Praying for Our Leaders in Government
Executive Branch: Pray for the President and his Administration
On the third anniversary of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting, President Biden called on Congress to strengthen gun laws, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and banning assault weapons. “There was no time to wait,” he said. “We owe it to all those we’ve lost and to all those left behind to grieve to make a change. The time to act is now.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the president’s vaccination plan for the nation amplifies what was already in place. He said President Biden wants to “get community vaccine centers up, get pharmacies more involved, where appropriate, get the Defense Production Act more involved—not only perhaps with getting more vaccines, but even the things you need to get a good vaccine program, for example, needles and syringes.”
Pray about the many issues confronting the president’s administration and for them to seek wisdom in working through them.
Legislative Branch: Pray for Senators and Representatives in Congress
Representative Lee Zeldin of New York reiterated his call for the Department of Justice to investigate New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s early pandemic order to release elderly hospitalized COVID patients to nursing homes, where the deadly virus quickly spread, alleging that the governor had initiated a coverup that “is looking a lot like obstruction of justice.”
Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia is calling on President Biden to reconsider his decision to cancel a permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, saying rejecting the pipeline means loss of jobs, safety, and energy security, and the senator asked the president to support the continued construction of oil and gas pipelines more broadly. “Build Back Better” priorities include “keeping Americans working while strengthening North American economic and energy security,” Manchin said.
Pray for the agendas in both the House and Senate, and that the president and DOJ would heed and consider the calls of members of Congress.
Judicial Branch: Pray for Supreme Court Justices and Federal Judges
A divided Supreme Court blocked California from imposing an outright ban on indoor church services during the coronavirus pandemic, but the justices kept in place limits on capacity and a ban on singing or chanting for the time being.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in November in a suit that would invalidate the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare). Now President Biden’s administration has asked the Court to uphold the ACA law. At the heart of the case is whether a provision of the law called the “individual mandate” that requires Americans to obtain health insurance or pay a financial penalty is lawful. The president’s administration believes the individual mandate is constitutional and, even if not, the rest of the law should remain in place.
Pray for the Supreme Court justices as they consider cases decided in a previous presidency that the new administration wants them to rule on.
