1. Praise: From Tuesday sunset through Wednesday sunset next week, Israel and most Jews worldwide will observe the holy day of Yom Kippur. This coming Shabbat is known as the Shabbat of Repentance. One of the prophetic portions that will be read is an incredible promise of God which is applicable to both Israel and to those who are grafted in by the blood of the Lamb.

    • I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely; for My anger has turned away from him.Hos. 14:4

    • We praise You for Your truly amazing grace (Eph. 2:4-10).
    • We give You thanks and confess that You are good, that Your covenant-love endures forever (Psa. 118:1, 29).
    • Thank You for the empty tomb which sealed the victory of Messiah Yeshua over sin and death (1 Pet. 1:3).
    • Bless You for the gift of repentance enabling us to turn from all sins which separate us from You (Isa. 59:1-2).
    • My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Cor. 12:9) Amen!
    • We praise You Lord Yeshua, our High Priest who intercedes for us before the Father (Heb. 7:22-28).
    • We thank You Lord for being both High Priest and the ultimate sacrifice (Heb. 9:11-15).
    • Thank You for the privilege of coming boldly into Your throne of grace to plead for grace and mercy for Israel at this time of its great need (Heb. 4:16).
  2. Salvation: On Yom Kippur many Jews – about 70% here in Israel – will be fasting and praying asking God for forgiveness. Meanwhile, many Israelis are discouraged, frustrated and angry about the political mess that Israeli politicians have made from the last two elections. They need the hope that is only found in Messiah.

    • Hope in YHWH; be of good courage; He shall make your heart strong; yes, hope in YHWH.Psa. 27:14

    • Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Through Him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice on the hope of the glory of God.Rom. 5:2

    • Father, only You can draw Israelis to Yeshua. Please do exactly that at this season (John 6:44).
    • Watch over Your promise to reveal Yourself to the Jews who seek You with all their heart (Jer. 29:12-13).
    • Use the deep frustration and hopelessness to cause many to seek for something higher (Psa. 121:1-2).
    • For those truly seeking You on Yom Kippur: YHWH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel. (Jer. 31:7)
    • Break into the routines of Jews who fast and pray only because it is tradition (Isa. 1:10-19).
    • Send forth the fear of God upon all religious hypocrites and turn them to You (Matt. 6:5, 16; Prov. 16:16).
    • Sweep through the Orthodox Jewish community and remove the veil over many hearts (2 Cor. 3:14).
    • On Yom Kippur, whenever Your Word is prayed or read, do not let it return to You void (Isa. 55:11).
  3. Most of the global Church does not recognize Yom Kippur as the holiest day in their God’s calendar. Yet it is called a moed in Leviticus 23:4 [verses 26-32 refer to Yom Kippur]. A moed is a set time when He wants to meet with His people, and since gentile believers are now part of the commonwealth of Israel, grafted into Israel’s olive tree, this means all who are part of Messiah’s Body. So there is a veil over their eyes too, which is tragic as this is a wonderful time to agree in prayer with the Jews who are asking God for salvation. If you are led, fast during Yom Kippur asking for God to remove His veil over Jewish hearts and over the Church.
    • Lord Yeshua, show Your Body that their Bible really does begin in Genesis (2 Tim. 3:14-17).
    • Wake up the Church to pray for all Israel to be saved at this season (Rom. 11:26; 1 John 5:14-15).
    • Thank You for the growing remnant that does just this. Encourage and strengthen them today (1 Chr. 28:20).
    • May the results of our prayers for Israel be a huge increase in the Body of Messiah here and elsewhere.
    • May the fruit of those prayers also be a definite increase in biblical truth in the Body for believers (John 8:32).
  4. At this time, a pre-indictment hearing for Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu is being held. Although many media and political reports say that Bibi is being indicted, that is not true. This hearing is to give his lawyers their first opportunity to present Netanyahu’s side of the charges against him, as well as to offer much evidence that has not been consider or known up to this time. We want truth to reign and Israel needs this whole anti-Bibi indictment process to be dealt with swiftly.
    • We again ask for truth to triumph. Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and Your Law is the truth. (Psa. 119:142)
    • Expose the truth to Israeli Attorney General Mandelblit and then show him what to do with it (Prov. 21:1).
    • Remove from Mandelblit all the media and political background noise (Matt. 9:23-24).
    • Speak clearly to him that he needs to make a decision based on facts and not hearsay (Deut. 1:16; 16:18-19).
    • If the new evidence that Bibi’s lawyers are bringing do change the charges against him, allow a righteous verdict based on that be completed quickly (Psa. 69:17).
    • Prepare Netanyahu and show him what to do if he is indicted (Prov. 16:9).
    • If not indicted, prevent him from becoming vindictive and bitter from all that he and his family have endured.
  5. Government: Israel does not yet have a governing coalition. Talks between Bibi and his Likud party and Benny Gantz and his Blue and White party and even with Avigdor Liberman, have not resulted in any solution. In the natural, unless someone humbles themselves or goes back on their word – and there is hope in that as we are dealing with politicians – Israel is heading for a third election early next year. Hardly anyone in Israel from any side wants to see that. Again, we sensed that all we could pray was for God to watch over this mess and create a government that lines up with His word and promises.
    • Lord, give us a government through whom You can be glorified (John 12:28).
    • Since we prayed much into this recent election, we must believe that those who have been elected are Your choices (Prov. 15:8b, 29b). Use them to create a surprisingly solid governing coalition (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
    • Abba, give us a government with its top priority being Israel’s overall security (Jer. 31:10; Zech. 12:8).
    • Abba, give us a government that sees how vital aliyah – the return of scattered Jews to Israel – is at this time.
    • Abba, give us a government that will be better at helping the new immigrants to get settled (Isa. 27:6).
    • Abba, give us a government that has Solomon’s wisdom concerning the allocation of finances (1 Kin. 4:29).
    • Abba, give us a government that makes getting an abortion much harder than it is today (Deut. 30:19).
    • Abba, give us a government that is willing to see the health care system be fully functional (Jer. 33:6).
    • Abba, give us a government that supports an educational system that is more in line with Your teachings.
    • If a unity government is Your will at this time, then please deal with all arrogant politicians over Yom Kippur and bring forth a solid group of servant-leaders to lead this nation into the future (Jer. 23:3-4).
  6. Security: With only a temporary government in place, the IDF must be able to defend this nation and work with whomever in the government is the defense minister – who would be Netanyahu at this time.
    • Lord, we bless You for the IDF Chief of Staff Kochavi who seems to be doing a wonderful job heading up the IDF and is keeping himself out of Israel’s political chaos (Psa. 80:17).
    • Lord, with all that Netanyahu is dealing with, do not allow him to be distracted concerning Israel’s security.
    • Praise You that regardless of whom is protecting this nation, ultimately You are Israel’s Guardian (Psa. 121:4).
    • Give the IDF leadership the ability to use all their financial resources very efficiently (Eccl. 7:12).
    • Expose all the plans of the enemy to attack Israel – especially over the feast time (Mark 4:22).
    • Continue to make the IDF’s intelligence gathering very accurate, and then guide this intelligence to the right person/people who need to decipher it and decide what to do with it (Prov. 11:14).
  7. Security: We prayed for the safety of the residents in Judea, Jerusalem and Samaria – especially during the remaining fall feasts.
    • Again, we ask for all plots of the enemy to be exposed and defeated (Job 12:22).
    • Thank You for the nightly IDF raids which results in terrorist being arrested and terror attacks being cut off.

    • Behold, all those who were incensed against you shall be ashamed and confounded; they shall be as nothing. And those who fight with you shall perishIsa. 41:11

    • On Yom Kippur, as the number of soldiers is less and as many who remain on guard fast, please release an extra host of angelic protection for Your people (Ex. 14:19-20).
    • Thank You for the miraculous protection You have given this nation. The huge number of terror attacks that have failed is proof that our God reigns (Isa. 52:7)!
    • Lord, protect Israelis from knife attacks, from car-rammings, from kidnappings, from fire bomb and stone throwing attacks. We thank You in advance for hearing us (Psa. 50:15).
  8. Security: Gaza demonstrations still happen every Friday. Many demonstrators are being wounded and some even killed as the IDF protects Israelis civilians and this land from this demonic Islamic horde.
    • Thank You for the resilience of soldiers and civilians who live and guard this area of the Gaza security fence.

    • For Gaza shall be forsaken… Woe to the inhabitants of the sea coast… The Word of YHWH is against you: Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will destroy you, so that no inhabitant survives. And the sea coast will be pastures, meadows of shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed on them. In the houses of Ashkelon they shall lie down in the evening, for YHWH their God shall visit them and turn away their captivity.Zeph. 2:4-7

    • Increase the IDF’s alertness to defend against the uptick of border incursions (Mal. 1:5).
    • Prevent any misunderstandings when orders are given.
    • May the rules of engagement be made very clear to the soldiers (1 Cor. 14:8).
    • May the rules of engagement be biblically based and not come from a humanistic outlook (Prov. 21:31).
    • Concerning Hamas and the Palestinians Islamic Jihad terror groups that rule in Gaza, send confusion and paranoia and set them against each other (Psa. 129:5).
  9. Security: We were led to pray for Israel’s military industry. While most Israelis would prefer to “make love and not war”, that choice is not a reality for this nation. And part of the reason why Israel is still here, being protected by an exceedingly great army (Ezek. 37:10), is that God has blessed Israel’s military industries.
    • Lord, we thank You for aiding Israel’s military industry to be one of the best in the world (Mic. 4:11-13).
    • We bless You for all the cutting edge technologies Israel has developed – both offensively and defensively.
    • Keep this nation safe and help it to develop cutting edge cyber-warfare capabilities.
    • Whatever might be lacking for the Home Front Command – which protects the civilians in the event of a war, a natural disaster or a terror attack – provide all that is needed (Isa. 60:18).
    • Enable the military industries to come up with a defense against the kite and balloon incendiary device attacks.
    • Help the military companies to know what to sell to other nations and what to hold back (Isa. 39:1-8).
    • Also help them to not sell to nations that are – or will become – our enemies (Isa. 17:14).
    • While we do not trust in chariots and horse, we do than You for them (Psa. 20:7-9).
    • Help the Israeli military industries to develop even more effective chariots and horses (2 Chr. 26:11-15).
  10. Aliyah: We prayed for the Jews still in exile to hear the voice of their Shepherd telling them it is time to return to Zion. At the end of the Yom Kippur service, Jews declare “Next year in Jerusalem.” Most do not mean it – other than maybe for a holiday trip. But with anti-Semitism literally exploding throughout the world – especially in the West – one would think that God’s people could read the writing on the walls. Alas, the comforts of Babylon are to enticing for most of them. Yet, aliyah is increasing and there is still a significant remnant whom the Lord will carry back home. Please pray for the Jews in your nation and also for the Church in your country to wake up and see their responsibility to be part of this.

We ended by praying for God to send the early rains and for a very wet rainy season.

Thank you for standing with us and with this nation at this crucial time.

May YHWH, who made the heavens and earth, bless you out of Zion.Psa. 134:3

The IFI Team