October 29th – November 4th, 2020
PRAY FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS ADMINISTRATION
The State Department has approved the potential sale of 100 defense systems to Taiwan in a deal that has a potential value of up to $2.37 billion, along with other weapons systems including sensors, missiles and artillery at a total value of $1.8 billion.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave specific warnings to universities that partnerships with foreign adversaries, most notably China, could pose a risk to national security, after conducting a wide-ranging investigation into foreign funding on campuses.
Pray for President Trump and his Cabinet as they deal with issues that directly influence relationships with China.
PRAY FOR OUR CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS
Senator Marco Rubio introduced legislation to block access to U.S. capital markets for Chinese companies that have been blacklisted by Washington, which will impact Chinese firms that rely on American investors for funding.
Senators Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia have asked the Attorney General for a Justice Department investigation into apparent violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act on college campuses where apparent racial segregation is taking place.
Pray for U.S. senators and representatives who are on recess until after Election Day.
PRAY FOR OUR JUDICIARY
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted hundreds of lawsuits over how people can cast their ballots. In one case, the Supreme Court held that officials in Wisconsin cannot count mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.
A Pennsylvania judge ruled in favor of a restaurant that opened its doors to full capacity in May with no masks or social distancing, after the restaurant was fined $10,000 for reopening amid lockdown orders.
Pray for America’s newest Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett as she has officially taken her seat at the Court.
CURRENT EVENTS
WARS AND TERRORISM
Afghanistan claimed that it killed a top al Qaeda propagandist on an FBI most-wanted list during an operation in the country’s east, showing the militant group’s continued presence as U.S. forces work to withdraw from that country.
The U.S. has begun the process of removing Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism after Khartoum recognized Israel and Sudan transferred funds to compensate U.S. victims and their families.
Pray for America’s military men and women still serving in international terrorist “hot spots.”
FOREIGN INTERESTS AND CONFLICTS
The U.S. and Japan began air, sea, and land exercises around Japan in a show of force in response to increased Chinese military activity in the region. The Keen Sword exercise is the first big drill under Japan’s new prime minister.
India and the U.S. signed a military agreement on the sharing of satellite data during a visit by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, part of efforts to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the region.
Pray for the U.S. and allies as aggressive moves taken by China are countered in the Asian region.
ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Discussions continued in Israel concerning how to reopen schools and businesses in the next stage of the exit from the latest coronavirus lockdown, with many officials expressing their unhappiness at the lack of clarity and variety of demands made by the government.
Israel and Sudan agreed to normalize ties in a U.S.-brokered deal ending decades of hostility. As one of Africa’s largest countries joining a broader diplomatic realignment in the Middle East, Sudan emerges from international isolation as a result of the 1990s harboring of Osama bin Laden.
Pray for Israel’s leaders and health ministers as they, like so many other nations, struggle to overcome the coronavirus.
THE ECONOMY
Consumer retail spending improved in the third quarter, with non-travel and non-entertainment increasing about 1 percent in the third quarter from a year ago, while travel and entertainment remain substantially lower.
Coronavirus layoffs and family financial uncertainties have pressured more people to take out high-interest loans from predatory lenders where interest rates can reach as high as 30 percent.
Pray for the nation’s economy to find stability and sustainable growth in the coming quarters.
ACROSS THE STATES
The leader of the nation’s coronavirus testing efforts condemned Nevada’s health department for ordering nursing homes to discontinue two brands of government-issued rapid coronavirus tests that the state felt were inaccurate, calling the department “unwise, uninformed and unlawful.”
The office of the New York governor has repeatedly refused to disclose the number of nursing home patients who were infected with COVID-19 and share other public data on the ongoing public health crisis.
Pray that the state officials would be transparent as well as fully accurate in reporting data on the coronavirus in their states.
VERSE OF THE WEEK
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11
