1. Praise: Shabbat’s Torah portion brings us to the book of Exodus. Israel’s exodus from Egypt is the story of God openly intervening in time/space history to set His people free from physical, mental and emotional bondage. The next time He intervened in history so dramatically – at the Incarnation – God the Son became the Son of Man to set His people free from their spiritual bondage to sin.
    • Bless You Lord for on hearing Your people’s cries in Egypt, You recalled Your covenant, and set in motion their deliverance. …the sons of Israel groaned because of their bondage…and their cry came up to God…and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Ex. 2:23b–24)
    • Thank You for including us in Your work on earth – especially through prayer (Matt. 6:10).
    • We praise You for Your overall control in working out Your kingdom purposes on earth (Jer. 27:5).
    • Hallelujah! Finding and “eating” Your word gives us the joy and strength we need today (Jer. 1:12)
    • Lord, we are awed that Your memorial name, by which You are remembered by in all generations, is linked with Israel’s forefathers: God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am…Thus say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent me to you’. God also said to Moses, ‘Thus say to the sons of Israel, YHWH God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is My memorial unto all generations’. (Ex. 3:14-15)
    • Messiah Yeshua, You are our Redeemer, our Savior, our King and Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
    • And Lord, despite what many think – You are still King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2; 27:37; Rev. 5:5).
    • We praise You that when You called Abram and promised him a nation – that promise included salvation for the gentiles (Ge. 12:3b; cp. Gal. 3:8).
    • Thank You Lord that despite what we see happening in the world today – You reign (Deut. 4:39)!
  2. The Body of Messiah: We prayed for our brothers and sisters in America who are now facing a Joe Biden presidency and the change that will bring. Also the disappointment and dealing with the fact that so many of their prayers for a Trump victory were not answered.
    • From Shabbat’s prophetic portion: In that day YHWH of hosts shall be for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people, and for a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. (Isa. 28:5-6) Give Your divine strength and encouragement to American believers at this time and let them focus on You (Heb. 12:2).
    • Comfort them, and if this Biden victory shakes their faith, Lord Yeshua be the One to calm the storm and to make their trust in Your Word and Your nature even stronger (Psa. 107:28-32).
    • Anoint elders who preach the Word this weekend to bring a word in due season (Prov. 15:23).
    • Remind us all that You are the One who places leaders over nations (Dan. 2:21; 4:17, 25; 5:21).
    • Encourage the American Church to pray for their new president and administration (1 Tim. 2:1-4).
    • If this is the next step in Israel becoming the head of the nations – teach us how to pray (Isa. 60:1-2).
    • As persecution arises in the West, use it to draw many to have a closer walk with You (Jer. 31:3).
    • Lord, as in Shabbat’s Torah portion, make us like the midwives in Egypt who feared You more than the kings or authorities, and when asked to do anything against Your will, they didn’t do it (Ex. 1:17).
    • We do bless Donald Trump from Zion and ask You to reward him for all the good he did for Your nation and Your land (Psa. 134:3).
  3. Government: Even with new elections coming in March, Israel’s current government needs lots of prayer covering.
    • Continue to use PM Bibi Netanyahu for Your purposes at this time (Psa. 80:17).
    • Bless his understanding and foresight, and download to him Your priorities for Israel (Prov. 16:1).
    • Enable him to separate his thinking between running the nation, his legal situation and the elections.
    • Help Israel’s current government to concentrate on dealing with the evils of today (Matt. 6:34).
    • Prepare Israel’s current and future governments to deal with a Biden administration (Isa. 49:10).
  4. Coronavirus: The battle in Israel against this virus has had good, bad and mixed results.
    • Thank You for the relatively low death rate in Israel from Covid-19 (Ex. 8:22; 9:26).
    • Guide the government in all of their coronavirus decisions (Psa. 32:8).
    • May these decisions be based on medical and scientific facts and not on guess-work (Psa. 43:3a).
    • Forbid politics from being the guiding factor in any of these decisions (Ezek. 34:1-10).
    • We thank You for the high percentage of people receiving the vaccination (Psa. 6:2; Jer. 17:14), yet if there are any negative side-effects, let them be dealt with swiftly and openly (Eccl. 3:3).
    • Lift the tension off from Israelis who have been under one lockdown after another (Psa. 124:7).
    • For You name’s sake, make the current third lockdown work and be the last one (Psa. 85:9-13).
    • Watch over Israeli families and block any rise in domestic violence (Eph. 5:25-31). [Side note: A report was just released saying that once again the abortion rate in Israel dropped! Hallelujah!]
    • Protect the Body of Messiah during this time of uncertainty and with all the different opinions of what is the right thing to do – or not do – concerning the vaccine (Eph. 4:1-6).
    • Do not allow this to cause division within the body – but by Your grace show the believers how to support and encourage each other and thus be a shining light to the rest of Israeli society (John 13:35).
  5. New elections: Israel will hold its 4th national election in two years on March 23rd. Our goal in prayer is that God would place people in political office who will further His kingdom purposes in and through Israel – and remove all those who would be a hindrance to that goal.
    • Our heavenly Father, in the next Israeli elections, may Your name be sanctified. Also may Your kingdom come, and Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on the earth. (Luke 11:2b)
    • Based on that previous prayer, we ask for a leadership that will enable Israel to take the next step in Your prophetic purposes for this nation (Psa. 48:1-8).
    • Lord, set in the Knesset [Parliament] Israelis who love and treasure Your land (Num. 14:6-9).
    • May those Israeli politicians who love Your Word be elected and those who despise or ignore it – be blocked from the governing structure in Your nation (Psa. 119:11, 18, 105, 130).
    • Bring in a government who will hedge in an out-of-control humanistic Supreme Court (Jer. 17:5).
    • Fill the seats in the Knesset with those who see aliyah as a major priority (Jer. 31:8-10).
    • Place anointed politicians to oversee the budget and Israel’s economic recovery (Deut. 28:11-13).
    • Promote younger politicians with a proven track record into positions of authority (Psa. 75:6-7).
    • Lord, hedge in the ultra-Orthodox parties from controlling so many areas of Israeli society with their traditions which are often unbiblical (Matt. 23:13).
    • Reduce friction between all the party leaders – especially those in right-wing parties – and impress on them the dire need to work together (Mark 3:25).
    • Set Israeli-Arab politicians in the next government who will be more concerned for the well-being of Israeli-Arabs and not be agents for the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority (Psa. 120:1-7).
  6. Security – internal: The Palestinians did not wait for the Biden administration to be installed, but have already stepped up attacks on Israelis in Judea and Samaria. They expect Biden and his cabinet to be more easily manipulated by their lies and fake cries of victimhood and therefore will be tougher on Israel and its very real security concerns.
    • Lord, hasten the day when violence and destruction will no longer exist in Your land (Isa. 60:18).
    • As Israel’s security forces shield Your people, please shield them against Covid-19 (Psa. 91:3-6).
    • Provide Israel with intelligence information to expose future attacks and stop them (Job 12:22).
    • Anoint with godly discernment all those young men and women in the IDF who read through all of the intelligence information that is gathered (Isa. 28:9-12).
    • Bless and protect our sources of information among the Palestinian population (3 John 1:12).
    • Abba, please continue to guard Israel against all Palestinians who want to destroy it (Psa. 35:1-8).
    • Let Israel’s response to any terror attack be so swift, so strong and so disproportionate that the fear of Israel’s God falls on – and remains on – all of Israel’s enemies, both near and far (2 Chr. 17:10).
    • Please protect all innocent Palestinians who only want to live in peace and security (Isa. 14:1).
    • Restore a genuine love in Palestinian parents towards their children. Many are so deceived by Islam that they actually rejoice if one of their children dies when trying to slaughter Jews (Eph. 6:4).
    • During the lockdown, visit may Palestinians with Your saving power (Jer. 16:19-21).
    • Based on Isaiah 54:17, in Your name we condemn all threats spoken against Your nation.
  7. Security – Iran: Iran is now enriching uranium up to 20%. This is very ominous. Not only is this against that evil Iranian nuclear deal – which by the way, Iran never signed and so is not legally bound to obey – but it places Iran less than six months away from having the type of uranium it needs for a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu has just publicly stated again that Israel will not let this happen. And with Biden becoming the next US president, it will likely be up to Israel to act alone – once again – to prevent the successful development of an Islamic nuclear terror bomb.
    • Lord, as You are totally sovereign, this development does not take You by surprise. We seek You to lead us in interceding about this very dangerous situation (Isa. 40:22).
    • God of Israel, shift all of Israel’s leaders’ trust from America to You (Psa. 121:1-8).
    • If Israel tackles this threat, may it be in a way that totally destroys it (Prov. 21:30-31).
    • Inspire IDF planners to think about options they would not normally consider (Prov. 16:9).
    • Thank You for creating the IDF as an exceedingly great army at this time in history (Ezek. 37:10).
    • Gift Messianic believers in the IDF with words of wisdom and knowledge (1 Cor. 12:7-8).
    • May Israel be careful concerning what intelligence it shares with other nations – especially its new Arab allies and the Biden administration (Prov. 10:19).
    • Increase the pressure from Iranian authorities on their nuclear scientists, and let it create exhaustion, mistakes and accidents that will cause their program to implode (Deut. 32:35).
    • When You tread the mountains, they tremble (Hab. 3:10-13); please tread upon all the places where Iran has underground nuclear facilities – shaking and destroying them.
    • Alternatively, open the earth under them and swallow them whole as with Korah (Num. 16:32).
    • Separate Iran from her proxies – in particular Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza (Psa. 35: 26).
    • Dry up Iran’s military budgets, yet please provide for the Iranian people’s needs (Jam. 5:1-6).
    • Thank You for the growing Iranian Church (Matt. 16:18).
    • Move by Your Spirit on our Iranian brothers and sisters, maturing them in Your Word and in prayer.
    • Show them that blessing Israel results in a blessing from You upon their nation (Num. 24:9b).
  8. Aliyah: 300 Ethiopians landed in Israel on January 1st. Also, despite Covid-19 and its many restrictions, 21,115 Jews returned home from 89 nations last year. We are asking for more in 2021.
    • Great God, we want to thank You for hearing and answering our aliyah prayers (1 John 5:14-15).
    • Lord, fulfill the estimates of some officials and bring upwards of 50,000 Jews back home in 2021.
    • Thank You for the tenacity of those who persevered to make aliyah during this pandemic (Jer. 50:5).
    • Grant them to be settled successfully (Amos 9:13-15; Zeph. 2:4-7).
    • Provide them with housing, jobs, the needed human contact, and language skills (Jer. 32:42-44).
    • Bless them with flexibility as they adjust to life in a new country and culture (Ezek. 36:11).
    • May the agencies assisting new immigrants be prepared for all future challenges (Isa. 49:22; 60:10).
    • Smash open all stubborn bureaucratic doors that hinder making aliyah (Psa. 24:7-10; Isa. 62:10).
    • Remove from Western Jews who make aliyah their tendency to look at their birth nation as an escape hatch (Psa. 119:37).
    • We ask especially for young Jewish families to come and establish roots in Israel (Isa. 27:6).
    • Maintain the IDF’s ability to act as a melting pot for Jews from various backgrounds and cultures.
    • As new immigrants arrive, spread them throughout Your land (Jer. 32:41-44; 33:12-13).
    • Use Luke 11:5-10 and 18:1-8 encourage any Jewish believer who has been rejected to try again.
  9. Salvation: This Shabbat’s Torah portion relates on how Moses was rejected by Israel at his first appearance. Since Yeshua is that Prophet like Moses whom God promised would come, the parallels between Moses’ life and Messiah Yeshua’s are both expected and numerous.

    • [Moses], who made you a prince and a judge over us?Ex. 2:14a

    • Lord, You said to Pharaoh, Thus says YHWH, Israel is My son, even My firstborn: (Ex. 4:22) Please redeem You son from his spiritual bondage to sin during this new year.
    • As it is 101% Your will to save the nation of Israel and make her an even greater light to the nations for Your glory, we ask for a speeding up of the process (Psa. 14:7; 118:1-3).
    • May all Jews who were saved in 2020 grow in faith and find fellowship (Heb. 10:2; 2 Pet. 3:18).
    • Reveal Yourself to many elderly, in particular those who will go to their eternal destiny in 2021.

Finally, while we had a very nice early rainy season, and although Israel’s water levels are good for this time of the year, we have hit a dry spell and ask you to ask the Lord for more precious water from heaven to be released on His precious land. Are there any among the idols of Gentiles that can cause rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Are not You He – YHWH our God? Therefore we will wait upon You for You have made all these. (Jer. 14:22)

Shabbat shalom and blessings from Jerusalem

For the IFI team