Capitol Hill Prayer Partners
"A National Prayer Alliance"
P.O. Box 5152
Herndon, VA 20172-1970
chpp@patriot.net
The Daily Brief
"Praying for All in Authority"
Thursday, February 6, 2014
"I delight to do Your will, O my God. Your law is within my heart."
(Psalm 40:8)
Please visit the website for the International Christian Concern to find ongoing needs for prayer among the persecuted around the world. Thank you.
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The Daily Brief
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1. Lights out for hundreds of thousands after storm slams Northeast - Fox News
Dave Dixon and his wife are bunking with friends after losing power in a snow-and-ice storm that caused more than a million U.S. outages -- the vast majority of them in a single state, Pennsylvania.
The storm has long since cleared out, but its effects are expected to linger for days as utility crews work feverishly to restore power to hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania residents left in the dark and cold. One official likened the damage to what you'd expect to see from a hurricane.
Pennsylvania's utility regulator says 451,000 customers remain without power as of 11 a.m. (Read more)
- O dear Lord, once again we turn to You for Your mercy to be upon our nation in this never-ending winter. We ask You to grant creative strategies to those who are in the cold tonight in Pennsylvania and elsewhere; unusual strength and alacrity to those who are repairing these power lines; and great wisdom for those in authority as they dispatch teams to do this work. Help us, Lord, we pray in Your Name, amen.
- "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me." (Jonah 2:2)
2. Muslim Brotherhood Leader Meets Obama in White House - Washington Free Beacon
A senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood was recently hosted at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama, prompting an outcry from critics of the global Islamist organization. (Read more)
- Lord, we pray that there would be more of an outcry against the acts of this president, who consorts with our enemies and treats our friends badly. And again, let the mainstream media see the dangers and begin reporting with integrity!
- "You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm." [Psalm 89:10b]
3. Obamacare enrollees hit snags at doctor's offices - LA Times
After overcoming website glitches and long waits to get Obamacare, some patients are now running into frustrating new roadblocks at the doctor's office. (Read more)
- Lord have mercy over the people who must visit doctor's offices. We pray that Your touch of healing would be upon them, and by that touch they would be saved.
- "Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction." [Psalm 103: 3,4a]
4. New surveillance technology can track everyone in an area for several hours at a time - Washington Post
As Americans have grown increasingly comfortable with traditional surveillance cameras, a new, far more powerful generation is being quietly deployed that can track every vehicle and person across an area the size of a small city, for several hours at a time. Although these cameras can't read license plates or see faces, they provide such a wealth of data that police, businesses and even private individuals can use them to help identify people and track their movements. (Read more)
- Lord, we pray protection for Your people from the prying eyes of the government - and ask that seeing eyes be made blind, and that blind eyes would see.
- "Through You we will push down our enemies; through Your Name we will trample those who rise up against us." [Psalm 44:5]
5. Threat to the grid? Details emerge of sniper attack on power station - Fox News
Newly reported details about a 52-minute sniper attack on a central California electrical substation last year are raising concerns from Capitol Hill and beyond, amid questions over whether it was the work of terrorists. The April 16, 2013, attack had not been widely publicized until The Wall Street Journal reported new details in a story on Wednesday. The attack reportedly started when at least one person entered an underground vault to cut telephone cables, and attackers fired more than 100 shots into Pacific Gas & Electric's Metcalf transmission substation, knocking out 17 transformers. Electric officials were able to avert a blackout, but it took 27 days to repair the damage. (Read more)
- Tonight we offer a great chorus of praise unto the LORD for His safekeeping over us during this dangerous incident last summer in California. We pray that all details regarding this event be "nailed down" and exposed, and that measures be put in place that would prevent this from ever happening again. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen and amen.
- "No weapon forged against you shall prosper . . ." (Isaiah 54:17)
6. Scotland passes gay marriage bill - AFP
Scottish MSPs have passed a bill allowing same-sex weddings, despite opposition from the country's two main churches.
- Father we cannot fathom the depths of evil that have come upon our world. We ask the Your people rise up in all corners of the earth to say no loud enough that all legislation allowing gay marriage would be repealed.
- "The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, but destruction will come to the workers of iniquity." [Proverbs 10:29]
7. Exposed: Muslim Brotherhood-Al-Qaeda Connection - CBN
As former Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi's trials continue, it's enlightening to consider what is likely to be one of the centerpieces of the trial: longstanding accusations that Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party worked with foreign terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda, against the national security of Egypt. (Read more)
- Thank You, Lord that this information is beginning to come to light, but we pray that the information will be released through the main stream media and that people will listen.
- "Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped." [Psalm 124:7]
8. Head of Iran Nuclear Organization: 'Entire Nuclear Activity of Iran Is Going On' - The Weekly Standard
The head of an Iranian nuclear organization, Ali Akbar, says the "entire nuclear activity of Iran is going on," despite the nuclear deal reached with the United States and other Western nations. Akbar made the comments in an interview with PressTV, an Iranian propaganda outfit. (Read more)
- Lord, Iran has been telling the world this information for weeks. The actual wording of the Joint action plan gives them every leeway in their nuclear program. Our government has fallen for their lies, so we ask that You intervene to protect the world from this rogue government.
- "For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land allotted to the righteous." [Psalm 125:3a]
> > > ALERT! Assad regime misses key deadline to hand over chemical weapons - Fox News
The Syrian government missed a key deadline Wednesday to turn over its chemical weapons stockpile, renewing concerns that the Assad regime is dragging its feet while the civil war rages on. "[Syrian President Bashar] Assad just keeps giving excuses for breaking promises and compliance requirements, while using the delay to increase his brutality against the Syrian people," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in a statement. (Read more)
- The time has come to end this cat-and-mouse game regarding the release of Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons to Russia, under the agreement reached last fall. We know not what action must be taken, but God does. Ask Him to move upon the hearts of those in authority over this difficult situation so that the people of Syria can be safe, and peace might yet remain in this unstable region of the world.
- "The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16)
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The Middle East in Focus
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The Middle East in Focus
This week, for all the headlines cited below, please join us in proclaiming THIS DECREE:
'Thus says the Lord of hosts, "I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion . . . Therefore thus says the Lord, "I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it," declares the Lord of hosts, "and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem." (Zech. 1:15,16)
1. Israel's Oil Platforms in Jeopardy and the Samson Syndrome - OilPrice
Are Hezbollah and Israel preparing for the next war? Everything seems to indicate that they are, despite the fact that all logic dictates that they should not.
2. 'Kerry has declared a war on God,' write hard-line rabbis in letter - Jerusalem Post
A group of hard-line nationalist rabbis wrote in an open letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry that through his current mediation efforts between Israel and Palestinian negotiators he had declared war against God.
3. Messianic Jews finally get recognized - WND
Messianic Jews have won another battle for recognition in Israel. This time a special judicial tribunal has determined that a Messianic congregation in Jerusalem should receive the same full tax exemption as a synagogue.
4. Israel said willing to give up 90% of West Bank - Times of Israel
The closed-door negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the future contours of a Palestinian state, and how much land and settlements Israel will retain, have reportedly come down to a matter of a few percentage points, with both sides agreeing in principle that the majority of Jewish West Bank settlements would be transferred to Israeli sovereignty in a final status deal.
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Rabbis Call for "Wrath of God"
upon Kerry
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Rabbis Threaten Kerry with 'Divine Wrath'
Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel write open letter to Kerry, compare him to Haman and warn his plans amount to war on God.
A group of hard-line nationalist rabbis wrote in an open to letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry that through his current mediation efforts between Israel and Palestinian negotiators he had declared war against God.
The rabbis warned that the secretary must cease such activities, to avoid divine punishment.
A group of hard-line nationalist rabbis wrote in an open to letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry that through his current mediation efforts between Israel and Palestinian negotiators he had declared war against God.
The rabbis warned that the secretary must cease such activities, to avoid divine punishment.
If you continue on this destructive path, you will ensure your everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people," continued the rabbis, comparing Kerry to Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II and Roman commander and future emperor Titus, the two enemies of the ancient Jewish kingdoms who destroyed the temples in Jerusalem and Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel along with them.
"By the power of our Holy Torah, we admonish you to cease immediately all efforts to achieve these disastrous agreements - in order to avoid severe heavenly punishment for everyone involved," they threatened.
The letter was signed by Rabbi Wolpo, along with four other rabbis including Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the founder and chairman of the Temple Institute; Rabbi Yigal Pizam, the dean of a yeshiva and a leader of the Chabad community in the Haifa neighborhood of Kiryat Shmuel; Rabbi Gedalya Axelrod, the emeritus head of the Haifa Rabbinic Court; and Rabbi Ben Tziyon Grossman from the town of Migdal Ha'emek. (Arutz Sheva Israel News) Read more
What does it mean? Commentary from HN News editor, Laura Densmore
We would do well to pay attention to this warning. These rabbis are reading the handwriting on the wall. I am reminded of the scene in Daniel 5 where the hand of Yahweh wrote a message on the wall for Belshazzar, King of Babylon, and then Daniel was called in to interpret the message:
And this is the inscription that was written: MENE,MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.
This is the interpretation of each word.
MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it;
TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting;
PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:25-28)
I believe the U.S. is the end time "daughter of Babylon" nation. Will history repeat itself? Will the US be "divided" (Peres), as ancient Babylon was? Will the US be invaded by the ancient Medo-Persian empire (modern day Iran)? Will this be one of the consequences for the role we have played in dividing the land of Israel? Time will tell.
Read Jeremiah 50 and 51 thoughtfully and prayerfully. These two chapters describe the fate of this end time "daughter of Babylon" nation.
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Nuclear Alert?
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"Imminent situation" at U.S. nuclear site
Emergency operations center evacuated due to fire deep underground
"One of most serious incidents" on record
Feb. 5, 2014: An imminent situation going on right now in Southern New Mexico at Carlsbad. Emergency response crews have activated an emergency plan at WIPP. Here's what we know right now - shortly after 11am, WIPP's emergency operations center was evacuated. They tell us an underground vehicle was on fire in the underground. KOAT Action News is working on getting every detail of this scary situation from Southern New Mexico.
It's the nation's first repository for radioactive waste left behind from research and production of nuclear weapons. Access to the site is being restricted. The cause of that fire remains under investigation. (ENENews; KOAT News) Read more.
> > > So far, the mainstream media are not reporting this news, but due to its serious nature, we are asking your prayers tonight for the safety of those who live in southern New Mexico. Pray, too, that if this report is true, that all will know about this dangerous event and, if needed, take cover. Thank you.
- (Psalm 91)
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DHS Issues Olympic Threat
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Airlines warned of possible toothpaste tube bombs ahead of Olympics
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a warning to U.S. and some foreign airlines traveling to Russia for the Olympic Games to be on the lookout for toothpaste containers, which some intelligence indicates may actually hold ingredients that could be used to construct a bomb aboard a plane, a senior U.S. official told ABC News.
Rep. Michael McCaul said the Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to airlines flying into Russia warning of the potential threat.
The bulletin, the Texas Republican said, indicated that officials believed the explosives might be used during flights or smuggled into the city of Sochi, where competition at the Winter Olympics begins Thursday. The opening ceremony is Friday.
A U.S. law enforcement official told CNN that the cause for the Homeland Security alert was specific to the imminent start of the games. (CNN) Read more.
- Father, we pray Your mighty protection over the Sochi Olympic games - for the athletes the audience, the security staff, all who are involved in any way. We ask that Your watchmen be especially alert during the Opening Ceremonies tomorrow to any and all danger that would threaten the lives of these people. In Jesus' Name, amen.
- "The Lord shall preserve you from all evil..the Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in." (Psalm 121: 7a, 8a)
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Obama Prays for Saeed at NPB
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President Obama Prays, Calls for Release of Pastor Saeed from Iranian Prison-ACLJ, Naghmeh Grateful
"We pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini. He's been held in Iran for more than 18 months-sentenced to eight years in prison on charges relating to his Christian beliefs. And as we continue to work for his freedom today, again, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini so he can return to the loving arms of his wife and children in Idaho." - President Obama
President Obama today raised the imprisonment of American Pastor Saeed Abedini at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC and called on Iran to release him so he can return to his family.
We are extremely pleased that President Obama publicly recognized Pastor Saeed's plight. With President Obama highlighting this tragic case of religious persecution, we're hopeful that this new level of engagement by our government-President Obama publicly calling on Iran to release Pastor Saeed-will bring even more attention to the unjust treatment of a U.S. citizen who has been imprisoned for more than a year simply because of his Christian faith. We're grateful for President Obama's remarks and call on Iran to release Pastor Saeed so that he can return to his family in Idaho.
President Obama's remarks from the National Prayer Breakfast included a direct appeal regarding Pastor Saeed:
"We pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini. He's been held in Iran for more than 18 months-sentenced to eight years in prison on charges relating to his Christian beliefs. And as we continue to work for his freedom today, again, we call on the Iranian government to release Pastor Abedini so he can return to the loving arms of his wife and children in Idaho."
President Obama raised the issue of Pastor Saeed in a private phone call with Iran's President Rouhani last fall but today's comments mark the first time that President Obama has publicly addressed Pastor Saeed's plight.
The American Center for Law & Justice represents Pastor Saeed's wife, Naghmeh, and their two young children who reside in Idaho. The ACLJ continues to work in this country and abroad to secure the freedom of Pastor Saeed. You can learn more about his case here. (ACLJ)
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Alert! HLF Trial May Be Re-opened!
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DOJ: HLF's Bid To Vacate Trial Outcome "Strains Credulity"
Their 2008 convictions have been upheld on appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up the case. So five men convicted of illegally routing millions of dollars to Hamas through a Dallas-based charity are trying the only ploy they have left - blaming their lawyers and asking for new trials.
A new attorney claims the five former Holy Land Foundation (HLF) officials filed a petition in October claiming that, if not for the mistakes made by their counsel, Mohamed El-Mezain, Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mufid Abdulqader and Abdelrahman Odeh would be free men. Instead, they are serving sentences ranging from 15 to 65 years in federal prison.
The case turned on the issue of whether West Bank charities, known as zakat committees, were controlled by Hamas, attorney Gary A. Udashen argued in filing court papers last October seeking to toss out the verdict. Defense attorneys failed to call witnesses from the seven zakat committees named in the indictment to testify at trial. He submitted new affidavits from 13 people who said their committees were independent and not controlled by Hamas as prosecutors argued. That ineffective assistance of counsel merits vacating the verdict, Udashen wrote, because if those witnesses testified, "the jury would almost certainly have found these defendants not guilty.
In a response filed late Friday, attorneys for the Department of Justice said Udashen's argument ignores "the mountain of evidence proving that the committees were controlled by Hamas." The original defense attorneys were chosen by the defendants themselves, and brought decades of experience in terrorism and national security cases.
Those attorneys fought to a mistrial in the case's first prosecution in 2007, securing several not guilty verdicts. But jurors hung on dozens of other counts, prompting re-trial a year later in which they were convicted of the remaining charges. The trial judge called defense attorneys "accomplished" and "competent," while the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals lauded them as "world class.
In fact, the appellate court found merit in several defense claims of trial errors, but ruled that those errors did not affect the outcome or render the trial unfair because of the overall strength of the evidence.
"It strains credulity to assert now that these same attorneys performed in so deficient a manner as to violate the due process rights of their clients," the DOJ reply said. (Steve Emerson, Investigative Project on Terrorism) Read more.
- Holy, Merciful God. We cry out tonight that this trial not ever be reopened so that the guilty remain guilty and in jail. We thank You for the great victory that was wrought in the original HLF trial in 2008, and we ask that this case now be sealed SHUT by the Blood of the Lamb, in Jesus' Name, amen.
- "This far you may come and no further, and here shall your proud waves stop!" (Job 38:11)
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The Good News Corner
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The Good News Corner:
Super Bowl Victory Report
FBI Sting Rescues Missing Children from Super Bowl Sex Trade
Sixteen children as young as 13, and some of whom had been reported missing by their families, were rescued from the sex trade in a law enforcement sting operation that targeted alleged pimps who brought the victims to New Jersey for Super Bowl weekend, FBI officials said.
More than 45 pimps and their associates were arrested in the operation conducted by law enforcement, the FBI announced Tuesday. Some admitted traveling to New Jersey from other states for the purpose of forcing women and children to have sex with Super Bowl tourists for money, according to federal investigators.
"High-profile special events, which draw large crowds, have become lucrative opportunities for child prostitution criminal enterprises," Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a statement. "The FBI and our partners remain committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and putting those who try to profit from this type of criminal activity behind bars."
The victims rescued during the sting operation range in age from 13 to 17 years old, the FBI said. Some of the minors include children previously reported missing by their families; others are foreign nationals.
The FBI worked with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies over a six-month period leading up the Super Bowl. The operation is part of the Innocence Lost National Initiative, established in 2003 by the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, in partnership with the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to combat child prostitution.
Authorities had made contact with more than 20 hotels in the New York City area on how to identify victims of sex trafficking, Special Agent in Charge James T. Hayes of Homeland Security in New York told FoxNews.com last week.
Hayes described human trafficking as an ongoing problem that law enforcement continually strives to eradicate and said many of the victims are foreign nationals, who are often from countries "where law enforcement isn't trusted."
(Sources: Fox News, USRPN, Bridge Builders International, and Breaking Christian News)
> > > We praise GOD for this answer to prayer, and we ask that intercession continue until every child who has been taken in this web of evil be released and restored in healing. Amen.
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Signs and Wonders
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Signs and Wonders:
Mysterious evening noises in Midwest states traced to rare 'frost quakes'
ST. LOUIS - Chuck Herron heard the loud thud, then another and another. It sounded like someone was dropping big snowballs on the roof of his home.
The house is more than 100 years old and creaks, Herron said, but he had "never heard anything like that before."
As his neighbors in tiny Paris, Mo., huddled around televisions Sunday for the Super Bowl, many were startled by similar strange noises. Some even saw flashes of light and called 911.
Scientists say the community experienced a rare natural phenomenon known as a "frost quake," which happens when moisture in the ground suddenly freezes and expands. If conditions are just right, the soil or bedrock breaks like a brittle frozen pipe, generating mysterious noises that range from an earthquake-like rumble to sharp cracking sounds sometimes mistaken for falling trees. (Fox News) Read more.
"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."
(Luke 11:25-28)
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Worship With Us Today!
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Worship With Us Today!
"I Give You My Heart" - Hillsong
Lord, I give You my heart
I give You my soul
I live for you alone
Every breath that I take
Every moment I'm awake
Lord, have Your way in me
