Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he is nearing a decision on whether or not to recommend the Defense Department change how it prosecutes sexual assault crimes. He is taking time to consider the matter after having met with service leaders and others.
The CIA is said to be setting up alternative bases in states surrounding Afghanistan in order to monitor and counter terrorism threats there. Neighboring Pakistan has threatened to bar American troops, including drone operations, unless it gains sign-off authority on all operations.
Continue to pray for American troops and contractors as they depart from Afghanistan and for wisdom for military leaders in dealing with those vying for power in the region.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
The University of Alabama is being sued for alleged violations of the state’s constitution and a two-year-old statute regarding campus speech rights after the university’s board of trustees last summer affirmed “pre-existing speech zone policies that directly violate the Campus Free Speech Act.”
Pray for the protection of the rights to free speech on college campuses for both students and professors.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
Over the past several months, China and Russia have been touting their budding relationship via state media and through their respective foreign ministries. Foreign relations officials caution the two countries have a common interest in defeating the United States. “Cooperating with each other makes a lot of sense,” said Dean Chang, a senior research fellow and China expert at The Heritage Foundation, “China is a pure competitor; Russia has always charted its own course, and both don’t like us.”
The Nigerian leader of the Boko Haram terror group, Abubakar Shekau, “killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive,” the leader of a rival Islamic group has claimed. Boko Haram has been designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization, and it is responsible for atrocities in Africa, including the kidnapping, killing, raping, and torturing of school children. In 2014, after 270 Nigeria schoolgirls were kidnapped, the now-deceased leader said that he would sell them on the human trafficking market. Many of those schoolgirls are still missing.
Pray for wisdom for U.S. officials as they develop strategies to counter an alliance between Russia and China.
Pray For AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized Regeneron’s COVID-19 antibody drug for injections. Regeneron said it plans to deliver at least 1 million doses to the federal government by the second quarter of this year. In October 2020, President Trump touted Regeneron as part of an antibody cocktail administered to him when he was sickened with the virus.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug for a specific mutation causing lung cancer in adults who have undergone at least one systemic treatment, such as chemotherapy. Lung cancer is the third most common cancer in the U.S. according to the CDC, and it is associated with the highest mortality among both sexes compared to other cancers.
Pray for the scientists and administrators at the FDA, CDC and other agencies dealing with public health.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is willing to risk “friction” with the U.S. to prevent Iran from going nuclear if the U.S. moves forward with reinstating the Iran nuclear deal. “If I have to choose—I hope it doesn’t happen—between friction with our great friend the United States and eliminating the existential threat, eliminating the existential threat wins,” he said.
Israeli coalition leaders have brokered a power-sharing agreement that will allow them to form a government. The vote is taking place on Sunday, and it appears unlikely that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will remain in power. The deal will end Netanyahu’s 12 years at the top of Israeli politics. Prime Minister Netanyahu called on his supporters saying, “all legislators elected by votes from the right must oppose this dangerous left-wing government.”
Pray for Israel as the new government is set to be officially installed on Sunday.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
The manufacturing sector activity picked up in May as pent-up demand and a reopening economy boosted orders, but unfinished work piled up because of shortages of raw materials and labor.
Restaurants and supermarkets cannot find enough workers to open new locations, while higher costs for pay and benefits weigh down operations, threatening to limit growth in industries that have been reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.
Pray for the American economy as it attempts to gain new footing in the pandemic’s aftermath.
Pray for Justice in America
Twenty-three states are now part of a lawsuit against President Biden over the shutdown of the Keystone XL pipeline. Montana’s attorney general said, “The Constitution is clear that presidents do not have the power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce or to unilaterally undo an act of Congress.” The president signed the executive order to halt construction on the pipeline on his first day in office.
Pray for federal, state, and local authorities as they deal with balancing economic pursuits and environmental protections over issues like the Keystone XL pipeline.
Pray for Goodness in America
At least ten state governments across the U.S. are directing federal aid money for needy families into support for “alternatives to abortion” programs. The financial assistance and tests offered to single women who find themselves dealing with unwanted and unexpected pregnancies are a way to encourage them to avoid abortions.
Pray for the state officials of Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas who are actively working to decrease abortions.
Pray for America’s Education
Census Bureau data revealed that between May and October 2020, homeschooling more than doubled among American households with school-age children, from 5.4 percent up to 11.1 percent. Black and Hispanic Americans were most likely to switch to homeschooling, while white and Asian Americans were the least likely. Cautions over the coronavirus certainly played a part as did poor-quality online instruction. Even discounting the impact of the virus, the 2020 jump is seen as “unprecedented.”
Pray for parents who choose to homeschool their children and that the children would benefit and learn just as well, if not better.
Pray for America’s Technology
A coalition of major tech companies, nongovernmental groups, and entertainment giants including Amazon, Netflix, and Disney, announced they are pooling their efforts on finding solutions to climate change. The head of the Environmental Defense Fund said the work of the partnership will require governmental action to be effective but they are showing how “companies can lead the way, be really innovative and ambitious in that both will hopefully pave the way for the government on policy solutions.”
Pray for God’s will to be accomplished in the nation as more sectors focus their attention on climate change.
Pray for Needs Across the States
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a plan to allow people to work part-time and continue receiving unemployment benefits simultaneously as part of the Michigan Economic Jumpstart Plan made possible with leftover federal funding from the American Rescue Plan. Employees working full time would not be eligible.
The Louisiana legislature voted to create a single statewide board to oversee state sales tax collection. Business advocates contend the existing system is too complex and difficult to navigate with each parish overseeing its own tax collection. The measure would be a state constitutional amendment and it requires a vote of the Louisiana citizens.
Pray for state governors, legislatures, and agency heads who oversee the economic growth and stability within their responsibility.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
”Today Christ is calling you and me, His ambassadors, to dream great dreams because anyone who believes in Him can do the great works He did (John 14:12-15). How is that possible? The key to His promise is twofold.
First, because Christ was going to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell us. Now that the Spirit indwells us as believers, Christ does His works through us!
Second, Christ adds a condition to His promise: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.” The Lord challenges us to have faith—not necessarily to have more faith, but faith in Him. It is an ongoing faith. Another translation puts it this way: “He who continues to believe in me will also do the works that I do.”
Are you expecting great things from God? If it’s true that we are ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20), then we can’t remain passive.” – Luis Palau, International Evangelist, Portland, Oregon.
