Pray the Vote
An interim report released by the Arizona Attorney General on his probe of election results for 2020 in Maricopa County found vulnerabilities that “raise questions about the 2020 elections in Arizona” which “must be addressed.” His findings did not allege outright fraud.
A U.S. district court ruled that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must release records pertaining to a “glitch” within its Department of Transportation that allowed noncitizens to register to vote in the state for decades. The state had allowed noncitizens applying for or renewing a driver’s license to register to vote in the Commonwealth.
Pray for state officials to uphold and enforce election laws and regulations.
Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told legislators that he still supports the development of a nuclear-tipped sea-launched cruise missile that President Biden’s administration wants to cancel. His comments make him the latest senior officer to break with the administration’s plan to scrap the missile, after top officers in Europe and overseeing the nuclear force backed it.
The Air Force awarded a $108 million deal to a defense contractor to start acquiring parts for the B-21 Raider program—the upcoming fleet of long-range strike bombers that will soon utilize a major portion of the service’s budget.
Pray for Pentagon officials as they provide feedback on the cut in military funding of President Biden’s budget proposal.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Secretary General of NATO says the alliance is working on plans to place a more permanent military presence on the Russian border in response to the Ukraine invasion. Plans are for a full-scale force that could repel an invasion as uncertainty surrounds what Russia will do next.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that U.S. intelligence indicated “there was a plan from the highest levels of the Russian government” for its forces to commit atrocities in Ukraine intentionally targeting civilians who oppose the invasion “to cause violence against them.”
Pray for U.S. officials to be wise in their decisions and how they influence matters around the war in Ukraine.
Pray for AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
The Drug Enforcement Administration sent a letter to federal, state, and local law enforcement departments giving them an unprecedented warning of a spike in “fentanyl-related mass overdose” deaths as Mexican cartels push the drug into the U.S. “Fentanyl is killing Americans at an unprecedented rate,” they said. “Tragically, many overdose victims have no idea they are ingesting deadly fentanyl until it’s too late.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci said it is now up to Americans to make their own medical risk assessments. He stated, “This is not going to be eradicated, and it’s not going to be eliminated. And what’s going to happen is that we‘re going to see that each individual is going to have to make their calculation on the amount of risk that they want to take.”
Pray for U.S. border agents as they seek to stem the massive importation of illegal drugs, particularly the deadly fentanyl.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett announced the indefinite closure of a major northern West Bank crossing near the home of the Palestinian man who fatally shot two people and injured 10 others. This was the fourth deadly attack in three weeks. Palestinian women, children, and men over the age of 40 from the West Bank, however, will be allowed to enter Jerusalem for prayers for the holy month of Ramadan.
Palestinian rioters vandalized Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus amid confrontation by the IDF. They set fire to the site, damaging the gravestone, a chandelier hanging above it, a water tank, and an electrical outlet.
Pray for Israeli officials and law enforcement as they seek to protect the sites throughout Israel that date back to Biblical times and persons.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
Applications for mortgages fell 6.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis last week as potential homebuyers face rising mortgage rates. Last week’s rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose above 5 percent, and the daily average rate has reached 5.02 percent, the highest rate for such a mortgage since before 2011.
Economic forecasters see a growing risk of recession as inflation continues in the U.S. economy, which is likely to cause the Federal Reserve to aggressively raise interest rates. High level investors, former Federal Reserve officials, and even some investment bankers are warning that the economy may hit a wall in 2023.
Pray for discernment for U.S. economic and administration officials as American family budgets are strained with the rising costs of housing, fuel, and food.
Pray for Goodness in America
A nonprofit U.S. company is shipping medical supplies to Ukraine but faces logistical problems in the process. The CEO said, “Right now, its difficult to get an airplane or container to go anywhere anyway and we have been postponed two or three months on the loads that we’re doing. And now there is a crisis, and we need to get going on shipping.” Medical supplies are transported from their project branches across the country to Chicago by truck, then to Toronto by truck, from Toronto to Warsaw by plane, and from Warsaw to Ukraine by truck.
Pray for American charities and other entities seeking to assist the refugees and people of Ukraine during this period of war.
Pray for America’s Education
Free speech on college campuses has been highlighted by recent attempts at censorship by students at prestigious U.S. law schools. An incident at Yale Law School elicited a letter from politicians, activists, and attorneys expressing concerns about training the nation’s law students to think critically and engage in civil discourse.
The Department of Education is proposing a new rule that would tighten requirements on charter schools seeking seed money, such as proving the demand for a new school and showing how they would ensure diversity. There would also be restrictions on how much outside for-profit companies could manage operations.
Pray U.S. education officials and teachers as restrictions are proposed for charter schools and possibly for Christian schools as well.
Pray for America’s Technology
A White House cyber official told legislators on a House Homeland Security subcommittee that private sector companies are increasingly asking the federal government for cyber threat intelligence as they seek to increase their defenses against growing online threats.
Pray for U.S. cyber security personnel as they seek to protect the government and private companies from foreign governments and entities who engage in hacking and cyber threats.
Pray for Needs Across the States
Governor Glenn Youngkin’s office said it is sending legislation to the Virginia General Assembly that would suspend the gas tax, which is 26.2 cents per gallon of gasoline and 27 cents per gallon of diesel, for May, June, and July before phasing it back in the following months.
Days of negotiations between Nebraska state legislators and the governor and others failed to yield a consensus on how to slow Nebraska’s fastest-in-the-nation prison growth. That was highlighted during debate on a bill to implement the recommendations and ideas that came out of a joint study of the state’s criminal justice system.
Pray for those in state governments who are looking for ways to address inflation.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“Prayer is powerful. Kingdom prayer is the divinely authorized methodology to access heavenly authority for earthly intervention. Such prayer is earth giving heaven permission to intervene in the reality down here with the manifestation of the spiritual reality up there. That is a definition few of us really grasp. God is waiting to be involved in our activities and yet because we were given freedom, He does not force Himself on our situations. He waits for us to ask—to connect with Him in prayer.“ – Tony Evans, Kingdom Prayer: Touching Heaven to Change Earth, 2016.
