Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
The State Department announced that the U.S. and Iraq are setting plans in place for the withdrawal of remaining American combat forces. “The parties confirmed that the mission of the U.S. and coalition forces has now transitioned to one focused on training and advisory tasks, thereby allowing for the redeployment of any remaining combat forces from Iraq with the timing to be established in upcoming technical talks,” their statement said.
The Taliban attacked Kandahar airbase where several hundred U.S. troops are based. The Department of Defense condemned the attack. Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs John Kirby said, “While the attack resulted in no casualties or damage, the Taliban’s decision to provoke even more violence in Afghanistan remains disruptive to the opportunity for peace presented by ongoing negotiations.” The U.S. is just weeks away from a deadline to withdraw fully from Afghanistan, something the president has said would be “hard to meet.”
Pray for American troops stationed in the regions of the Middle East endeavoring to retain peace in the face of expansionist goals of countries like Iran.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
A lawsuit filed against Virginia Tech University alleges that the school’s policies on harassment and discrimination, bias-related incidents, and its computer policy, which prohibits the use of the network for “partisan political purposes,” violates the First Amendment rights of students to free speech. The president of Speech First, the organization bringing the suit, said, “Administrators at Virginia Tech have intimidated students into silence, refraining altogether from expressing comments or viewpoints that might be perceived as controversial or offensive. … This effort to restrict (and even punish) speech based on content goes against the commitment to academic discourse that is supposed to be paramount in higher education.”
Pray for U.S. government and school officials as they work to ensure educational institutions support students’ rights.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
China’s foreign ministry warned Washington not to boycott next year’s Winter Olympics in Beijing after President Biden’s administration said it was talking with allies about a joint approach to complaints of human rights abuses. The ministry spokesperson rejected accusations of abuses against ethnic minorities and warned of an unspecified “robust Chinese response” to a potential Olympics boycott. A U.S. State Department spokesman said the U.S. hopes to develop a “coordinated approach” to a potential boycott of the Olympics in China.
According to a report from Radio Free Asia, Chinese authorities are attempting to brainwash Christians by holding them in mobile “transformation facilities” with no windows, no ventilation, no time allowed outside, and they are taunted with threats, insults and attempts at intimidation.
Pray for the Christians in China to be strengthened in their faith as they face persecution and for wisdom for U.S. officials in responding to China’s actions.
Pray For AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
Scammers are prevalent on the Internet offering look-alike COVID-19 vaccine cards. The three-by-four-inch cards are falsified copies of the official vaccine cards issued by the CDC to those who are legally vaccinated. Selling fake vaccination cards that copy the CDC logo is breaking the law and copying or falsifying personal data on these cards could also violate identity theft laws. The FBI issued a special alert warning people that if they make or buy a fake COVID-19 card, “you endanger yourself and those around you and you are breaking the law.”
According to a new report from the Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation, 62 percent of healthcare workers surveyed said that the worry and stress related to battling on the front lines of COVID-19 negatively affected their mental health. Fifty-five percent experienced “burnout” going to work, and nearly half said that worry and stress impacted their ability to sleep. The current study polled more than 1,300 healthcare workers.
Pray for healthcare workers and first responders and the toll that the pandemic has taken on them.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
Israel has objected to the U.S. decision to restore aid to the UN Relief and Works Agency as assistance to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, telling President Biden’s administration that it would only help perpetuate the conflict. “Israel’s position is that the organization in its current form perpetuates the conflict and does not contribute to its resolution,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “The renewal of UNRWA assistance, therefore, must be accompanied by substantial and necessary changes in the nature, goals, and conduct of the organization.”
Israel’s President Rivlin invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a new government after another inconclusive election deepened political stalemate in Israel. Under law, the prime minister will have 28 days to do so, with the possibility for a two-week extension, before President Rivlin picks another candidate or asks parliament to choose one. Continued deadlock could ultimately result in a new election.
Pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu to be able to form a new government so that the business of governing might run smoothly.
Pray for THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
Jerome Powell, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, said the U.S. economy appears to be at an inflection point, with output and job growth poised to accelerate in the months ahead as long as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to retreat. He said the Fed’s forecast is that the economy could produce close to one million jobs in a month or “string of months.”
A new analysis by a real estate data company suggests homeowners are facing the biggest property-tax hikes in four years. State and local governments have faced a cash crunch as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and they are passing their need on to homeowners in the form of higher property taxes. The average property tax nationwide was $3,719 for a single-family home in 2020. The most notable increases in average property taxes were Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Atlanta, with San Jose, San Diego and Tampa coming in close behind.
Pray for federal, state, and local governing officials as inflation threatens the recovering economy.
Pray for Justice in America
The fatal shooting of a black man by police in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota resulted in the state’s National Guard troops deploying Sunday night. President Biden said, “We’ve spoken to the governor and the mayor. We’ve spoken to the authorities there. And I haven’t called Daunte Wright’s family, but prayers are with their family. It’s really a tragic thing that happened, but I think we’ve got to wait and see what the investigation shows. The question is was it an accident? Was it intentional? That remains to be determined by a full-blown investigation. But in the meantime, I want to make it clear again there is absolutely no justification — none — for looting. No justification for violence.”
Pray for the people of Minneapolis, for law enforcement officials, for the restoration of peace by the National Guard, and for those investigating the tragedy to find conclusive answers.
Pray for Goodness in America
Researchers at the UK’s University of Sussex found a physiological response in brains scanned by MRIs while they were making decisions on kindness. Researchers in the U.S. and elsewhere have found areas of the brain literally lit up with bonus oxygen when they helped someone. Being kind releases feel-good hormones, it increases lifespans, creates more energy, lowers anxiety, helps prevent illness, and is contagious.
Pray for an increase in kindness in the U.S. and for opportunities to extend kindness to others.
Pray for America’s Media
A new survey suggests that people who rely on television and social media for COVID-19 information, rather than science-based sources or health agencies, are less informed than others. Among respondents, 43 percent cited government websites, including the CDC site, as the most trusted source of pandemic information.
A government agency for regulating social media has been proposed by Representative Peter Welch of Vermont. He described the proposed agency as an “entity” that has rule making and enforcement authority to be an ongoing representation of the public to address emerging issues of privacy, content standards and misinformation. It would resemble the Federal Trade Commission and employ technology experts for the regulators’ benefit.
Pray for wisdom for government officials regarding the regulation of media and social media platforms.
Pray for America’s Education
A growing number of American colleges have announced that students will be required to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination in order to attend in-person classes this fall. The executive vice president and chief operating officer at one such college, Rutgers University, said, “Vaccinations are an important tool for making the fall semester safe. We felt that simply encouraging would not have the same effect as a requirement.”
The president’s budget proposes to more than double funding for the federal K-12 program that supports school districts serving low-income family students… the most significant investment in the nation’s public education system since the program was enacted under President Johnson’s administration more than half a century ago.
Pray for students and teachers who are being required to have the vaccine in order to attend classes in the Fall.
Pray for America’s Technology
Microsoft and the federal government are still working to understand how a network of suspected Chinese hacking groups carried out an unusually indiscriminate and far-reaching cyberattack on company software. The investigation is still ongoing, even more than a month after the discovery of the hack. The beach rendered hundreds of thousands of small businesses, schools, and other organizations vulnerable to intrusion. The evidence is showing signs of prior reconnaissance by the Chinese.
Pray for U.S. computer hardware and software engineers to be able to develop a fail-safe means to keep hackers from intrusion.
Pray for Needs Across the States
The attorney general of Indiana is investigating the possibility that Big Tech companies have harmed his state by censoring conservative viewpoints. The probe will center on whether Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Twitter have “limited consumers’ access to certain content – often deleting or obscuring posted material reflecting a politically conservative point of view.”
A hydrologist for the Idaho Department of Water Resources said his state, along with 40 percent of the western U.S., is experiencing extreme drought conditions, with some even in a “megadrought” that he said was climate change driven. “This is an ongoing long-term drought that started back in the Fall of 2019, and we just haven’t seen any kind of recovery there yet,” he said. Snowpack, which the state relies on for sourcing much of its water, was about 60 to 70 percent of normal levels this winter.
Pray for state officials and agencies dealing with the issues that affect their states but also have a wider range of influence.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“Please be careful. This is another one of those enemies… deceptions that are sneaking into the church to take our eyes off Jesus and of the eternal perspective and the fact that only He can give us eternal life, forgiveness of sin, redemption. And therefore He has got to be the focus, not all the stuff that is coming to us from the outside. Who is the master of division? Satan. He is the one trying to divide us and Jesus unites us.
We are living in a culture that is hostile to the Gospel and faith in Jesus Christ. Instilling in the homes, children, and the churches the vital importance of knowing what you believe, who you believe, and who you are in Christ is basically like the air we breathe and the food we eat.” – Dr. Michael Yousef, Senior Pastor, Church of the Apostles, Atlanta, Georgia
