1. Praise: This Shabbat’s prophetic portion is Isaiah 54:1-10.

    • For a little moment I have left you; but with great mercies I will gather you. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says YHWH your Redeemer.Isa. 54:7-8

    • We praise You that Your viewpoint is from eternity, thus Israel’s long exile is in Your sight “a little moment…a little wrath.”
    • As that is true, what a joy to know that everlasting kindness and mercy awaits us!
    • My mouth shall show forth Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day; for I do not know how many they are. I will go in the strength of the Lord YHWH; I will speak of Your righteousness, of Yours alone. (Psa. 71:15-16) Amen.
    • Thank You that Israel’s exile is over and that we get too see that which many prophets and saints have waited so long to see (Luke 10:24).
    • We thank You for having made with us the covenant of [Your] peace (Isa. 54:10).

    • O give thanks to YHWH; for He is good; because His mercy endures forever.Psa. 118:1

  2. Elections: Israeli national elections will be held this coming Tuesday the 17th. The polls, which have been proven to be very unreliable, are showing very different results. PM Bibi Netanyahu has been trying all sorts of things to raise his profile in the eyes of Israelis. And while most Israelis, by a large margin, see him as the best choice for prime minister if the right parties do not get the right amount of votes, we could have a center-left government or no government.
    • Lord, as You have ordained governments, we ask for Israel to have righteous government at this time (Prov. 14:34; Rom. 13:1-4).
    • Give us a government that will protect this nation, its land and its people (Jer. 23:3-4).
    • With this being the second election this year, do not allow apathy to keep Israelis from voting.
    • Help President Rivlin make the right choice on whom he asks to form the next government (Prov. 21:1).
    • With the fall feasts running throughout most of October, it will take a miracle for a government to be formed, so Lord, we pray and look to You (Psa. 5:3).
    • Please watch over this nation for security and calm on election day (Psa. 121:4).
    • Expose and defeat any planned terror activities (Psa. 35:22-26).
    • Keep all Israeli security forces on high alert – both at the polls and along its borders (Ezek. 37:10).
  3. Elections: For years, we have asked God to show us if there is someone other than Netanyahu whom He wants to be Israel’s leader, yet we have not heard anything different, therefore we prayed for Bibi to have an overwhelming victory.
    • Let there be a decisive victory for Netanyahu’s Likud this time around (Phil. 4:6).
    • Thank You for all his accomplishments – especially in the security, foreign relations and economic arenas – that You have graced him with (1 Kin. 10:9, 24).
    • Give him at least one more chance to lead this nation into the near future (Dan. 2:21).
    • Over this last weekend, impart to Bibi wisdom from on high as to what he should emphasize and what he should not touch on as he makes his final appeal to the voters (Prov. 16:1).
    • Remove all panic and paranoia from his heart by turning his heart to You (Isa. 26:3).
    • Block his ears from all ungodly advice – yet open them to hear all that is from You ( Kin. 3:9).
  4. Land: This past week Netanyahu has promised to annex parts of the Jordan Valley down to the Dead Sea. This is a very biblical stance – but whether he said it just for political gain, as seems likely, or whether he really means to do it, he has moved the goalposts so that now this is part of Israel’s future plans.
    • Of interest is that the following verses are in Shabbat’s prophetic portion: Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your dwelling places: spare not, lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes; For you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left; and your seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. (Isa. 54:2-3) Amen!
    • Thank You for allowing Netanyahu to speak out Your will (Isa. 55:11).
    • As so many anti-Israel nations and groups blasted him for declaring this – we know it was of You!

    • YHWH brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He breaks the plots of the people. The counsel of YHWH stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is YHWH; the people He has chosen for His inheritance [i.e., Israel].Psa. 33:10-12

    • Forbid that the global outrage prevent Your will from coming to pass (Psa. 2:1-12).
    • May the next Israeli government make this happen (Jer. 1:12).
  5. Land: US President Trump’s peace plan is supposed to be released shortly after the Israeli elections. All indications are that a “two-state solution” is off the table. If that is the case, then Trump will have also moved the goalposts.
    • Thank You that the unveiling of this plan has been repeatedly delayed (Job 5:12).
    • Delay it again if this plan is not in line with Your will and purposes for Israel today (Prov. 22:28).
    • May Israel’s next government have the courage to say no to America’s very pro-Israel leader if this plan forces Israel to compromise on Your revealed will (Lev. 25:23).
    • Thank You for revealing openly the obstinacy and Jew-hatred of the Palestinian leaders, proving that there is no viable peace partner among the Palestinians to deal with (1 Kin. 2:5; Psa. 120:7).
    • It seems that Trump tries to control the world via finances. Abba, change his thinking so that he sees that money is not the most important issue to many people – especially religious fanatics.
    • Thank You for the wonderful ally the US has been to Israel to date – but do not allow Israelis to put their trust and confidence in America as opposed to You (Isa. 30:1-2; 31:1-3).
    • May US pro-Zionist Christians have access to their president, to warn him against dividing God’s land if need be (Ezek. 3:17; Joel 3:1-2).
  6. Security: Wherever Israel looks, Iran is either confronting it directly or through it proxies.
    • Lord, make the next government hold as strictly to Israel’s redlines against Iran establishing military bases in Syria as this government has done.
    • Thank You for answering our prayers for Israel’s intelligence gathering so openly (1 John 5:14-15).
    • Continue to help the IDF to collect accurate intelligence and to know what to do with it (Job 12:22).
    • Enable the IDF to update its “hit list” of Iranian targets in line with Iran’s schemes (Psa. 139:12).
    • Continue to protect the Israeli Air Force as it goes out to attack Iranian bases (Psa. 91:4).
    • Give the IDF wisdom on the use its drones and on how to defend against drone attacks (Psa. 91:5).
    • Thank You for the current freedom Russia has given Israel to attack Iranian targets in these areas.
    • Bless You that so far there has been no effective response from Iran. May that remain true.

    • O YHWH of Hosts, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubs, You are God, You alone to all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth. Bow down Your ear, YHWH, and hear; open Your eyes, YHWH, and see; and hear all the words of [the Ayatollah] which he has sent to mock the living God…O YHWH our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are YHWH, You alone.Isa. 37:16-17, 20

    • Lord Yeshua, we ask for our Iranian brothers and sisters in Messiah – wisdom, courage, safety and an anointing in intercession both about their nation and about Israel (Luke 18:1; Jam. 5:17-18).
    • Send forth more laborers into the Iranian harvest fields (Matt. 9:38).
  7. Security: Palestinians in Israel’s heartland of Judea and Samaria as well as those in Gaza are Israel’s most persistent threat. There have been hundreds terror attacks, most of which have been thwarted – praise God – but the few that do succeed rest heavily on the hearts of Israelis.
    • Lord, thank You for providing accurate intelligence concerning the terror cells in Judea and Samaria.
    • Give the IDF and Israel’s other security forces wisdom on who to go after today and who can be left until tomorrow (Prov. 21:31).
    • Protect the hearts and minds of all the young soldiers who confront Islamic Jew-hatred daily. Lord YHWH, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle. (Psa. 140:7)
    • May there be calm on Your holy hill of Zion this day (Psa. 24:3-4).
    • Lord Yeshua, You are the only hope for the Palestinians. Reveal Yourself to many (Jer. 12:14-17).
    • Arise and destroy the constant anti-Semitic/anti-Zionist brainwashing of their children (Psa. 68:1).
    • Lord, Israel needs wisdom on how to deal with Gaza. Please give it to the right people (Eccl. 9:18).
    • Thank You for protecting Israelis from the rocket attacks from Gaza (Isa. 31:5).
    • Yet Lord, show Israel how to respond in a way that stops the attacks completely (2 Chr. 20:29).
    • Bless and watch over the Israeli communities in the Western Negev, right next to Gaza (Psa. 33:20).
    • Heal and save many who are traumatized by the constant red-alerts and rocket fire (Jer. 17:14).
  8. As the fall feasts of the Lord approach, we are praying for Jews to make aliyah – to return home from exile – and for Israelis to be saved. In Leviticus 23, where Moses lists these feasts, the Hebrew word for feast is moed – which means a set time for God to meet with His people and for His people to meet with Him. So this is a wonderful season to pray for Jews to be challenged with the messianic claims of Yeshua.

    • I will pour on the house of David, and the people of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications, and they shall look unto Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be bitter over Him, as the bitterness over the first-born.Zech. 12:10

    • Watch over and perform this prophetic promise to many Jews in Israel at this season (Jer. 1:12).
    • You said, you have not because you ask not (Jam. 4:2b). So we are asking for You to double the number of believers in the Israeli Body over the holydays season.
    • Lord Yeshua, please encourage Israeli believers to mature in their faith and to receive from you a deep hunger for Your Word (2 Pet. 1:4-10; Jer. 15:16).
    • Lord, send a deep spirit of homesickness on all the Jews who remain in exile (Jer. 50:4-5).
    • For Jews living in the false “comforts and security” of the West, stir up their nests and kick them out (Deut. 32:11-12).
    • At the end of the Yom Kippur service, when Messianic Jews say “Next year in Jerusalem,” convict them of their sin in saying this if they do not mean it (Psa. 15:4b; Matt. 5:37).
    • Reveal the sin of not believing in Messiah Yeshua to all Jews who are waking up early and going to their synagogue to pray the prayers of forgiveness during this month (John 16:8-9).
    • Use the new restrictions that many European nations are placing oi religious practices, to wake up the Jews there – and bring them home to Israel (Jer. 9-10).
    • Impact all Israelis who are living outside of Israel with the fact that their children are strangers in the nation where these Israelis grew up and for the children’s sake, lead them home (Jer. 31:17).
    • Anoint many Christians to be provokers of jealousy to the Jews at this season concerning the King of Israel – Messiah Yeshua (Rom. 11:11).
    • Anoint many Christians to be provokers of jealousy to many Jews at this season concerning the land of Israel – God’s Promised Land (Ezek. 36:5; Joel 3:2).
    • Pour out on Your true Church a burden to help bring Your people home (Isa. 43:3-5; 49:22; 60:4-6)
    • [We then prayed for specific groups of Jews to be saved: Holocaust survivors; the gay community; those dealing with the trauma of abortions; IIDF soldiers; Israeli politicians (O glory hallelujah!); all involved in the medical field; tour guides; Israeli youth. Please add whatever other groups that the Lord leads you to pray for.]

Again, thank You for standing with this nation and with us at this time.

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Zion

The IFI team