Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for America’s Military
Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed Undersecretary for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata to review existing military performance programs under the “Warfighter Performance Optimization” initiative. Undersecretary Tata will then provide recommendations for equipping service members and leaders “to meet and exceed readiness standards and maximize their lethality and effectiveness.” The goal of the initiative is to unify improvements in physical and mental performance and strengthen force readiness through expanded use of data analytics and wearable technology.
Pray for Secretary Hegseth, Undersecretary Tata, the heads of each Armed Forces branch, and military leaders and commanders as they work to improve performance programs and meet readiness standards.
Pray for America’s Foreign Relations
The United States sanctioned five Cuban state companies as well as Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cadero, the wife of Raul Castro’s son, Alejandro Castro Espin, who was sanctioned earlier this month. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “The situation in Cuba is devolving as the island’s corrupt, brutal and anti-American Communist regime continues to prioritize its own total control over the freedom, opportunity and basic well-being of the Cuban people.”
China has increasingly tested ocean routes to southern Florida, through the Caribbean, including the Bahamas. The U.S. Coast Guard fired shots to disable the engine of a boat south of Key Biscayne, Florida, earlier this month after it failed to comply with warnings to stop its course toward the coast. The Coast Guard then seized the boat, which was carrying 25 Chinese nationals trying to enter the United States illegally. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Air and Marine Operations (AMO) personnel assisted with the interdiction.
Pray for U.S. officials to be prudent in their strategies to improve humanitarian conditions in other countries. Pray for protection for border security personnel as they seek to deter and prevent illegal immigration.
Pray for AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The Food and Drug Administration recently issued a recall notice for the blood pressure medication, Chlorthalidone. The manufacturer recalled the medication after regulatory testing of the 25-milligram tablets failed to meet specifications for dissolving, which could result in the active ingredient not being properly absorbed in the body.
Pray for Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas and FDA officials as they seek to ensure that approved medications are effective and provide intended benefits.
Pray for Needs Across the States
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has approved a lawsuit from Avenal residents to remove recalled city officials. After 75 percent of the voters in the California farm community recalled its mayor and all but one of its city council members, the council decided the county-certified recall was illegitimate, maintaining that the city alone has the authority to conduct a special election. County officials have sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city council regarding the use of public funds as the legal process continues.
The Utah legislature passed a measure last year that phases out universal automatic mail-in ballots by 2029. Voters will have to request a mail ballot every eight years after that. New election legislation is being considered to require the verification of the voter’s identification when they drop off their ballot, to ensure that each voter has intentionally opted in to vote by mail.
Pray for state legislators and executive officials as they seek to ensure that elections and recalls are held in accordance with their laws and constitutions.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“Christians are people who repent of their sins. We don’t talk about that that much, and yet that’s at the heart of Christianity, coming clean before God. When a parent models that for a child, let me tell you, great things are going to happen in that child’s life because you are modeling for them, they’re learning through osmosis. … they’re observing, they’re picking up from you these cues on how it is that they’re supposed to interact not just with their earthly father or mother, but also how they interact with their heavenly Father and they come clean and they confess their sins and they repent.” – Dave Stone, Pastor to Pastor, The Lifeblood of the Home with Ryan Frederick
