Luke 13:20-21).

   • Lord Yeshua, set over Your flock shepherds who are anointed to teach and preach from all of Your Word, and who are not afraid to declare Your love for Israel (Acts 20:27; Eph.4:11-14).

   • Lord Yeshua, open the eyes of more of Your disciples to perceive Your judgments coming on much of world today because of how nations push Israel to divide Your land (Joel 3:1-2).

   • Messiah Yeshua, expel replacement theory from the Body (Eph. 5:27; 1 Tim. 4:1), and banish all demonic spirits of Jew-hatred and Israel-hatred (Gen. 18:18; 22:18; John 4:22; Rom. 9:1-5).

   • As more Jews come into Your kingdom, let gentile believers be like Pharaoh and his servants who when they heard that Joseph's family had come to Joseph, they were very pleased (Gen. 45:16).

   • Teach Your Body the necessity of interceding for their nation's governments – including those that are anti-biblical, anti-Christ and anti-Israel (2 Tim. 2:1-4).

10. Water:

    We are thankful for the wet weather in Israel this past week. The Kinneret, the Sea of Galilee, rose several centimeters, which is a huge encouragement to us. Please pray for much more rain on His land over the next several months (Deut. 11:11-12; Matt. 5:45b).

11. IFI:

    While we do not know what the future holds, we know the One who holds the future. And that, along with your prayers, notes of encouragement, and financial gifts to us keeps us moving forward. Thank you for your faithfulness to this ministry.

Shabbat shalom, and blessed New Year in Messiah Yeshua

Chuck Cohen, for the IFI team

Gen. 1:1-2; John 1:1-3