1. Praise:Mount Sinai, where Moses received God’s law, should also be seen as the mountain of grace. God knew His people could not keep His law. Yet because of His love for them He provided a way for His sinful people to approach Him, still maintaining His righteousness as He dwelt in their midst. He revealed to Moses the pattern of the Tabernacle, and as the Torah portion states: Let them [Israel] make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. (Ex. 25:8)
    • Lord, Your love for us is beyond our comprehension; thank You for revealing it (1 John 3:1).
    • Lord God, Your love for Israel, despite how often they have rejected You, is a most wonderful proof of the truth that You are indeed a God of love (Deut. 7:7-8; 1 John 4:10).
    • We praise You that Your love is a “holy love” and not a Hollywood type of love that comes and goes according to how one is feeling at that moment (Isa. 6:3; 1 Cor. 13:4-8).
    • Lord Yeshua, when You died the veil of the temple was torn in two and now through Your blood sacrifice we have access into the very presence of God, our Father (Mark 15:38; Heb. 10:19-22).
    • We are so grateful that You are building us as Your Tabernacle today (Matt. 16:18b; Eph. 4:15-16), and that through Your Spirit, You already dwell within us (John 14:16-17; Gal. 4:6; 1 John 4:4).
    • We rejoice that You, Lord Yeshua, said You would never leave us nor forsake us (Matt. 28:20b).
    • Lord God, because Your essential nature never changes (Mal. 3:6), You have been, and will always be, a God of love and righteousness, of mercy and justice (Psa. 85:10; 89:14; Jer. 23:5-6).
    • As Purim draws near, we trust that You are always working, even if it is often behind the scenes and we then only see the end results (Est. 6:1-11; 7:10 ).
  2. Government and society:Demonstrations continue against the government’s judicial reforms. Yet while maybe over 100,000 Israelis show up – millions showed up on election day and voted for a government who openly said that judicial reforms was a central part of their campaign promises.
    • Abba, please hold this government to its promise to institute judicial reforms (Matt. 5:37).
    • Thank You that the reforms are moving through the processes needed to become law (1 Cor. 14:33).
    • If there should be any changes in what they propose, Lord, have the final say (Prov. 16:1; 20:24).
    • May the end results be the establishing of righteous judges in Israel’s gates (Deut. 16:18; Isa. 1:26).
    • In mercy, use the chaotic events of these days to increase righteousness in Your land (Isa. 32:1).
    • Expose the powers behind the demonstrations, including if it is the US administration (Job 28:11b).
    • Encourage the Israeli police to allow all legal acts in the demonstrations, but help them to be quick to stop anything that breaks the law (Eccl. 8:11; 2 Pet. 2:9-10).
    • Lessen the hatred being spoken by each side, and suppress all incitement to violence (Psa. 140:1-3).
    • Let the opposition know that You actually hate many of the things they are doing (Prov. 6:16-19).
    • Shield and protect all government leaders from all assassination attempts (Psa. 140:4-5).
    • Strengthen PM Bibi Netanyahu to hold the reins of his coalition but not to pull it to the left when a rightward turn is more in line with Your will (Prov. 21:1).
    • Thank You for his courage in rebuking America from trying to interfere with, and influence, Israel’s internal affairs (Prov. 27:5; 28:23; Eccl. 7:5).
    • Allocate all funds and provide all plans needed for Israel to prepare for earthquakes (2 Kin. 22:4-6).
    • Help Finance Minister Smotrich to create a plan to lower the high cost of living in Israel (Job 12:13).
    • Also, help him to know how to handle Israel’s finances and to handle the civil situation of Israeli citizens who live in Judea and Samaria – both of which are very important (Prov. 21:1; Jam. 1:8).
  3. Aliyah:Russian and Ukrainian aliyah rose dramatically last year, but from the rest of the West it decreased. Are Western Jews deaf and blind to what is happening in their nations? Do they not see the sharp increase in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism which targets them only because they are Jews regardless of whether they agree with Israel’s policies or not? And in America, can they not see the horrific plague of mass-shootings that strikes everyone and everywhere?
    • For Your glory’s sake, increase the aliyah exponentially from all nations (Isa. 43:5-7; Zech. 8:7-8).
    • Continue to increase the aliyah from Ukraine and Russia, but also bring home Your people from all of the other European and Central Asian nations (Jer. 31:8-9).
    • Use the recent earthquakes to shake all remaining Jews out of Turkey (Joel 3:16).
    • Send forth the spirit of Caleb and Joshua upon the younger generation of Jews worldwide, and let them be determined to return and conquer any giants that oppose them (Josh. 14:6-19).
    • Lord, set a trumpet to Your mouth and terrify the exile out of Your people (Isa. 27:13; Amos 3:6).
    • For Jews afraid to make aliyah because of terror attacks in Israel, remind them that at least Israelis know who are trying to murder them and that one day they will be gone (Neh. 4:15; Isa. 60:18)!
    • Abba, confront and expose the lies about Israel that make many Jews hesitant to return (Psa. 31:18).
    • Use the current coalition to prepare the ground so that new immigrants [olim] will be firmly planted in it, and will not even consider returning to exile (Psa. 44:2; 80:8; Amos 9:14-15).
    • We pray that all Israeli bureaucratic obstacles to be removed and cast into the sea (Mark 11:22-24).
    • As only You know who really is a Jew, we ask that You would open doors for everyone whom You have ordained to be in Israel (Psa. 118:19).
  4. Internal security:The expansion of Israeli sovereignty over more of its land, the growth of the “settlements” and the fight against terrorism all come under the heading of internal security.
    • Thank You Lord for the creation of nine new communities in Judea and Samaria (Ezek. 36:8-12).
    • Lord, move upon the current coalition to press forward with its goal of seeing Israel extending its sovereignty over much more of Your land west of the Jordan River (Jer. 32:43-44).
    • Lord God, Your will is for Israel to possess all of the land You swore to give its forefathers (Gen. 24:7; Ex. 13:5; Obad. 1:17), yet the world stands united in saying “No!” (Psa. 2:1-3). Therefore we pray for You to bring to pass Your will – suddenly and as soon as possible (1 John 5:14-15).
    • Abba, watch over Isaiah 54:15 in relation to the UN’s constant condemnations against Your nation.
    • Forbid that any pressure from America would hold Israel back from establishing many more cities and towns in its biblical heartland (Psa. 33:10-11).
    • Give courage to Israel to assert its authority over all the illegal building by the Palestinians in Area C which is being openly financed by the EU (Neh. 2:20).
    • Let Israel’s new leaders resist and rebuke the threats of Palestinian terrorism from bullying them in anyway whatsoever (Isa. 41:10-16).
    • May all plans for evil by Palestinian terrorists be exposed and thwarted (Job 12:22).
    • Based on the successful raid on terrorists in Nablus, release a spirit of paranoia so that Palestinian terrorists end up being very suspicious of each other and fear to trust anyone else (Psa. 35:26; 55:9).
    • Shield all of Israel’s security forces – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually (Psa. 3:3).
    • Let gratitude and praise be given to You from Israel’s forces (Ex. 15:2-3; Psa. 44:7-8), and let the Your fear fall on all the enemies’ forces (Ex. 14:25b; 2 Chr. 17:10).
    • Guard over Israel from the inevitable increase of terrorism and violence over Ramadan (Zech. 9:8).
    • Intervene in the Palestinian education system and stop the anti-Semitic and hate filled indoctrination of their children (Mark 10:14).
    • Provide protection on Israel’s roads against terror attacks (Deut. 28:6; Psa. 121:4-8).
    • Remove the Jehu spirit from Israeli drivers and reduce the deadly traffic accidents (2 Kin. 9:20).
    • Aid National Security Minister Ben-Gvir to increase the police force, both in personnel and in budget, so that they can deal with all the issues that need their attention (Judg. 4:6, 10-11).
  5. External security:Many of Israel’s enemies see the current strife in Israeli society and rejoice, thinking Israel is about to implode, or that it is so distracted by internal chaos that now would be a good time to launch a devastating attack against it. This reminds us of Micah 4:11-13: Now also many nations gather against you, saying, ‘Let her be defiled; let our eye look upon Zion’. But they do not know YHWH’s plans, or understand His purpose, for He shall gather them as sheaves unto the threshing floor. ‘Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion: for I will make your horn iron, your hoofs bronze, and you shall crush many people, and I will consecrate their unjust gain unto YHWH, and their wealth unto the Lord of the whole earth.
    • Regardless of what we see or hear, You have not brought Your people back to have them scattered again or to be annihilated – and for that we bless and thank You (Isa. 11:11-14; Jer. 31:10).
    • As Hizbullah leader Nasrallah mocks Your nation, Lord, let him fall into the net he has laid out for Israel, setting the Lebanese people free of this terrorist overlord as well (Psa. 7:14-16; 12:3; 35:8).
    • Reveal to Israel anything it has missed concerning Iran’s anti-Zionist plans so that it can defend itself against that nation’s demonic leaders (Obad. 1:6; Luke 12:2-3).
    • Set Your plans and timing in the minds of the IDF’s Iran Command and erase all else (Prov. 16:9).
    • Lord of hosts, do not let Israel be more merciful than You against its enemies who openly threaten to wipe it off the map (Num. 24:8; Deut. 33:27; Psa. 83:1-4).
    • Release Your angelic hosts to protect Your nation and go out with its warriors, especially its pilots, guarding over them and making their attacks supernaturally effective (Psa. 68:17; 91:11; Isa. 31:5).
    • As You see all that is happening (Psa. 33:13), and as You mock Iran’s plans to wipe Israel off the earth (Psa. 59:8; 83:4), we ask You to destroy Iran’s centrifuges sovereignly (Job 9:4-6; Isa. 2:19, 21).
    • Creator God, use natural events supernaturally and swallow up Iran’s nuclear facilities (Num. 16:30).
    • Break all ties between Iran and Russia and China, and even set them against each other.
    • Following the UN Security Council condemnation of Israeli settlements authored by the UAE for the Palestinians, let the government take another look at the “benefits” of the Abraham Accords and call out all nations who deal with Israel hypocritically (Psa. 55:12).
  6. Salvation:This verse from the Torah portion reveals God’s requirements for Him to be able to meet with sinful man. The Day of Atonement’s sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat – and sacrificial bloodshed is still needed for a righteous God to commune with sinners. You shall put the mercy seat above on the ark; and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will commune with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give you in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Ex. 25:21-22)
    • You said Your Word would not return to You void (Isa. 55:11), and we ask that You would watch over this word in Ex. 25:21-22 as Your people read it on Shabbat (Jer. 1:12).
    • Yeshua, we bless You who are our propitiation, the place of reconciliation with God (Rom. 3:25).
    • Do not allow Rabbinic Judaism’s teaching that with no temple today, other things take the place of a blood sacrifice, to hide the reality that You still require shed blood to atone for sins (Lev. 17:11, 14).
    • Pour out a holy dissatisfaction upon all Jews regardless of how “religious” they are and lead them to seek You to find a solution to this unease that they are feeling (Isa. 55:1-3; Jer. 29:13; Matt. 11:28).
    • You have promised to pour out Your Spirit on Your people when they are back in their land, and so Lord, we would suggest to You that now is a good time to do just that (Ezek. 36:24-28; Zech. 12:10).
    • Lord, take off the “Egyptian” garb that Christianity has so often dressed You in and reveal to many Jews that You were, and still are, their brother (Gen. 45:1-5).
  7. The Body of Messiah:We dare not be distracted or deceived by the evil and satanic schemes in today’s world and then forget the ultimate truth that our God still reigns (Psa. 103:19).
    • Lord, comfort Your Body that even when the Anti-Christ rules – You still reign (Rev. 17:17).
    • Hallelujah! The earth is the Lord’s (Deut. 10:14; Psa. 24:1; 50:12; Matt. 11:25a; 1 Cor. 10:26).
    • Raise up more shepherds after Your heart for the growing Israeli Body (Jer. 3:15; 23:3-4).
    • Let the Body in Israel and in all other democratic nations see that while democracy might be the best way to run a nation today, it never was, nor will it be, Your best (Psa. 44:4; Isa. 33:22; Zech. 14:9).
    • Do not allow politics to cause a division in the body in Israel or globally (1 Cor. 3:3).
    • Lord, caution believers against supporting any peace that is not of You which requires a sacrifice or a compromise of biblical principles and/or promises (Psa. 28:3; John 16:33; 1 Thess. 5:3).
    • Remove from Your Body all humanistic unity and replace it with the unity of Your Spirit (Eph. 4:3).
  8. Water:While we have had a short season of wet weather, we want to see more so that all of Israel’s underground aquifers and the Sea of Galilee are totally full.
    • Abba, for Your name’s sake and in Your mercy, please send more rain (Psa. 115:1-3; Matt. 5:45b).
    • Fill up all of Israel’s underground aquifers that while hidden from man – You see (Job 38:25-27).
  9. IFI:Pray for God to give us discernment and to guide us to pray in line with His Word and not in line with the media headlines which are so often exaggerated and outrageous. Also ask Him shield us from all spiritual attacks. Thank you for your faithful encouragement and support.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

For the IFI team  [reprinted with permission]

Psa. 121:5-8