As a member of the Presidential Prayer Committee, I’d like to share our weekly focus of Prayer for our country, our leaders and current topics that affect our lives in the United States.
This week's Prayer Focuses for August 8 - 14 are directly quoted:
Morality In America
Tying Stronger Marriage Knots
by Holly L. Meade
Though America is a rich country of great abundance, approximately one in seven children in the United States go to bed hungry every night, according to a recent report by the United Nations’ Children’s Fund. That means more than 16 million – or 22 percent of all children – live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level.
Research clearly shows that poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being. It can impede their ability to learn and contribute to poor physical, emotional and mental health. Child poverty is an ongoing national concern, but few are aware of its principal cause: the absence of married fathers in the home. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the poverty rate for single parents with children in the United States in 2009 was 37.1 percent, while the rate for married couples with children was just under seven percent. Being raised in a married family reduced a child’s probability of living in poverty by about 82 percent.
Pray For President Obama & Administration
In a rare public rebuke, President Obama cancelled his Moscow summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, reflecting both U.S. anger over the Snowden asylum and Russia’s stubbornness on key issues like missile defense.
The White House would not say whether it believes the U.S. homeland is a potential target of the suspected Al-Qaeda plot that led to the closure of American embassies in much of the Muslim world this week.
Pray for wisdom for President Obama as he deals with urgent foreign affairs and domestic policies.
The White House would not say whether it believes the U.S. homeland is a potential target of the suspected Al-Qaeda plot that led to the closure of American embassies in much of the Muslim world this week.
Pray for wisdom for President Obama as he deals with urgent foreign affairs and domestic policies.
Pray For Congressional Leaders
Congressman Darrell Issa (California), Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has urged President Obama to act quickly on sealed criminal charges against Benghazi attack suspects.
Senator Mark Udall (Colorado), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is placing a hold on the man nominated to become the Defense Department’s top lawyer because of unanswered questions on CIA practices.
Pray for members of Congress - whether they are traveling or working at home - during the August recess.
Senator Mark Udall (Colorado), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is placing a hold on the man nominated to become the Defense Department’s top lawyer because of unanswered questions on CIA practices.
Pray for members of Congress - whether they are traveling or working at home - during the August recess.
Pray For Judicial Needs
A federal circuit court has given its okay to a plan of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to restore certain legal rights to America’s veterans removed by a 2011 rule eliminating appellate rights before the agency’s Board of Appeals.
A federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the EPA’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, saying the states and various industry groups, had no standing because they could not show direct harm.
Pray for wisdom for the judges on the circuit and appeals courts as they rule on individuals’ and states’ rights.
A federal appeals court rejected a legal challenge by Texas and Wyoming to the EPA’s efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, saying the states and various industry groups, had no standing because they could not show direct harm.
Pray for wisdom for the judges on the circuit and appeals courts as they rule on individuals’ and states’ rights.
Executive Prayer Focus
Thomas E. Perez, United States Secretary of Labor
Labor Secretary Tom Perez said that he and other Cabinet secretaries would be “out and about” throughout August to promote President Obama’s economic plan. “We’re taking the case directly to the American people,” he said in an interview.
Legislative Prayer Focus
Charles “Chuck” Schumer, United States Senator from New York
Senator Chuck Schumer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of behaving like a “schoolyard bully” over his decision to ignore extradition requests from the U.S. government over NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Armed Forces Prayer Focus
General Vincent K. Brooks, U.S. Army Pacific Commander
The four-star general who commands U.S. Army forces in the Asia Pacific region is making his first trip to Korea this week. U.S. Army Pacific Commanding General Vincent K. Brooks and his wife, Dr. Carol P. Brooks, are meeting American soldiers, civilians, and their families around the Korean Peninsula during their first visit since he assumed command in July.
Judicial Prayer Focus
Judge Reed O’Connor, United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
A federal court in Texas has chided the Obama amnesty initiative that will spare nearly a million illegal immigrants writing in a ruling that it is “contrary to congressional mandate.
| Pray for Current Events |
WARS AND TERRORISM
Yemen says it foiled an Al-Qaeda plot to blow up pipelines and seize some of the country’s main ports while suspected U.S. drone strikes killed seven alleged Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen – the fifth strike in under two weeks.
The U.S. Army is refusing to suspend contracts with dozens of companies tied to Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in Afghanistan out of concern for “due process rights,” despite urgings from the U.S. chief Afghan contract watchdog. Pray for the safety of America’s military in Afghanistan and for the safety of America’s embassy personnel.
FOREIGN INTERESTS AND CONFLICTS
International efforts, including those by the U.S., to resolve the political crisis in Egypt following the ousting of Mohammed Morsi have failed, as strong divisions between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood increase.
Iran’s new President Rouhani has called for “serious and substantive” negotiations with the international community about its nuclear program, but he stressed that Iran’s rights must be preserved and economic sanctions lifted. Pray for wisdom for Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. diplomats as they engage with Egypt and Iran.
THE ECONOMY
Of the 162,000 jobs created in July, most were in low-paying retail and restaurant work. The job market is not as dynamic as before the recession, with the aging workforce clinging to their jobs and fewer start-ups are created.
More than 40 percent of employers have eliminated their traditional group health coverage for retirees over age 65 in favor of a defined amount of money for them to purchase their own coverage. Pray about the issues that impact the American workforce, including the lack of new well-paying jobs. ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST
Alarmed by the prospect of new U.S.-Iran negotiations, and labeling Iran’s new president “a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Prime Minister Netanyahu is ramping up Israel’s threat of unilateral military action against Iran’s nuclear program.
An Israeli cabinet decision adding a number of new Jewish settlements in the West Bank has drawn condemnation from the Palestinian leadership highlighting the fragility of the current Washington-brokered peace effort. Pray about the peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians and the 1967 borders diplomatic chasm.
HEALTH CARE
Former President George W. Bush’s blocked artery is a reminder that even people who are fit can be at risk. Between 700,000 and 1 million stents occur each year, but the high-profile Bush incident is a warning for regular cardiac exams.
The obesity rate of low-income preschool-age children declined between 2008 and 2011 in 43 states, a new study shows, a clear sign of the effective health-directed focus of First Lady Michelle Obama. Pray for the health of America’s population, from the aging to the youngest.
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Viewpoint
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“Abandoned” For Christ
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Graham calls on White House to support Abedini
by Dr. Tom Askew
Franklin Graham is the latest to join the chorus of voices calling for U.S. State Department and White House officials to take a more vocal role in protesting the Iranian imprisonment of American pastor Saeed Abedini. September 26 will mark the one year anniversary of Abedini’s imprisonment for allegedly “endangering the national security” of Iran.
| Presidential Quote of the Week | |
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945), 32nd President of the United States
In times like these it is immature – and incidentally, untrue – for anybody to brag that an unprepared America, a single-handed, and with one hand tied behind its back, can hold off the whole world. No realistic American can expect from a dictators’ peace international generosity, or return of true independence, or world disarmament, or freedom of expression or freedom of religion – or even good business. Such a peace would bring no security for us or for our neighbors. “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” As a nation, we may take pride in the fact that we are softhearted, but we cannot afford to be soft-headed. We must always be wary of those who with sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal preach the “ism”: of appeasement. We must, especially, beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests.
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All prayer requests are made directly from our Presidential Prayer Leader. We ask you all to pray for our leaders as the scripture says.
1 Timothy 2:1-3
King James Version (KJV)
2 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
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