Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
The Army is working closely with industry partners to fulfill critical modernization programs on time, all while reviewing procedures to mitigate future delays amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “In general, we are still close to being on track,” said Bruce Jette, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology.
The U.S. military confirmed that it carried out another airstrike against al-Shabab militants, its third in less than two weeks. This continues the strong support of Somali government forces in the vicinity where federal and U.S.-trained armed forces were fighting the militants.
Pray for America’s forces as the withdrawal from Afghanistan and also from Iraq continues.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
A Harvard-educated physician, a woman of color, claimed she was demoted from her role as chair of the OB-GYN department at a Minneapolis hospital after her colleagues discovered her social media posts critiquing leftist movements and rhetoric. She had made posts on her personal site denouncing the rhetoric of Black Lives Matter and critical race theory. She is taking legal action.
Pray for U.S. officials, judges, and American citizens as First Amendment liberties continue to be challenged or restricted.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
The United States called on all parties of the Tigray conflict in Ethiopia to halt attacks on refugees as the humanitarian crisis there worsens. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said, “We call on all armed actors in Tigray to stop attacks and intimidation against Eritrean refugees and all refugees, asylum seekers and people displaced by the ongoing violence, as well as against the aid workers attempting to respond to the humanitarian disaster.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. is deeply troubled by reports of escalating attacks on civilians as the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan while the last remaining troops are being pulled out as America ends its longest war. He said the only path to peace in Afghanistan is through negotiations, which all parties must take seriously.
Pray for Secretary Blinken and other members of the State Department and administration as they work out their policies toward nations in crisis.
Pray For AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Health officials in some areas of the country have voiced concerns over increasing rates of hospitalizations among pediatric COVID-19 patients, but whether the risk for this population has changed due to emerging variants like Delta remains unclear.
Pray for people in high positions of influence to seek God’s guidance as they assess healthcare need across the country.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
The United States and Britain said they believe Iran carried out an attack on an Israeli-managed petroleum products tanker off the coast of Oman that killed a Briton and a Romanian. Iran has denied it was involved in the incident. Israeli Defense Minister reiterated Israel’s posture that it will retaliate against anyone who seeks to harm the Jewish state “in the time and in the way” of its choosing.
Israel’s Supreme Court floated a compromise that would prevent the evictions of dozens of Palestinians in the East Jerusalem region. Attempts by Jewish settlers to expel Palestinians from their homes helped spark an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants in May.
Pray for those in authority in Israel as they defend themselves from attacks, whether local or from other nations.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
The Federal Reserve said this period of rising prices is transitory and that bottlenecks that have occurred as a result of the pandemic will eventually work themselves out. At that point, the Fed anticipates price pressures will ease.
The average U.S. household is spending about $22 more a month on groceries now than it did last year. Factors for the increase include worker shortages, expanded demand, costs of delivery, and natural causes like the drought in the western U.S.
Pray for U.S. financial officials as they evaluate the pressures of inflation on the U.S. economy.
Pray for Goodness in America
Sheriff deputies in Arizona recently accompanied the daughter of a fallen colleague to her first day of kindergarten. They provided her with an escort and lined up to offer her yellow roses as she made her way into the school. “Nobody wants to lose a parent… and it’s things like this and the community coming together for this family that hopefully brings awareness to other families,” said one of the officers.
Give thanks for the sense of family that exists among many in law enforcement and first responder groups, and pray that their example will influence others.
Pray for America’s Media
Scholar Ayaan Hirsi Ali said reporters in the media should stop calling themselves journalists and label themselves activists. “I think stop calling it journalism,” she said. “If you want to engage in activism, go ahead. But to call it journalism, it’s a joke. It’s not journalism. It’s not reporting; it’s not analyzing; it’s not investigative reporting because for all of those activities you require an open mind, you require a kind of philosophy that you follow the facts to wherever they lead and then you have to have the disposition of honest, impartial reporting. That’s not what activism is about.”
Pray for the heads of media outlets to be transparent about the positions they hold on the news items they discuss and publish.
Pray for America’s Education
The NWEA (formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association) has published a new report on learning loss during the pandemic. The report is based on testing data for over 5 million elementary and junior high students collected over the 2020-21 school year. When compared to data from 2019, they found the last school year was bad for everyone but particularly for minority students. Other reports concur. Elementary students in majority black and Hispanic schools were six months behind where they should be in math while students in majority white schools were four months behind.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said students need to go back to their classrooms this fall as that is where they learn best, but schools should also follow the CDC’s guidance recommending universal indoor masking.
Pray for educators, teachers, and students as they return to school.
Pray for America’s Technology
Federal cybersecurity officials have called on Congress to pass new laws that would force businesses and organizations to disclose ransomware attacks, an indication of the growing urgency of countering the problem of hacks. According to an official in the criminal division at the Justice Department, mandatory disclosure of ransomware attacks on private entities to federal authorities would allow the government to better track hacks, catch the perpetrators, and prevent future attacks.
Pray for officials in the Justice Department as they provide recommendations to Congress regarding disclosure of ransomware attacks.
Pray for Needs Across the States
Since 2015, in the more than 16,000 emergency response vehicles in Ohio have been involved in crashes 70% of them were police cars. Now a state representative says she is considering re-introducing a bill that would limit government’s ability to claim they are immune from liability, after finding that cities like Columbus routinely cited the state’s immunity law to deny claims from citizens involved in such crashes.
A new South Carolina firearm law takes effect August 15. The Open Carry with Training Act requires anyone who gets or renews a concealed weapon permit to take an additional open carry training course. People will still have the option to carry concealed weapons without the training.
Pray for wisdom for state legislators seeking the best ways to protect the interests of their states’ citizens.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
”Integrity is deciding to integrate my heart’s values into my daily actions. … God places a high value on integrity, “Better is the poor who walks in integrity than he who is crooked though he be rich” (Proverbs 28:6 NASB). God says integrity is a lot more valuable than all the stuff I think is valuable (1 Chronicles 29:17 NIV). … Integrity is one of the things that pleases God. Integrity simply means ”You can count on me, I’ll keep my word, I’ll be true.” – Reverend David Cawston, Retired senior pastor of Christian Life Center, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
