Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, attempted to reduce any anxiety being felt by veterans in the wake of the Afghanistan withdrawal. He wrote a letter to the entire American Joint Force expressing gratitude for their service there over the past two decades and said U.S. troops can hold their head up high for preventing an attack on the homeland.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said it will be more difficult to identify terror threats in the wake of withdrawing all U.S. military assets from Afghanistan. However, he offered assurance that officials are working to further develop capabilities to prevent the development of threats to the American homeland.
Pray for veterans, active-duty service members, and Gold Star families and wounded warriors questioning the value of the two decades in Afghanistan.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
North Carolina Representative Dan Bishop introduced a resolution opposing provisions in the PRO Act and budget reconciliation package that would allow the National Labor Relations Board to issue fines. The resolution calls on Congress to “not repeal State right-to-work laws by enacting the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, provisions in the American Jobs Act, or any other measure.”
Pray for U.S. officials seeking to protect every American’s right to work as he or she determines without being required to be a union member in order to hold a job.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un remains focused on his country’s atomic ambitions, as evidenced by the decision to restart a reactor believed capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium.
Chinese officials have used America’s special climate envoy John Kerry’s visit to warn the U.S. that mutual work on climate change cannot be untethered from other tensions between the two powers. China’s foreign minister said, “The Sino-U.S. climate change cooperation cannot be separated from the overall environment of Sino-U.S. relations.”
Pray for officials of the State Department and the implementation of America’s foreign policies as it relates to Greater Asia.
Pray For AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The White House warned that the U.S. is “not adequately prepared” to handle future pandemics and other “high consequence biological threats” and rolled out a strategy that would “fundamentally transform” the nation’s ability to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to pandemics and threats. At a cost expected at $5.3 billion, the investment would be in critical scientific areas like vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and early warning, as well as strengthening disease surveillance, health systems, surge capacity personal protective equipment, innovation, biosafety, and biosecurity.
Pray for officials in the various government agencies charged with overseeing the health and well-being of Americans.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
Military plans dealing with Iran’s nuclear program have been greatly accelerated, Israel’s military chief warned, as questions on the ability to revive a landmark accord limiting Tehran’s weapons development continue to grow. The chief of general staff said preparations for possible action against Iran are intensifying. He added that “a significant chunk of the boost to the defense budget, as was recently agreed, was intended for this purpose.”
Six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of their cell and escaped from a high-security facility in the biggest prison break of its kind in decades setting off a massive manhunt in Israel’s north and the occupied West Bank. The escape is seen as an embarrassing security breach just as the Jewish New Year arrived.
Pray for the safety of the leaders and the people of Israel during their celebration of the High Holy Days.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
Food prices rose again last month by 0.7%. While the percentage looks low, the cumulative effect is significant. Over the past year, prices for groceries and other food prepared at home increased 2.6%, and economists do not anticipate an end to the continuing increases.
The Labor Department said that the productivity of U.S. workers improved by less than initially thought in the second quarter, and real hourly compensation fell by more than reported earlier. Labor productivity measures hourly output per worker. Productivity jumped when the initial pandemic hit as less productive jobs were slashed and many workers were sidelined.
Pray for American families who are experiencing the pressures of rising inflation as well as individuals still unemployed.
Pray for Justice in America
The Center for Urban Renewal and Education and the Washington Post report that America’s corporations have committed “at least” $49.5 billion to the cause of “racial justice” since the George Floyd arrest last year riveted the national attention on race. This amounts to a little over $1,000 for every black man, woman, and child in America.
Pray for wisdom for corporate executives and human resource coordinators seeking ways to ensure racial justice in America’s workplaces.
Pray for Goodness in America
A New Jersey farmer is being credited as a hero after he used his tractor to rescue a friend who was visiting the state while the remnants of Hurricane Ida flooded the Northeast. “It’s going to be up to the Lord to get this water down, because there’s nothing anyone could do to get me out of here,” the man stated prior to being rescued. He later said, ”It’s good to have friends in high places, let me tell ya.”
Give thanks for friends and neighbors reaching out to help one another in the true American spirit that comes forward during times of catastrophe.
Pray for America’s Media
Voice of America, the U.S. government media arm, has challenged President Biden’s statements on Americans remaining in Afghanistan. While the president has been saying that any American who wants to leave, can leave, the VOA interviewed a pregnant California woman who described how she had been pursued by the Taliban since being left behind after U.S. troops withdrew. She said the Taliban is “hurting Americans” now that U.S. troops are gone. “Apparently, they’re going door to door now trying to see if anyone has a blue passport,” she told the taxpayer-funded American media. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters, “We’ve been assured, again, that all American citizens and Afghan citizens with valid travel documents will be allowed to leave.”
Pray that U.S. journalists will investigate and report the truth on the matters that impact America.
Pray for America’s Education
According to a new poll by Axios/Momentive, 60% of parents back mask mandates, and the disparity between those who do and those who don’t fall along political party lines. Also part of the equation is the age of parents, with parents under 35 being more in favor of masking children. The poll also showed that fathers are more opposed to all mask mandates than mothers.
Pray for school boards, principals, teachers, and parents, as they deal with whether or not to mask students for in-person learning.
Pray for America’s Technology
The president’s administration has increased its cadre of technological special forces tasked with solving problems across the federal government. The Office of Management and Budget reported that Mina Hsiang has been named to lead the U.S. Digital Service.
Apple is delaying the release of a software update that scans iPhones for child pornography after criticism suggested that the features violated user privacy. In a statement, the company said, the features are “intended to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them and to help limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material.”
Pray for governing officials and technology executives as they seek the balance between consumer protection and consumer privacy.
Pray for Needs Across the States
The Supreme Court of Virginia ruled that the state can take down an enormous statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that is viewed as a symbol of racial injustice as it towered over Monument Avenue in the state’s capital for more than a century. The ruling came after two lawsuits were filed by residents who attempted to block the removal of the statue.
A bill has been introduced in the California Assembly to close loopholes in the state’s 2017 “sanctuary law,” which seeks to stop state and local police from aiding federal immigration enforcement. Transferring people who serve their time to ICE “has created a two-tiered system in which Californians are treated differently based on where they were born,” the introducing lawmaker said.
Pray for state and local governments and actions taken in response to perceived public demands.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“If you had to pick one Bible verse to sum up the story that is Christianity, you might want to choose John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’
That’s the big story we believe in, the headline that should animate our daily lives. God walked on earth. God loves us. God will use his great power to save us.
But we are prone to forgetting. In the midst of distressing surprises that threaten to overtake us – a death, an illness, a divorce – we lose sight of the big story God is telling.” – Ann Spangler, The Peace God Promises, 2011
