|
UNITING BELIVERS TO PRAY . . . SEPTEMBER 28, 2011
|
 |
DOWNWARD SPIRAL: U.S. - PAKISTAN RELATIONS
|  Ask the Lord to give wisdom and creative ways of dealing with these most complex issues of importance to both the U.S. and to Pakistan. Pray that peace will be brought to this region and that the people of Pakistan will be open to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ask the Lord to give our Christian men and women serving in Afghanistan and Pakistan the means to share the good news of Jesus' love with these desperate people.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit...." (Matthew 28:19)
The relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has been going downhill ever since Navy SEALS flew in -- without permission -- to get Osama bin Laden.
As the United States begins to scale back its fighting role in Afghanistan, it needs to confront the more important question of Pakistan's future. The United States has been a major player there for 60 years - more intensely so since the Sept. 11 attacks. If Pakistan is dangerously dysfunctional, Washington helped it get that way.
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said last week that Pakistan's intelligence agency had a role in several high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, including the attack earlier this month on the U.S. embassy in Kabul.
Mullen's comments made public an implication that many officials in Washington and Afghanistan have long voiced only in private - that Pakistan's premier intelligence agency, the ISI, supports insurgent groups including the Haqqani network, one of the most dangerous groups, based in Pakistan's tribal region.
Mullen said the Haqqani network, which launches attacks against Western troops in neighboring Afghanistan, acts as a veritable arm of the spy agency. His comments signal a more confrontational stance against Pakistan. Daniel Markey, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, says Mullen's forceful language was striking in its tone and substance.
"The implication is that the United States government is saying with one voice that, if Pakistan does not end its ties with the Haqqani network, the U.S. will expand its unilateral actions to destroy that network whether Pakistan likes it or not," Markey says.
Markey says the U.S. could expand its drone strikes in North Waziristan, where the Haqqani network is believed to be based. But he says things could go further, such as launching raids using U.S. Special Forces.
"You could see conventional forces in Afghanistan moved up to the Pakistan border to support cross-border attacks that would probably start out small but could expand," he says. "And you could see a variety of other combined efforts that could even include a more extensive bombing campaign that went beyond the use of drones."
On Sunday, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan's army chief, called in his commanders for a special meeting to discuss the security situation. That was an unusual move, says retired Army Lt. Gen. David Barno, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
"Their media people coming out of that said that Pakistan intends to defend its borders from incursions from Afghanistan," Barno says. "So I think they're signaling that they're not going to tolerate any U.S. ground intervention certainly into Pakistan."
"I see the mood darkening in Washington, and I fear that it may lead to unilateral action," Nawaz says. "But historically, whenever the U.S. has put such sharp pressure on Pakistan to do certain things on behalf of the U.S., the Pakistanis have not reacted well at all."
Nawaz says the U.S. and Pakistan need some clear-headed thinking to get out of this situation because the two sides need each other - at least for the next few years.
An open and determined desire to work together has to be exercised on the U.S. side and the Pakistani side in order to sustain this essential partnership. The relationship has certainly had its bad patches, but it's one that neither side can live without.
(Contributors: Global Security, CBS News, LA Times, CNN)
Back to top 
|
TWO MORE ABORTION CENTERS CLOSE
|  Give thanks to God for the good news about the closing of two more "abortuaries" and the saving of 4,313 lives as reported by 40 Days for Life. Ask the Lord to increase awareness of abortion still threatening the lives of the unborn in America.
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you." (Jeremiah 1:5) "Today, people of faith and conscience in 301 cities across seven countries are launching a massive, unified 40 Days for Life campaign of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion that is going to outstrip all our previous efforts," said Shawn Carney, 40 Days for Life campaign director.
"Tremendous momentum is on our side," said Carney. "We've recently learned of the closure of two more abortion facilities where peaceful 40 Days for Lifeprayer vigils were conducted in the public right-of-way outside."
Those locations are in Pensacola, Florida and Forest Grove, Oregon. Volunteers in Pensacola report the abortion center was closed and a sheriff's notice placed on the locked door as the result of court proceedings involving the business. In Forest Grove, volunteers say business signs were removed and the building emptied. Phone calls confirmed the permanent closure of the facility.
"This, to me, is proof that prayer works," said Carney. "We eagerly anticipate this next campaign."
40 Days for Life launches its largest campaign to date today Wednesday, September 28. The focused pro-life initiative will continue non-stop through Sunday, November 6. The 301 locations are listed at: 40daysforlife.com/location.cfm Included are 262 locations in 48 American states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. With 15 cities in seven provinces, this campaign will also mark the largest-ever Canadian participation. There are also participating communities in Australia, England, Spain - and for the first time - Germany and Argentina.
In all, 16 abortion centers where peaceful 40 Days for Life prayer vigils have taken place have closed following these campaigns of prayer and fasting. In addition, 53 abortion industry employees have left their jobs at facilities where people prayed for an end to abortion during 40 Days for Life campaigns.
Carney added that peaceful prayer outside the abortion center "provides a simple reminder -- to clients, to staff, to the community -- of what all people know in their hearts: abortion is wrong and can never be justified. I am confident that the abortion culture will continue to be overcome by the power of prayer."
In four years, 40 Days for Life has mobilized more than 400,000 people in 387 cities, saving 4,313 lives from abortion. 40 Days for Life involves people of faith in 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, round-the-clock peaceful vigils outside abortion facilities and grassroots educational outreach. (Source: 40 Days For Life, Christian Newswire) Back to top |
STUDENT PUNISHED OVER HOMOSEXUAL COMMENT
| 
Pray for the educational school systems in the United States. Pray for God's protection over the youth and their families who are being challenged by heathen views on homosexuality and their attempted influence in public education. Ask the Lord to strengthen the voices of our youth to stand strong against this perversion of God's commands.
"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart
from it." (Proverbs 22:6)
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error." (Romans 1:24-27)
An honors student in Fort Worth, Texas, was sent to the principal's office and punished for telling a classmate that he believes homosexuality is wrong.
Holly Pope said she was "absolutely stunned" when she received a telephone call from an assistant principal at Western Hills High School informing her that her son, Dakota Ary, had been sent to in-school suspension.
"Dakota is a very well-grounded 14-year-old," she told Fox News Radio noting that her son is an honors student, plays on the football team and is active in his church youth group. "He's been in church his whole life and he's been taught to stand up for what he believes."
And that's what got him in trouble.
Dakota was in a German class at the high school when the conversation shifted to religion and homosexuality in Germany. At some point during the conversation, he turned to a friend and said that he was a Christian and "being a homosexual is wrong."
"It wasn't directed to anyone except my friend who was sitting behind me," Dakota told Fox. "I guess [the teacher] heard me. He started yelling. He told me he was going to write me an infraction and send me to the office."
Dakota was sentenced to one day in-school suspension - and two days of full suspension. His mother was flabbergasted.
Officials at the high school did not return calls for comment. However, the Fort Worth Independent School District issued a statement that read:
"As a matter of course, Fort Worth ISD does not comment on specific employee or student-related issues. Suffice it to say that we are following district policy in our review of the circumstances and any resolution will likewise be in accordance with district policy."
Video Report Link
After a meeting with Pope and her attorney, the school rescinded the two-day suspension so Dakota would be allowed to play in an upcoming football game.
"They've righted all the wrongs," said Matt Krause, an attorney with the Liberty Counsel. "This should have no lasting effect on his academic or personal record going forward." (Contributors: Examiner, Fox News)
Back to top |
STATES NOW ABLE TO OPT OUT OF FED SCHOOL LAW
| 
Offer thanks to the Lord that there is an opportunity to set things in a positive direction for our children without these unrealistic rules that hidder education rather than aid it. The No Child Left Behind Act, originally signed into law by President George W. Bush, has over the years been met with increasingly convoluted and unreasonable demands as others in authority have adapted this program in ways that have caused educational regression in the classroom. Pray for wisdom for those in the Department of Education who are tasked with helping our children to learn, and with empowering our teachers to do so unhindered.
"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven . . . " (Ecclesiastes. 3:1)
Nearly everyone agrees the fix needs fixing. The No Child Left Behind law that was supposed to improve American education has left schools grumbling at being labeled "failures," state officials fuming and complaints everywhere about required testing.
The impact on school kids could vary greatly depending on how states choose to reward or punish individual schools. Under No Child Left Behind, children who attend schools deemed failures after a set period of time are eligible for extra tutoring and school choice. Under the new plan, it's up to states granted waivers to decide if they will use those same remedies.
This announcement could fundamentally affect the education of tens of millions of children. It will allow states to scrap a key requirement that all children show they are proficient in reading and math by 2014 - if those states meet conditions such as imposing their own standards to prepare students for college and careers and setting evaluation standards for teachers and principals. (Contributors: ED.gov, AP, ABC News)
Back to top |
NETANYAHU RETURNS FROM SUCCESSFUL U.N. TRIP
|  Ask the Lord to give continued wisdom to the Israeli Government as leaders proceed through the next few months of negotiations. Ask the Lord to give them spiritual understanding of what God's Word has already declared for His land and His people.
"And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers." (Deuteronomy 30:5) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to Israel on Monday after a packed week of meetings, speeches and interviews surrounding events at the U.N. in New York. The most high profile moment of his trip came on Friday, when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly. His speech was received politely, but unenthusiastically by the majority of diplomats, in stark contrast to the extended standing ovation received by Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas when he took the podium.
However, much work was conducted out of the public eye, with Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly gaining appreciation from the U.S. and European governments for his willingness to work with the Quartet on a new peace initiative that sets a new date of December 2012 for a final-status agreement. Meanwhile, the PA flatly rejected the Quartet's ideas, with diplomats confirming that the issue of Israel as a Jewish State was the main sticking point.
Outside the U.N., Netanyahu sat for several interviews with major American TV networks, which Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren called "an unqualified success." He added, "the United States and Israel are more closely coordinated now than they have been at any time in the last two years. We see things very much eye-to-eye on how to move forward. We see the United States as Israel emphasizes that there is no alternative to direct negotiations."
"The truth," Netanyahu said at the U.N., and repeated with slight variations in many of his interviews, "is that Israel wants peace. The truth is that so far the Palestinians have refused to negotiate. The truth is that Israel wants peace with a Palestinian state, but the Palestinians want a state without peace."
Meanwhile, Abbas was given a warm welcome upon his return to Ramallah on Sunday afternoon, where soon after arriving he placed a garland of flowers on the mausoleum of Yasser Arafat before addressing the crowd of well-wishers. He declared that the Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital would come into being through peaceful protest and negotiations, but only after construction in Israeli settlements had been completely stopped.
Full video and text of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech
(Contributors: Capitol Hill Prayer Partners, ICEJ News, PMO - Israeli Prime Minister's Office) Back to top |
| U.S. CONGRESSIONAL PRAYER | |
Latest development: 56 groups send strong letter to President to reverse faith-based hiring - In a continuation of the battle over religious hiring rights, a coalition of 56 organizations lead by the ACLU and the Americans United for Separation of Church and State sent a letter to President Obama on Monday expressing frustration that he has not fulfilled his campaign promise to reverse the right of faith-based organizations to consider religion in their employment decisions. The letter expressed "deep concern" about remarks that the President made at a Town Hall meeting in July, where he indicated support for the current structure of allowing faith-based organizations that contract with the federal government to hire based on religion. The coalition is frustrated that the President appears to have reversed his stance on this issue. They ask him to clarify his July 22nd comments. They also express frustration that he never responded to a June letter that the coalition sent on the issue, and they request a meeting with White House Counsel to discuss the issue.
Couple fined $300 for weekly Bible studies; future fines unless they obtain costly permit - A couple from San Juan Capistrano, CA was fined $300 for holding weekly Bible studies in their home. They were told they would face additional fines of $500 per meeting if they continued without obtaining a permit to operate as a church. They held the Bible studies at their home on Wednesdays and Sundays, with groups ranging from 20 to 50 attendees. Many neighbors were supportive of the Bible studies, saying they were not disturbing. However, zoning officials apparently halted the gatherings due to one complaint. Zoning officials said the couple was in violation of a provision in the Municipal Code that prohibits "religious, fraternal, or nonprofit organizations" including "churches, temples, synagogues, monasteries, religious retreats, and other places of religious worship and other fraternal and community service organizations" in residential neighborhoods without a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). The couple's appeal of the decision to the city was denied, and they are now asking the California Superior Court in Orange County to reverse the decision.
Ninth Circuit dismisses religious discrimination claims against gospel rescue mission - On Monday, the Ninth Circuit rejected religious discrimination claims that had been brought against an Idaho faith-based rescue mission. The rescue mission was sued for encouraging guests at its homeless shelter to attend chapel services and requiring participants of its voluntary substance abuse program to participate in religious activities. The rationale employed by the Ninth Circuit is significant in that it would prevent religious discrimination claims from being brought successfully against religious housing ministries. These organizations-many of which receive no public funds-play a crucial role in serving some of society's most vulnerable members. (Source: U.S. Prayer Caucus)
Back to top
|
|
PRAYER SURGE NOW!
|
"Partnering with CHRIST for REVIVAL
In the Middle East AND America"
Saturday Morning, 10.1.11
7:30-11am Eastern, 6:30-10am Central, 5:30-9am Mountain,
4:30-8am Pacific, 3:30-7am Alaska, 1:30-5am Hawaii
www.PrayerSurgeNow.blogspot.com prayersurgenow@gmail.com
Conference Call Number & Code
712-432-0075 & 6149782
4:30-6:00 am Pacific & 7:30-9:00 am Eastern
Joel 2:23-24 - It is Time to Receive an
Outpouring of the Holy Spirit in this New Season!
&
Operation Prayer Surge Prayer Points
for the Middle East & the US Military
with Tom Smith, TN & Al McCarn, VA
www.flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com
&
Special Report Part 7: Destiny of Israel & the Nations
with Kobi Ferguson, Israel www.yeshuaisrael.com
For Our Call to Lead Jews to Jesus please click here.
6:00-8:00 am Pacific & 9:00-11:00 am Eastern
Holding Each Life Precious
Preserving Life of Babies by Establishing Pregnancy Help Centers,
Maternity Homes & Adoption Services
with John Ensor, OH
&
Has the Church Lost the Fear of the LORD?
October 21-22 Sermonindex.net Live Simulcast Event
with Edgar Reich, NJ
For details & registration,
Prayer Surge NOW! for 2012 Elections
Provided by Capitol Hill Prayer Partners. Click below:
THE 2012 ELECTION CYCLE (PDF) Prayer Guide
Back to top
|
| WHAT DOES F3 MEAN? | |
F3 (First Friday Fast)
You may have missed June's First Friday opportunity to fast and pray for America with other believers across the nation, but that does not mean that you cannot unite with believers to fast and pray for America on the next First Friday in October!
For more information about how to join an established F3 group
or to start your own F3 group, go to Get America Praying!
|
|
|
|
|
Printable Versions
| 
 |
|
|
Featured
FEATURED
PUBLICATIONS!
Intercessors for America TOP 130 U.S. OFFICIALS
Prayer Guide Bookmark
Now Available!
1-5 free + shipping! $2.00 + shipping
for packet of 25!
Order from IFA
Fulfillment Center,
c/o The Christian Shoppe,
PO Box 1058, Purcellville, VA 20134.
Credit card orders
toll-free 888-349-4446 or via www.ifaresources.com.
Download free printable PDF version
Rev 8/2011 4.5 MB 
Declaring God's
Word Derek Prince $15.99 + shipping! Paperback 428 pages According to Scripture, Satan can be defeated if believers will stand on God s Word and testify to what it says about the mighty and powerful blood of Jesus. It is only by your testimony, however, and the truth you declare, that you will overcome the devil s schemes. For the first time ever, internationally renowned Bible teacher Derek Prince will lead you to power and victory each day in this 365-day devotional. Each week features a Scriptural declaration of truth to be confessed daily, along with Derek Prince s amazing insight and teaching Order from the IFA Fulfillment Center, c/o The Christian Shoppe,PO Box 1058, Purcellville, VA 20134. Credit card orders toll-free 888-349-4446 or via www.ifaresources.com. | | |
|
| CONTACT US!
PO Box 915
Purcellville, VA 20134
1-800-USA-PRAY
ifa@ifapray.org
|  | |
|
|
|
