November 19th – November 25th, 2020
PRAY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS ADMINISTRATION
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with the Istanbul-based spiritual leader of the world’s Orthodox Christians during a short trip to Turkey, which upset Turkish officials as no meetings were scheduled with any of them. His talks have centered on religious freedoms.
Rodney Scott, the head of the U.S. Border Patrol, said the constructed wall on the U.S.-Mexico border has surpassed 400 miles and is expected to total 450 miles by the end of 2020, with speculation the work will continue into 2021.
Pray with thanksgiving for the focus of the president’s administration on religious liberty at home and abroad.
PRAY FOR OUR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California warned that some members want to expand the use of the proxy vote employed during the pandemic into a fully remote vote-by-text operation, which he called unproven, unsecure, and unconstitutional.
Representative Chip Roy of Texas said Congress needs to do more to honor America’s veterans and those currently serving in the military with clarity and commitment as fewer than half of 1 percent of Americans serve in the Armed Forces.
Pray for members of both House and Senate as they still have work to do in the current session.
PRAY FOR OUR JUDICIARY
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito criticized his colleagues’ decision not to consider two lawsuits in which churches fought state coronavirus worship restrictions that he said “blatantly” disregarded the First Amendment.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Harvard University’s race-based admissions, rejecting a challenge that alleged the school’s policy discriminates against Asian-Americans.
Pray for the nation’s courts as they hear and rule on cases that involve discriminatory actions of any kind.
CURRENT EVENTS
WARS AND TERRORISM
ISIS-linked terrorists beheaded and dismembered more than 50 people over three days in a mass killing at a soccer field in Mozambique after burning down homes and kidnapping and raping women and children.
Islamic extremists in northern Uganda killed a well-known Christian pastor and radio preacher after he compared Christianity and Islam in a radio broadcast, beating and strangling him to death for saying Allah is not God.
Pray for Christians in Africa who are contending for their faith in the face of terror from Islamists.
FOREIGN INTERESTS AND CONFLICTS
Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition lawmakers said they would resign in protest against the dismissal of four of their colleagues from the city assembly after Beijing intensified its crackdown on dissent in the city.
Thousands of Ethiopian refugees flooded into Sudan as Prime Minister Ahmed’s federal troops battled well-armed local forces in Tigray and protests against the northern region’s leaders were planned elsewhere.
Pray for people across the world who desire freedom rather than oppression and the actions they are taking to support these positions.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Al Qaeda’s second-in-command, accused of helping mastermind the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa, was killed in Iran in August by Israeli operatives acting at the behest of the U.S., according to a news report that cited intelligence officials.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan urged the United Nation’s Secretary-General to work with him to eliminate anti-Israel bias that permeates the international body. “The bias against Israel has become institutionalized,” Erdan said.
Pray for those fighting the global spread of anti-Semitism and the resultant evil that comes with it.
THE ECONOMY
Prices for single-family homes across the U.S. increased 12 percent in all 81 measured metropolitan areas in the third quarter, the biggest annual jump in seven years, adding to affordability concerns, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Mortgage applications have fallen to a six-month low, but homebuyer demand is still strong overall and the housing supply is inadequate, especially for first-time buyers and lower-income buyers, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports.
Pray for stability in the U.S. housing market as well as for other sectors of the overall economy.
ACROSS THE STATES
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont said that he doesn’t have any immediate plans to lock down the state or reinstate any additional restrictions, even as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths increase in Connecticut and across the country.
New daily coronavirus cases ticked down to just over 7,000 this week in Ohio as Governor Mike DeWine explored a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on many businesses in a bid to further slow the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues, pray for state governors and health department officials to make the right decisions for their citizens.
VERSE OF THE WEEK
For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. – 1 Peter 2:15-16
