October 22nd – October 28th, 2020
PRAY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS ADMINISTRATION
White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro said the U.S. has learned from the pandemic that it is “dangerously dependent” on the supply chain coming out of China, but the Administration is making investments in America.
In his weekly meeting with the press, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo contrasted America’s numerous efforts to promote global peace with the disruptive actions being undertaken by the People’s Republic of China, including U.S. support for the World Food Program, the Nobel peace prize winner.
Pray for President Trump, his Cabinet, and advisers, as they balance international relationships with domestic issues.
PRAY FOR OUR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said that, while he’s not necessarily a fan of court-packing, he’s open to the idea if “Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed,” and held out hope that lawmakers would “step back from this precipice” and vote against her confirmation.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas pushed back against granting prisoners, particularly violent felons, voting rights, calling the policy “dangerous, something that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders supports.”
Pray for members of Congress, most of whom are in their home districts campaigning or engaging in travel related to matters that will come before them.
PRAY FOR OUR JUDICIARY
Fuller Seminary can uphold its sexual standards policy under a religious exemption to Title IX regulations, a Central California District Court said, after the school had been sued by two students expelled for being in same-sex marriages.
A 48-page lawsuit has been filed by Portland, Oregon, and Oakland, California, against the DHS and DOJ, claiming they unconstitutionally overreached federal law when sending in troops to “quash civil protests.”
Pray for the judges across America’s courts to be wise in ruling on matters of civil rights and community unrest.
CURRENT EVENTS
WARS AND TERRORISM
Al Shabab presents a future threat to America, said Africa Command’s Air Force Colonel Chris Karns as he reacted to President Trump’s reported plans to pull U.S. troops from Somalia. International assistance is still required there, the colonel said.
Two Americans held hostage by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen were freed last week as part of a U.S.-backed trade that returned more than 200 of the group’s loyalists to that beleaguered Middle East country.
Pray for nations and their leaders in the Middle East and Africa who continue to confront terrorism.
FOREIGN INTERESTS AND CONFLICTS
China says it tracked a U.S. Navy warship as it passed through the Taiwan Strait and has its forces in the area on high alert and saying the U.S. has recently been sending the “wrong signal” to the proponents of independence for Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping told his nation’s military to focus their “minds and energy on preparing for war” and calling on his soldiers to be “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable.”
Pray for restraint on the part of China and other nations with expansionist goals.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Israel has begun to emerge from its unpopular four-week-long second nationwide coronavirus lockdown following a month of restrictions that helped suppress COVID infections, saying reopening will be gradual this time.
Israel approved more than 1,300 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank in the first such go-ahead since it suspended annexation plans in the territory, drawing angry responses from Palestinians, who seek to establish their own state in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, their security from outside attackers, and their freedom to joyfully worship God.
THE ECONOMY
Real estate experts say the pandemic may have killed open floorplans in homes as buyers look for walls over easily conversing as one person sits in the living room while the other cooks in the kitchen, opting for privacy areas instead.
Retail sales increased 1.9 percent in September, marking the fifth consecutive month of growth, and easily outperforming economists’ expectations for a 0.7 percent increase. Clothing and accessories led the pace.
Pray for the American business sector as it adapts to market alterations resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
ACROSS THE STATES
A unanimous three-judge federal appeals court panel threw out a lawsuit from six Navajo Nation members seeking to ease Arizona’s deadline for mail-in ballots, ruling they lack standing to bring the case.
A federal judge declined to block Oklahoma’s photo identification and notarized signature requirements for absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, in spite of arguments that the law suppresses voters.
Pray for state election officials, all who will be processing and counting ballots, and for Christians to exercise their right to vote.
VERSE OF THE WEEK
Behold, God is my helper, the Lord is the upholder of my life. – Psalm 54:4
