Praying for Our Leaders in Government
Executive Branch: Pray for the President and his Administration
A senior official of the State Department said the Chinese government has flown spy balloons “over more than 40 countries across five continents” and they are “clearly for intelligence surveillance.” He said that “flybys” by an American U-2 spy plane “revealed that the high-altitude balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations,” referencing the balloon shot down off the Carolina coast.
President Joe Biden is prepared to sign an executive order prohibiting U.S. companies from investing in Chinese firms that are involved with the development of sensitive technologies, advanced semiconductors, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and other technologies that could have surveillance and military applications.
Pray for clarity and wisdom for President Biden and all who are advising him in connection with the U.S. – China tension build-up.
Legislative Branch: Pray for Senators and Representatives in Congress
In a follow-up to the take-down of the Chinese spy balloon, Representative Austin Scott of Georgia urged corporate America to “untether” from the PRC. He said, “Everybody in this country and everybody sitting on a corporate board has got to acknowledge that China is spying on the United States of America and its citizens. They are an adversary of our country and our people, so stop doing business with China.”
Four bills dealing with “securing and sealing” the U.S.-Mexico border while protecting American communities facing the unprecedented influx of migrants and drugs into their areas have been introduced by Senator Katie Britt of Alabama. Among other things, the legislation would put an end to the “catch-and-release” policies in dealing with the immigration crisis.
Pray for Congressional members who are addressing issues of national security.
Judicial Branch: Pray for Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
A U.S. District Court judge has suggested that abortion could still be federally protected under the Thirteenth Amendment of the Constitution. She has asked the Justice Department to review her uncertainties on the issue in writing by March 3. She suggested the Thirteenth Amendment, which bans “involuntary servitude” such as slavery, could contain a constitutional right to abortion.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a law in North Carolina making it a criminal act to publish false derogatory statements about a candidate for election is unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
Pray for those who sit on the nation’s federal benches to have discernment as they rule on the Bill of Rights and Constitutional freedoms.