Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon would continue to support Taiwan’s military but declined to say if U.S. troops would defend the island against China, after President Joe Biden said there was an American “commitment” to do so.
The U.S. military killed a “senior al Qaeda leader” with a drone strike in Syria, according to a spokesman for the Central Command, who added they “have no indications of civilian casualties as a result of the strike.”
Pray for the safety of America’s military personnel wherever they may be stationed or deployed.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
Religious freedom is on the November 2 ballot in Texas. Voters will consider a proposed constitutional amendment that would restrict the government’s ability to place restrictions on worship services. Known as Prop 3, it would prevent future religious services and organizations from being shut down while bike shops and grocery stores remain open.
Pray for the voters across the nation who will vote this week on a variety of state and local measures.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
The International Atomic Energy Agency has called for the global rebuke of Iran for stonewalling the United Nations inspections. Support for censure follows months of regular warnings to the IAEA Board of Governors that Iran has failed to comply with multiple formal and informal agreements with inspectors.
South Korea’s military confirmed that North Korea fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile off its east coast. The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command denounced the launch as destabilizing but stated that it did not pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies.
Pray for the U.S. and allies in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific as nuclear capabilities of nations like Iran and North Korea increase.
Pray for AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that millions more can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different company’s vaccine for that next shot. The Food and Drug Administration had already authorized such an expansion of the booster shot campaign.
An independent panel of vaccine experts met to consider whether the Food and Drug Administration should grant emergency authorization to the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children 5 to 11 years old, a group that includes 28 million people.
Pray for the healthcare officials and researchers as vaccines and other treatments and therapies are tested.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
The U.S. and Israel are reportedly planning to form a joint team to hold direct negotiations on the reopening of the U.S. Consulate for Palestinian Arabs in Jerusalem, according to State Department sources. Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposed the formation of the team, which is seen by many, including Israeli Foreign Minister Laid, as a risky political move.
Israel’s Ministry of Defense has designated six Palestinian rights organizations as “terrorist organizations.” They said the six groups operate as an organized network under the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, known as a Marxist organization that plans and carries out terror attacks.
Pray for wisdom for Israel’s leaders as they continue to address the Palestinian issues.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
U.S. inflation accelerated last month and remained at its highest rate in over a decade, with price increases from labor and materials shortages rippling through the economy in the wake of the pandemic. Higher inflation also weighs on federal policy as it starts to have a broader impact on cost of living, wages, and social benefits programs.
Even though millions of Americans who lost their jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic have returned to work, companies nationwide report they are still struggling to hire employees in recent months. According to the most recent Labor Department data, more than 10 million jobs were unfilled at the end of August. The labor force participation rate, which measures the economy’s active workforce, was 61.6 percent in September, compared to 63.3 before the pandemic.
Pray for businesses and industries affected by labor shortages and supply chain slowdowns, and for U.S. officials addressing the rising inflation in the U.S.
Pray for Goodness in America
After the U.S. military evacuations stopped, one group got an 80-year-old grandmother out of Afghanistan. The group has facilitated the evacuation of approximately 1,800 people since the end of August and say they “will not rest” until they get everyone out.
Pray for the volunteer groups who are putting their safety and their lives at risk to bring home Americans who are still in Afghanistan.
Pray for America’s Education
“I promise you, I guarantee you, we’re going to get free community college in the next several years and across the board,” President Joe Biden told a recent town hall meeting. He said there were 27 countries around the world that offered free education beyond 12 years, and free community college would put America “in the game.”
Attorney General Merrick Garland defended the Justice Department before Congress on getting involved in disagreements between school boards and concerned parents, saying such parents are not being labeled as “domestic terrorists.” He said, “The Justice Department supports and defends the First Amendment right of parents to complain as vociferously as they wish about the education of their children, about the curriculum taught in the schools.”
Pray for education officials to recognize the rights of parents to be involved in the education of their children.
Pray for America’s Technology
A bipartisan group of legislators is signaling support for new restrictions and regulations on major technology companies such as Facebook, Amazon, and Apple. A new bill would restrict online platforms from favoring products or services that they make over others offered on their platforms.
A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate aims to secure data collected by artificial intelligence technologies, such as facial recognition technologies, as these types of technologies continue to grow in use.
Pray for members of Congress as they debate and potentially vote on legislation to control aspects of America’s technology.
Pray for Needs Across the States
Business leaders across Nevada are protesting a proposal to increase the state’s unemployment insurance rate by one-third of a percent from 1.65 percent to 2 percent, a move that would cost employers an estimated $130 more per employee per year. A formal recommendation will be made by the Employment Security Council to the state legislature by December 8.
Mississippi’s state treasurer said the state will not comply with recent proposals by the IRS to have access to transactions in any account that exceeds more than $10,000 of activity each year. This was an increase from the original $600 level proposed by President Biden’s administration. “The federal government is treating working Americans like guilty tax cheats,” he said. “The problems with the Biden administration’s proposal are serious and multifaceted… and a massive expansion of government overreach.”
Pray for state officials charged with oversight of their state’s economy, including payroll taxes.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“You were created for something greater than yourself. You were formed for something awesome and magnificent. You were made to know glory—God’s glory! And the deepest longings of the human heart can be fully satisfied by pursuing that glory. In fact, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.“ – John Piper, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Desiring God
