Pray the Vote
Planned Parenthood will spend a record $50 million toward voter outreach efforts and campaigning for candidates who support access to abortion. The executive director said, “This is an election about power and control.“
The U.S. Postal Service has created a new division dedicated to handling election mail. The Election and Government Mail Services is part of an effort to effectively deliver mail-in ballots to voters and elections officers in advance of the 2022 midterm elections.
Pray for federal and state officials, as well as American voters, as they prepare for the midterm elections.
Additional National Prayer Needs
Pray for our Military
U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said that China’s actions around Taiwan increase the level of risk and he hopes that China’s behavior returns to its norms that were established before. “We are living in a dangerous time,” he said.
A pilot program beginning next month will provide free child care to National Guard during weekend drills in six states, a benefit the Army’s 400,000 other parents receive, but which has not been available to Guardsmen who do not have access to on-base options.
Pray for America’s military families as they often deal with housing concerns in the absence of their deployed loved ones.
Pray for AMERICA’S FREEDOMS
Students at a California college filed a federal lawsuit against the school’s president and other administrators for alleged discrimination against conservative political views. Young America’s Foundation had distributed anti-communist flyers on campus. Their lawsuit is “to ensure that everyone has the right to free expression,” they said.
Pray for educators and administrators to uphold the First Amendment rights of college students and faculty.
Pray for AMERICA’S FOREIGN RELATIONS
A minority report from the House Foreign Affairs Committee says Afghan special forces trained by the United States fled to Iran with weapons and specialized combat training as the Taliban regained power in the midst of the withdrawal by President Biden’s administration from the country a year ago. They said a “significant number” of forces, approximately 3,000, including high ranking officers, crossed the border to Iran.”
Russia is sponsoring international war games in Venezuela. Among the nations taking part in the event are Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Burma, Belarus, Abkhazia, Uzbekistan, India, and Indonesia. The games are scheduled to last until August 27 and involve snipers competing against each other, among other exercises.
Pray for U.S. officials as the influence of China and Russia grows in the hemisphere of the Americas.
Pray for AMERICA’S HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
A new study out of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows opioid prescriptions across the U.S. are declining, at least among patients with private insurance.
According to information received under Freedom of Information Act requests, COVID-19 vaccine trials documented birth defects and lost pregnancies. The federal inspector general faulted the National Institutes of Health for not consistently posting clinical trial results.
Pray for federal officials as information and data from the government regarding the COVID-19 pandemic are revealed and made public.
Pray for AMERICA’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ISRAEL
After years of on-again-off-again relations, Israel and Turkey announced they were restoring full diplomatic ties and would be exchanging ambassadors after not doing so for four years. Israel’s Interim Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, said, “The resumption of relations with Turkey is an important asset for regional stability and very important economic news for the citizens of Israel. We will continue to strengthen Israel’s standing in the world.”
Israel continues to object as President Biden promotes a return to the Iran nuclear deal. Prime Minister Yair Lapid told French President Emanuel Macron that Israel would not be bound by any such deal and “will continue to do everything to prevent Iran from attempting a nuclear capability.”
Pray for Israel’s security in the face of new threats coming from Iran.
Pray for AMERICA’S ECONOMY
Sales of existing homes have decreased for a sixth straight month and are now at the lowest level since early in the pandemic. Existing home sale average prices declined from the previous month to $403,800 but are still up 10.8 percent for the 12 months ending in July.
A new survey by Stifel Financial shows that 97 percent of executives surveyed believe the U.S. is already in a recession or will face one within the next 18 months. Only 3 percent thought it would be avoided entirely. The study also reported that inflation and the tight labor market represent the two biggest perceived threats to running a business today.
Pray for members of the Federal Reserve as they have an off-schedule meeting in Wyoming this week.
Pray for Justice in America
Calvary Chapel San Jose and its pastors were held in contempt of court and fined in 2020 and 2021 for violating state and county pandemic limits on indoor public gatherings. But California’s Sixth District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court decisions, citing a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2021 that Governor Gavin Newsom’s ban on indoor worship services violated freedom of religion.
Give thanks for federal judges who are issuing decisions according to the Constitutional protections of religious liberty.
Pray for Goodness in America
Signs proclaiming “In God We Trust” are beginning to show up in Texas schools. They are permitted under a new state law that mandates schools display them if they are donated. The law passed last year by the legislature and signed by Governor Abbott, says schools “must display in a conspicuous place in each building of the school or institution a durable poster or framed copy of the United States national motto,” so long as it is donated to the school.
Give thanks that citizens are donating signs to influence student bodies in many Texas schools with the message “In God We Trust.”
Pray for America’s Education
A Minneapolis school district has implemented a plan by which white teachers are either laid off or reassigned before “educators of color,” calling it necessary to address “past discrimination.” They say the plan will help support the recruitment of minority teachers.
Parents across the nation, frustrated over everything from COVID school closures to safety protocols to the power of teachers’ unions, are running in school board elections. In California, about half of the approximately 5,000 school board seats in the state are up for election this year. There is no official count of how many parents are running for those offices.
Pray for parents who are running for school board seats. Pray for school boards to attend to the concerns expressed by parents about “woke” policies that affect both students and faculty.
Pray for America’s Technology
Members of Congress are urging President Biden’s administration to strengthen the federal government’s cyber defenses in the healthcare sector amid a spike in cyberattacks. Industry leaders see this as a way to help protect a critical sector that stores sensitive information. Senator Angus King of Maine and Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin urged the Department of Health and Human Services to better protect the healthcare and private health sector from the growing number of cyber threats.
Pray for federal legislators and bureaucrats as they work together on updating the government agencies’ cyber protections.
Pray for Needs Across the States
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt is calling for action to reduce personal income tax and eliminate the regressive state 4.5 percent grocery tax in part to mitigate harm from the latest federal tax hike.
A Wisconsin school board voted in favor of a policy banning gay pride flags and Black Lives Matter flags from classrooms due to what school leaders say is political messaging. The policy also includes banning teachers from including their preferred pronouns in email signatures.
Pray for state governors and state legislatures that will have decisions made on their continued governance in the November election.
Pray for America’s Faith Community
“If you want your prayers answered, seek to be an answer to someone’s prayer. Many people are praying for a miracle. Jesus said that believers are salt and light in this world, so we all have an opportunity to be the very answers that we are praying for. ” – Pastor James Robison, LIFE Outreach International, Fort Worth, Texas, July 2016
