"Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart." (Psalm 51:6)

Ask the Lord to give His wisdom to our state legislators. The Lord is the supplier of our every need and He will hear from Heaven and answer us. Pray that the Lord will give wisdom to our leaders to make sound economic decisions for the betterment of each of our independent states. The Lord has revealed Himself as our "Jehovah Jireh" - our provider.

With a weak economic picture unfolding many states are facing a very challenging budget crunch.

Things have improved since the worst of the recession, but states still face a dire fiscal situation, according to a report to be released Tuesday by the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO).

High unemployment and an aging population is cause for tighter controls on spending by states.

The good news is that "state budgets are certainly improving; however, growth is weak, and there is not enough money for all the bills coming in," said NASBO Executive Director Scott Pattison. "State officials will still be cutting some programs, and increases in funding for any program except for health care will be rare."

The report says that Medicaid, the combined federal-state health program for the poor and the disabled, will place the biggest budgetary burden on states. Because of increasing caseloads, declining federal help and spiraling health-care costs, state Medicaid spending is growing much faster than state revenue, crowding out funding for other priorities.

Medicaid is burdening the states with financial liabilities of hundreds of billions of dollars. Already Obamacare is making this problem far worse through its "maintenance of effort" clause, which forbids states from tightening their eligibility requirements even as their economies shrink.

And beginning in 2014, the states will be responsible for administering a Medicaid expansion: All families earning up to 133 percent of the poverty level will become eligible. An estimated 17 million more patients will flood the program. Even though services for these patients will be financed primarily by the federal government (over 90 percent of the long-term costs), the administrative costs (billions of dollars per state) will not be.

The federal government had provided extra Medicaid help to states as part of the stimulus program. But that help has ended, prompting states to increase their Medicaid spending by an average of 29 percent this fiscal year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Many states have streamlined their Medicaid programs in an effort to control costs. Still, officials in more than half of the states said in a recent survey that there is an even chance that their Medicaid programs will face a budget shortfall as enrollment continues to increase.

Officials say the fiscal pressure that Medicaid puts on states is expected to increase when the federal health-care overhaul takes effect in 2014. Although the federal government is required to pick up the costs for people newly eligible for the program, many who are now eligible but not enrolled are expected to be drawn in, and states must shoulder part of those costs.

States are also struggling to meet the needs of local governments. Many states cut aid to localities during the recession, and many of them want it restored.

"Local governments are still seeing declines in their revenues, because even if property values have stabilized, property taxes tend to follow a couple years behind," said Dan Crippen, the NGA's executive director. "Property taxes are coming in much lower for school districts and cities and counties."

The report says that although state general fund revenue increased in 2011 and is expected to increase 2012, it remains $21 billion below 2008 levels. In addition, states are bracing for further reductions in federal aid that are likely to come from Washington's efforts to slow the growth of the deficit.

The fiscal pressure on states has become a drag on the job market; local and state governments are shedding jobs, even though the private-sector job market has shown signs of improvement.

State and local governments have cut 455,000 jobs since the beginning of 2010, and public-sector jobs account for the smallest share of the nation's employment since the 2008 financial crisis, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Source: National Review, NASBO, Washington Post)

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8)

Pray that the people of Afghanistan will seek the Lord for His hand of protection. Pray that the U.S. troops now in Afghanistan will be used to bear witness of the goodness and truth that the Lord Jesus has for these people. Pray that God's wisdom will be revealed and that their eyes will be opened to the blessings that God has for those who call upon His name for salvation, just as it was in the days of old Nineveh.

The United States is pulling out the most - 33,000 by the end of 2012. That's one-third of 101,000 American troops who were in Afghanistan in June - the peak of U.S. military presence in the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.

Others in the 49-nation coalition have announced withdrawal plans too, even as they insist they are not rushing to leave. Many nations have vowed to keep troops in Afghanistan to continue training the Afghan police and army in the years to come. And many have pledged to keep sending aid to the impoverished country after the international combat mission ends in 2014.

The exit is making Afghans nervous.

About 14,000 foreign troops will withdraw by the end of December, according to an Associated Press review of more than a dozen nations' drawdown plans. The United States is pulling out 10,000 service members this year; Canada withdrew 2,850 combat forces this summer; France and Britain will each send about 400 home; Poland is recalling 200; and Denmark and Slovenia are pulling out about 120 combined. (Contributor: Associated Press)

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure." (Psalm 122:6)

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, May my right hand forget her skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom. The day of Jerusalem, who said, 'Raze it, raze it to its very foundation.' O daughter of Babylon, you devastated one, how blessed will be the one who repays you with the recompense with which you have repaid us. How blessed will be the one who seizes and dashes your little ones against the rock." (Psalm 137)

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

Organizers at Cairo's iconic al-Azhar Mosque warn against "Judaization of Jerusalem."

A Moslem Brotherhood rally in Cairo last Friday at the Sunni world's most prestigious center of learning turned into a call for genocide, with protesters pledging to "one day kill all Jews."

Eldad Beck, Ynet's Arab affairs correspondent, reported from Cairo that some 5,000 people attended the rally at al-Azhar Mosque, convened to coincide with the anniversary of the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine.

The event, organizers said, was aimed at rallying Egyptians behind the "battle against Jerusalem's Judaization."

Speakers at the demonstration condemned "Zionist occupiers" and "treacherous Jews," and organizers distributed maps of the Old City highlighting areas where "Zionists are aiming to change Jerusalem's Moslem character."

Muhammad Ahmed el- Tayeb, the imam of al-Azhar Mosque, told the crowd: "Al- Aksa Mosque is currently under an offensive by the Jews... We shall not allow the Zionists to Judaize al-Quds [Jerusalem]. We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall not allow even one stone to be moved there."

Protesters chanted, "Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv: Judgment Day has come," and passages from the Koran vowing that "one day we shall kill all the Jews."

Al-Azhar Mosque is part of al-Azhar University, a millennium- old compound in central Cairo that is the world's leading center of Arabic literature and Sunni jurisprudence.

Beck quoted an elementary school teacher outside the mosque telling him, "All Egyptian Moslems are willing to embark on jihad for the sake of Palestine."

"Why is the U.S. losing in Afghanistan?" he asked.

"Because the other side is willing and wants to die. We have a different mentality than that of the Americans and Jews."

Meanwhile, late last week, Egypt's Youm7 newsweekly reported that the Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, had returned to Cairo for the first time since his dramatic return in February from a half-century in exile. The immensely popular television preacher arrived at Cairo Airport on Wednesday "to follow the incidents in Tahrir Square," the center of anti-government protests. (Contributors: Ynet News, Jerusalem Post)

"I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." (Psalm 59:16)

Pray that the Lord will grant His wisdom for housing and shelter to all families in the U.S. Pray that our nation will rest in the provisions that the Lord provides. Ask the Lord to give wisdom to the officials in finance. Pray that they will discover creative means to allow more families to have security with home ownership.

If homeownership is the American dream, that dream is slipping away -- and more rapidly in Florida and in Southwest Florida than across the nation.