In This Issue• The Daily Brief
• The Middle East in Focus
• The First 100 Days
• Updates: Stimulus Bill
• A Word for Intercessors
• Good News Corner
Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief, Wednesday, February 11, 2009
"When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him." (Isaiah 59:19b NKJV)
The Daily Brief
1. Pelosi frustrated by Senate - Cross Action News
Nancy Pelosi had heard enough, thank you very much, after two enraged House Democrats rose at Tuesday's caucus meeting to bitterly denounce the Senate's take-it-or-leave-it offer on the stimulus.
• Father, please give courage and endurance to those who would uphold goodness and truth, even in the face of adversity and the judgment of men. Pray that patience and humility would abound in our Senate and House until the wisdom of God is in place concerning this "stimulus" package. Intercede that emotions would not be allowed to dictate or to usurp a "climate" of peace so that our elected officials can get the job done properly.
• He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:32-33)
2. Obama Seeks to Restore Some Stimulus Spending - Cross Action News
WASHINGTON -- The White House is seeking to restore funding cuts by the Senate for schools, health insurance, and computerizing health records, as the economic-stimulus plan headed into a final round of negotiations in Congress, with top lawmakers struggling to bring the price of the two-year package down to $800 billion.
That would be well below the $838.2 billion plan approved Tuesday by the Senate on a 61-37 vote, but would reflect pressure from influential moderates in the Senate to hold down costs. As lawmakers meet to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the legislation, the White House's effort to reshape it, is leading to skirmishes among House and Senate Democrats, as well as with the moderate Republicans and Democrats who pushed to cut the size of the original Senate package.
• Father we know this is not over. "The bill will still have to go to conference to work out differences between the House and Senate versions, before coming back to both chambers for another vote. They will fight to add back as much pork as possible, including brand new pork not in either the House or Senate version." Pray for men and women who will fight the good fight of faith according to the truth. Align your prayers with the Word of God concerning big spending. Pray for time to read "between the lines" of the 750 page proposed bill.
• Do not be one of those who shakes hands in a pledge, One of those who is surety for debts; If you have nothing with which to pay, Why should he take away your bed from under you? (Proverbs 22:26-27)
3. US Unveils Multi-Trillion Dollar Plans To Save Financial System - Worthy News
The U.S. Government, Senate and Federal Reserve on Tuesday, February 10, rushed to approve measures of roughly $3 trillion to save the financial system, as the president warned that America's economic crisis was more serious than previously thought.
The current economic crisis is "as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression," President Barack Obama said. United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner topped the day, unveiling a new bank-bail out plan that experts said could reach $2 billion. At the center of Geithner's plan is a public-private partnership to buy as much as $1 trillion of bad loans still on the books of financial institutions, effectively creating what is known as 'a bad bank.'
"As he spoke, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 200 points."
• In times like these, only one method will be right; that which is right in the sight of the Lord. Lord, we continue to ask for leaders who would see godly stewardship as the only means to come out of this with integrity, glorifying You. Pray that these plans would be tightened up to fit within the confines of the Word of God. It alone is our refuge and our safety.
• He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich. (Proverbs 10:4)
4. U.N. Orders Inquiry Into Attacks on Its Facilities in Gaza
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ordered an investigation Tuesday into attacks on U.N. facilities in Gaza but Amnesty International protested that the inquiry should be much broader and include all alleged violations of international law by Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.
• Pray for the unhindered ability of Israel to defend herself. Father, Israel is doing what she should. Allow her to be cleared of any false charges. Make known every plot, scheme, trap, and plan of the wicked to destroy Your people, the very heart of your eternal purposes. Pray for God to clear the way for Israel to be exonerated of any and all such charges.
• I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the LORD, which makes a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. (Isaiah 43:15-16) OR Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him. (Psalm 68:1)
5. In Israel: Soldiers' Vote May Swing the Elections to a Tie - Israel National News
Voters gave Kadima 28 mandates in the next Knesset, one more than Likud, with almost all of Tuesday's ballots counted but not including votes of diplomats and soldiers, whose votes will be counted on Wednesday and Thursday. Their ballots are equal to five mandates.
The votes of the armed forces usually tilt to the nationalist and religious parties, and are likely to create at least a tie and may even put Likud in the lead. . . Livni has declared victory by virtue of apparently winning the most mandates, but Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman each said that the votes for the nationalist and religious parties clearly give them the right to control the next government.
• Pray over these vote tabulations, until the final results are in. This election seems to be another "fight to the finish," so coninue to "fight the good fight of faith" until all is said and done.
• "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. " (Gal. 6:9)
6. Computers Missing From Nuke Lab - AP
Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab launches month long probe to figure out how 67 computers disappeared.
• Pray for these hidden computers to be found; and for the source of this leak be apprehended and brought to justice, quickly! Amazing!!
• "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither [any thing] hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. . . " (Luke 8:17)
The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
". . . the most high God rules in the kingdom of men. He appoints over it whomsoever He will." (Daniel 5:21)
1. Amnesty: Hamas targeted rivals during war - USA Today
Hamas militants or security forces killed two dozen people and beat or tortured scores more during and after Israel's recent Gaza offensive, Amnesty International said in a report released Tuesday.
2. UN chief says Israel is blocking most Gaza aid - Int'l Herald Tribune
The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, repeated Tuesday his demand that Israel allow significantly more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered Gaza Strip, and he announced that he would send a team to investigate the bombings of United Nations facilities there.
3. Amnesty International: Hamas carrying out 'deadly campaign' against opponents in Gaza - Ha'aretz
Amnesty International group on Tuesday accused Hamas of carrying out a "deadly campaign" against its Palestinian opponents and critics in the Gaza Strip, particularly those they accuse of "collaborating" with Israel. Added: Feb 10th, 2009 4:13 PM | Share your opinion!
4. Poll: 31% of Europeans blame Jews for global financial crisis - Ha'aretz
A recent survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League found that anti-Semitic attitudes in seven European countries have worsened due to the global financial crisis and Israel's military actions against the Palestinians.
5. A Special Prayer for Israel's Leaders - CHPP
• Father the "Apple of Your Eye" must have leaders who know You and are watchful and diligent to perform all that You are speaking at this time. Pray that God will bring truth and light to the minds of emerging leaders and that their focus would be steadfast and unmovable concerning what is best for Israel.
• And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (I Kings 3:8-9)
The First 100 Days
The First 100 Days: DAY 23
"The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases." (Proverbs 21:1)
1. FBI Probing 530 Corporate Fraud Cases
The FBI is conducting more than 500 investigations of corporate fraud amid the financial meltdown, the bureau's deputy director told a Senate panel Wednesday.
Deputy Director John Pistole also said 38 of the 530 total active corporate fraud investigations involve fraud and financial institution matters directly related to the economic crisis.
2. Frank Challenges Banking Industry to Work Harder for Reform
Rep. Barney Frank challenged the banking industry Wednesday to work harder to fix a failing system, saying there is "a great deal of anger" across the country.
Frank, Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said it isn't practical for Congress "to junk" the current credit system and try to rebuild it.
The top members of a key House panel told banking leaders Wednesday they must win over a disgusted public and work harder to right the deeply troubled financial system.
3. E-mails Show Peanut Company Owner Pushed for Shipping Tainted Products
Internal e-mails indicate Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell urged his workers to ship tainted products despite receiving test results indicating the shipments were tainted with salmonella.
The company e-mails obtained by the House panel showed that Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria because he was worried about lost sales.
4. Lawmakers, White House Reach $790B Tentative Agreement on Economic Stimulus
House and Senate negotiators are hoping to reach an agreement as early as Wednesday on a compromise measure bridging the differences between their economic recovery packages.
Congressional leaders and the White House have crossed a first hurdle, tentatively agreeing to a $790 billion price tag on President Obama's economic stimulus bill.
Negotiators are trying to fast-track a compromise over competing versions of the massive economic recovery package, even as lawmakers stand firm on their spending priorities.
5. Obama's Challenge: What Would Lincoln Do?
Their crises were different, but the responses of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Barack Obama bear striking parallels, historians say.
In almost every major address he has ever given, President Obama has invoked the name of the first man from Illinois who moved into the White House. Now, a century and a half later, as he battles a towering economic crisis that could be the greatest test of his presidency, Obama may well be asking himself:
What would Lincoln do?
America was on the brink of catastrophe in 1861, when Abraham Lincoln took the oath of office. It fell upon the 16th president to convince Congress that winning a Civil War against the secessionists from the South would preserve the United States.
A monumental crisis now faces Obama, who has stepped into office amid the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression. The 44th president now is trying to persuade Congress that it needs to invest trillions of dollars to save the nation's economy. (All headlines in this section come from Fox News.)
Updates: Stimulus Bill
First Update:
Republicans Shut Out of Stimulus Conference Negotiations
Republicans have caught the Democrats in a midnight "stimulus" power play that seeks to cut Republican conferees out of the House-Senate negotiations to resolve a final version of the Obama "stimulus" package. Staff members from the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met last night to put together the "stimulus" conference report.
They intend to attempt to push this $1.3 trillion spending bill through in the dead of the night without Republican input so floor action can take place in both chambers on Thursday.
I spoke with House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) moments ago about this latest version of Democratic "bipartisanship." Pence told me, "I think the American people deserve to know that legislation that would comprise an amount equal to the entire discretionary budget of the United States of America is being crafted without a single House Republican in the room."
[Source: Human Events]
Second Update:
Lawmakers Reach Agreement on $789 Billion Economic Recovery Package
The House and Senate have reached an agreement to reconcile their two versions of a massive economic recovery package, settling on a bill with $789 billion in spending and tax cuts, lawmakers said Wednesday afternoon.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the compromise bill will create 3.5 million jobs, and tax cuts will make up more than a third of the package. "This has been a give and take," Reid said. After nearly 24 hours of negotiations, he said, the House and Senate were able to bridge the differences between the conflicting versions of the bill and arrive at a package that costs less than either of them.
It was not immediately clear when final votes in the two houses would occur. A House vote was possible as early as Thursday, with the Senate to follow before lawmakers begin a scheduled week long vacation.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House, but the president's chief of staff and other aides were intimately involved in the negotiations that led to the agreement. [Sources: Fox News; AP]
• The bill is now scheduled for a vote in the House tomorrow (Thursday, Feb. 12), and in the Senate on Friday, Feb. 13. Sixty votes are still required for passage in the Senate, so this is not yet an entirely "done deal" in that Chamber. Continue in prayer that any and all provisions that are NOT in the center of God's will for the American people be stripped from this bill before final passage.
• " . . . if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:19)
A Word for Intercessors
Regarding urgent national issues of government and finance at this time
We place the Blood of Jesus on the forehead of all those who want what is right for our country.
Ezekiel 9:4 - "And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."
We loose the laborers and the angels of the Lord to go forth and help all those who now stand in the gap.
PROVERBS 8:1-11 - "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it."
We pray protection over them and our nation.
Psalms 91. esp 4 - "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler."
In the Name of Jesus we call the systems and devices of evil to be broken up; they cannot stand.
Jeremiah 49:10 - " But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not."
Jeremiah 48:25 - "The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD."
Zephaniah 3:3-5a - " Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; . . "
Ecc. 12:13-14: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."
Luke 8:17 & 21 - "For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither [any thing] hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. . . And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it."
(Submitted by a prayer partner in Rhode Island. Thank you!)
Good News Corner
The Stethoscope
Here is a short video clip, developed by a church in Abilene, Texas.
Be sure to watch this clip all the way to the end, and ENJOY!
Jesus is LORD! Amen.
To view - go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYI_aOyCn9Y
