President George W. Bush shakes hands with Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq, during a meeting June 25 in the Oval Office at the White House. Pray for continued efforts to unify Iraq and bring peace and stability to that country. Photo courtesy of The White House. | Pray for President Bush and his success as he attends the annual G-8 meeting, a summit of leading industrialized nations. This year’s meeting of leaders from the Group of Eight countries is being held at Lake Toya in northern Japan, and will be Bush’s last as president. The G-8 nations are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the U.S. For now, President Bush is not going to stop in South Korea as originally planned. Intercede that the nations will accomplish much during this meeting, which includes a “major economies” session, part of a global effort to find a new climate change agreement. The major economies are the 17 largest emitters of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, led by the United States and China.
Continue to pray for presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. Ask the Lord to intervene in their lives as they campaign. Intercede that they will be given insight as they each work to court evangelical voters, and to be wise and genuine in those efforts. Pray that each man, a professing Christian, will be draw them closer to Him and that their views on faith and Christianity will be clarified and further revealed in the coming weeks.
Pray for the men and women of our Armed Forces, that they will be adequately equipped in their fight against terrorism. President Bush has signed a $162 billion spending bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The package also provides veterans a free college education and extends expiring unemployment benefits for another 13 weeks. “Our nation has no greater responsibility than supporting our men and women in uniform,” President Bush said upon signing the bill. “This is a responsibility all of us in Washington share not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans. And I want to thank leaders of the House and Senate for getting this bill to my office.”
Intercede for the U.S. economy after the major Wall Street indexes closed out the first half of 2008 with double-digit declines. This was the worst first six months of any year for the Dow Jones industrials since 1970. Consumer confidence fell more than expected in June, hitting a 28-year low as higher prices and increasing job losses combined with rising gas prices. In additiona, the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers reported last week that five-year inflation expectations remain steady and are at their highest levels in more than a decade.
Give thanks for the 40th anniversary July 1 of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).The United States joined 61 other nations in signing the treaty, now observed by almost all the nations of the world. President Bush says the NPT represents a key legal barrier to nuclear weapons proliferation and makes a critical contribution to international security. The President reaffirmed the strong support of the United States for the treaty and the nation's commitment to work diligently to strengthen it further.
We asked for your opinions - and you came through with over 25,000 responses to our Annual Online Survey. Thank you so much for your participation. Take a look at the results - they're very interesting!
I will always obey Your law, forever and ever. I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out Your precepts. I will speak of Your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame for I delight in Your commands because I love them.
—The Bible, Psalm 119:44-46 (NIV)
In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
—The Bible, Ephesians 3:12 (NIV)
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Obama touts faith-based programs; courts evangelical voters
 In remarks made July 1 at Eastside Community Ministry in Chicago, IL, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called for continuing and renaming President Bush’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative program. Obama pledged to make the new program a “moral center” of his administration and call it the Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. One of its priorities will be to empower large religious charities to mentor smaller ones. Referring to his early community work in the Chicagoland area, Obama said in his speech, “In time, I came to see faith as being both a personal commitment to Christ and a commitment to my community, that while I could sit in church and pray all I want, I wouldn’t be fulfilling God's will unless I went out and did the Lord’s work.”
The New York Times also reported that Obama is trying to woo conservative Christian voters that his campaign believes are rethinking their politics and are more prone to be concerned about issues such as climate change, AIDS and poverty. Before the November election, Obama is hoping to conduct house parties, Christian rock concerts, gatherings of religious leaders, and visits to campuses in an effort to reach out to evangelical or born-again Christians.
McCain meets with evangelist Billy Graham
 Republican presidential candidate John McCain met June 29 with evangelist Billy Graham and his son, Franklin, in a visit he says was “not political.” He met with the Grahams at Little Piney Cove in the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina. It was his first meeting ever with Billy Graham, who was reportedly in poor health but felt strong enough to visit with McCain.
After the meeting, Franklin Graham issued a statement praising McCain’s faith. “The senator and I both have sons currently serving in the military, and also have a common interest in aviation,” Franklin Graham said. “I was impressed by his personal faith and his moral clarity on important social issues facing America today.” Franklin Graham also stated his father “expressed gratitude for the senator’s long and brave service” to the country. They prayed for McCain and his family, and asked for God’s will to be done in the presidential election in November.
McCain issued this statement, reported on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website: “We had a very excellent conversation, and I appreciated the opportunity to visit with them. Billy Graham recalled that during the Vietnam War when I was a prisoner, he visited my parents twice in Honolulu, and he and my father prayed together for me. And I expressed my appreciation for that a long time ago.”
Pray Every Day for the Election!
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A Prayer for America from Stormie Omartian
“Lord, I pray that You will instill in every American the desire to be in unity with other Americans. May there be mutual respect, friendship and brotherly love among the people of this great land. Help us each to do our part to bring peace on earth. Give us a national conscience to clearly distinguish right from wrong with regard to how we treat one another and work in us a willingness to choose the right way. You have made America a large diverse family of many beautiful colors and a tapestry of cultures. I pray that in the family of our nation there will also arise appreciation and respect for the uniqueness of each individual. Help us to be unified with our leaders. Keep our leaders in a place of unity among themselves, and I pray that disunity will never be allowed to tear our country apart. Amen.”
—Stormie Omartian, author and PPT Honorary Committee member
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Sign up today for our 40 Days to Pray the Vote, initiative, and we will send it to you every morning so you can pray for the elections when you check your morning email.
Each day includes a specific topic, pertinent Scripture, inspirational photo and written prayer. Sign up for 40 Days to Pray the Vote HERE. And know that you are impacting America with your prayers.
 Image courtesy of the The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. |
At such a time in history, we who are free must proclaim anew our faith. This faith is the abiding creed of our fathers. It is our faith in the deathless dignity of man, governed by eternal moral and natural laws. This faith defines our full view of life. It establishes, beyond debate, those gifts of the Creator that are man’s inalienable rights, and that make all men equal in His sight.
—Dwight D. Eisenhower, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1953
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Download our beautiful, patriotic July Pray the Vote prayer calendar today: It's free and it's for you! Click HERE. |
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The United States of America finds itself at a critical juncture with a new leader about to be chosen, and PPT is dedicated to making this the most prayed-for election in the nation’s history. Now is the time to engage in persistent, devoted, uncompromising intercession of our nation.
For your gift of $30 or more this month, PPT will offer you two great “thank you” gifts in appreciation for your generosity:
The Prayer Perspectives print - a beautiful print, suitable for framing, that features ten prayer perspectives you can apply to your life right now to enable your intercessions.
The Prayer Perspectives for our Nation teaching - a special booklet in which PPT President/CEO John Lind elaborates on each Prayer Perspective through Scripture and exhortation from God’s Word.
Click HERE to see and order your Prayer Perspectives print and teaching!
More than two centuries ago, bold and courageous visionaries pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor in signing the Declaration of Independence. Guided by ancient and eternal truths, our forefathers proclaimed to the world that liberty was the natural right of all mankind and in doing so began one of the greatest chapters in human history. On the Fourth of July, our country commemorates the great achievements of these heroes and reaffirms its unwavering confidence in the power of freedom.
It was the desire for freedom that inspired our Founding Fathers, and it is the belief in the universality of freedom that guides our Nation. On this occasion, we pay special tribute to the men and women of our Armed Forces, both past and present, who have answered freedom's call and defended the values that make America the greatest country on earth. May God bless America.
—George W. Bush
Your kind and gracious birthday greetings for President Bush have been bound and sent to the White House to honor and bless him on his 62nd birthday. The Presidential Prayer Team thanks each person who contributed words of blessing and joy to the President for this, the final “birthday book” of his administration.
Prayer is the pulse of life; by it the doctor can tell what is the condition of the heart.
—Andrew Murray, 19th century missionary, minister and author on prayer
Photo of Benjamin Franklin courtesy peacecorponline.org |
Benjamin Franklin and “Providence”
Benjamin Franklin loomed as large as any of the key leaders of the movement toward independence. Though many consider Franklin to have been a man of questionable faith in God, he spoke frequently of his belief that God Himself was directing the parties who led the Revolution. In fact, said Franklin, it was God who orchestrated the whole history-making event! Using the colonial term for the hand of God, “Providence,” Franklin here testifies to his belief that God’s hand was ever active in the birth of our nation:
“The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?”
Below are two more quotes from Franklin that express his understanding of God:
“My dear friend, do not imagine that I am vain enough to ascribe our success [Revolution] to any superiority…If it had not been for the justice of our cause, and the consequent interposition of Providence, in which we had faith, we must have been ruined. If I had ever before been an atheist, I should now have been convinced of the being and government of a Deity!”
—In a letter to William Strahan, August 19, 1784
“I must own I have so much faith in the general government of the world by Providence that I can hardly conceive a transaction of such momentous importance to the welfare of millions now existing, and to exist in the posterity of a great nation, should be suffered to pass without being in some degree influenced, guided, and governed by that omnipotent, omnipresent, and beneficent Ruler.”
—On the impact of Independence on generations of Americans during the Constitutional Convention
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 President Bush speaks at the conference of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Photo courtesy of The White House. |
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Brings Hope and Healing
Taken from President Bush’s weekly radio address, June 28, 2008
This week, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives held a conference to highlight the work being done by our nation’s armies of compassion, with help from the federal government. This conference demonstrated the remarkable difference these groups have made over the past eight years.
When I first came to office, I was troubled to see many of our citizens’ greatest needs going unmet. Too many addicts walked the rough road to recovery alone. Too many prisoners had the desire for reform but no one to show them the way. Across our country, the hungry, homeless, and sick begged for deliverance and too many heard only silence in reply.
The tragedy was that there were good men and women across America who had the desire to help but not the resources. Because many of them worked with small charities, they were overlooked by Washington as potential partners in service. And because many of them belonged to faith-based organizations, they were often barred from receiving support from the federal government.
Read more.
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Encourage your church to pray!
Provide your church with the most current prayer information for the President and our nation.
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See the PPT Church Bulletin insert HERE.
These Marines head into the Euphrates River near Haditha, Iraq, on a mission to clear islands in the river. Pray for our troops to have God’s protection and presence as they serve in harm’s way. Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense. |
Justin is back in Iraq for his third time in Middle East. If you have adopted him, we just want to tell you how much we appreciate your prayers for our son. Thank you and God bless your family.
Nathan is preparing to leave for a two-month training prior to his deployment to Iraq in September. He’s had to move his wife and children to a new location prior to his training. Please pray for him as he prepares this training and pray for spiritual wisdom and guidance in his leadership in their training preparations. Please pray for the adjustments that his wife and children are having to make as well in their new location. Thank you for your continual prayers.
Cotie is now in Iraq and he’s so frightened. Please pray for peace of heart for him and to let God direct his every step and to learn to trust God in everything. He’s only 19 and never been away from home.
Sam is doing well considering he is still in Iraq. With around six months left on this deployment, the finish line is in sight. Sam and his fellow soldiers continue to work hard and they are currently enjoying a softball tournament on the post at which they are stationed. They continue to remain safe and uninjured thanks to the protective blanket of your prayers. Please keep Sam and all other members of the military and their families in your thoughts and prayers.
Donald is now serving in Iraq until January 2009. He has been there since September 2007. Donald and his wife recently had a little girl. They now have two, a boy and a girl. Please pray for Donald, he has had some close calls.
Jeffrey and his family are stationed back in Georgia now. Please continue to pray for his reliance on God and to learn to trust God with everything. Please pray for his wife and his children.
Ryan is now completing his college education and will be a police officer in the Columbus, OH area. In October, he will be married. Thanks for all who prayed for him and his safe return. Thank God for keeping him in His care and returning him to his family and a wonderful future.
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