Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
According to a spokesman from CENTCOM, the U.S. military shot down a drone that was heading with “hostile intent” toward a base in Syria that houses about 200 American troops. Two drones were tracked entering a deconfliction zone near the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq. One of the unmanned aircraft left the area, but the other continued traveling in the zone and was shot down.
Navy Admiral Christopher Grady was confirmed as vice chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by a voice vote of the Senate as members rushed to wrap up business before leaving for the holidays.
Pray for members of the U.S. Armed Forces who are deployed in areas where they face hostile operators.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
Several Catholic hospitals, a Catholic university, and Mercy Sisters who run health clinics filed a challenge to a federal mandate for performing gender transition procedures with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The groups are continuing a fight they had previously won when two lower federal courts struck down what has been described as the Affordable Care Act’s “transgender mandate,” saying it was a violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Pray for judges hearing cases regarding government infringements on the rights of religious institutions to follow the precepts of their beliefs.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
NATO allies urged Russia to back off from its military threats against Ukraine and to pursue diplomatic talks. EU members also warned Moscow that “any further aggression against Ukraine would have massive consequences and would carry a huge price.” The U.S. has warned that Russia could use real or fabricated claims of aggression as an excuse for a military strike or invasion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin held a virtual summit last week in which they agreed to work together to get Western security guarantees precluding NATO’s eastward expansion and other issues over expanding tensions with the U.S. President Xi suggested using sports to help foster better relationships between China and Russia, even as some in the West are issuing diplomatic boycotts of the Beijing Olympics that begin in February.
Pray for State Department officials as they interact with allies and assess the impact of tge cooperative attitude between Moscow and Beijing will have on diplomatic efforts.
Pray for AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Pfizer and BioNTech said they expect to submit an application for the use of their COVID-19 vaccine in children under five years old in the “first half of 2022” as they test a third dose for that age group.
The Food and Drug Administration announced that it is lifting a requirement that patients seeking medication abortion had to pick up the medication in person, allowing pills to be sent by mail instead. The move comes as the Supreme Court seems poised to undo its abortion rights precedent.
Pray for federal agency personnel overseeing the health and well-being of Americans to make decisions based on scientific research and not based on political influence.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
Israel’s government approved the Health Ministry’s recommendation to classify the United States, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Canada, Switzerland, and Turkey as “red” states, placing them under a travel ban in response to the global increase in the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus.
Israel and Jordan have signed a breakthrough water-for-energy deal with will ease the impact of climate change on both nations. The deal represents a step forward from the Abraham Accords between Israel and other Arab states as it fully abandons the “all or nothing” approach to enhancing regional ties.
Give thanks for the positive results that continue to flow from the Abraham Accords.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
The rate of growth in U.S. healthcare spending more than doubled in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the medical system accounting for just less than a fifth of the U.S. economy, according to a federal report.
Producer prices increased a record 9.6 percent for the year ending in November, making it the fastest pace on record, and eclipsing predictions by forecasters. According to a Restoring America report, the numbers suggest that inflationary pressures are even worse than most economists think.
Pray for U.S. citizens as inflation continues to rise across America. Pray for those on fixed incomes.
Pray for Goodness in America
A church in Massachusetts donated 200 backpacks full of various supplies and Bible to two police departments to aid the local homeless population. Each backpack contains a Bible, blanket, antiseptic wipes, deodorant, hoodie, hat, gloves, toothbrush and toothpaste. One pastor said, “It helps the homeless community know that people care about them and are thinking about them. It also helps build goodwill between the community and the police force in a time where it’s very difficult to be in law enforcement.”
Pray for the opportunity to show an unexpected kindness to someone this Christmas season.
Pray for America’s Media
A special Customs and Border Protection unit used sensitive government databases intended to track terrorists to investigate as many as 20 U.S.-based journalists, according to a federal watchdog.
Pray for journalism that is free from government influence and reports events accurately without bias.
Pray for America’s Education
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is promoting a bill that would allow parents to sue school districts if they teach critical race theory in classrooms. He announced the moves under a new “Stop WOKE Act.”
A teacher’s union in New Hampshire is suing the state in order to end a ban on teaching Critical Race Theory in public schools saying the ban violates the First Amendment rights of teachers. “This law has caused fear among teachers… [that] they could be targeted without evidence by people with a political agenda,” they said in a statement.
Pray for state leaders and educators as they address issues and challenges in philosophy regarding curriculum.
Pray for America’s Technology
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued an emergency directive last week giving federal agencies until December 23 to identify which of its software is impacted by an Apache logging library log4j and then either deploy patches against vulnerabilities or remove the impacted software from their networks. The warning stated that software has been increasingly used by nations and cybercriminals to target organizations around the world.
Implantable microchip technology introduced in recent years by a Swiss company is being presented as a means to store an individuals COVID-19 vaccine passport under the skin. The company says the rice-sized microchip, which has been adapted as a vaccine passport, is implanted under the skin either in the arm or between the thumb and forefinger.
Pray for those seeking to secure cybersecurity within government agencies.
Pray for Needs Across the States
More than 180,000 records have been removed from Rhode Island voter rolls, according to the secretary of state, who said the maintenance leaves voter rolls “the cleanest they’ve been in years.“
According to a new U.S. Geological Survey sampling, more than half of the water wells that were tested in Delaware have detectable levels of the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, and some have levels far exceeding federal health guidelines for the chemicals.
Pray for states that are seeking to pass election reforms to prevent the potential for fraud in the coming 2022 midterm elections.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“I would prefer you would wake up tomorrow and say Jesus is coming soon and he could come immediately. I want to live alert, but I don’t want to be frantic. The enemy’s plan for you and for me, in light of the fact that Jesus is coming soon, is that you would get deceived. Keep your eyes on the revealed Jesus, not on some hidden prophecy. In other words, just keep leaning into Jesus every day versus digging around and looking for and listening to the next prophecy that someone’s going to say. Just keep your eyes on Jesus because if He’s coming soon, then you’ll have your eyes locked on Him when He arrives.” – Pastor Louie Giglio, Passion City Church, Atlanta, Georgia, December 2021
