It’s a stormy Friday for the greatest nation on earth. Our hearts this morning are with the people of Florida, Georgia, and beyond who are battling the effects of Hurricane Helene. If you are in an impacted area, please be safe, heed local authorities, and know the rest of the country is praying for you.

40-Day Fast for Election, Day 2:

Throughout October, The Stream will be bringing you targeted prayer guides from Intercessors for America each Sunday, as well as specific prayer points every other weekday through October 25 — and then we’ll be ramping that up to bring you specific prayer points every day from October 26 through November 5. So check our website or app often; you won’t want to miss these as we enter the final push!

One of the things we must include in our 40-day fasting for the election is praying for leaders who will be wise in world affairs … especially with the world on the brink of serious warfare in several regions.

Russia Threatens Nuclear Response While Harris Cozies Up to Zelenskyy

As Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flies home with another $8.7 billion from our treasury in military weaponry, Vladimir Putin is now saying he will consider a nuclear response in the event of a “massive” air attack. Or U.S. involvement. “It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” he said.

This is a change in Russian doctrine, lowering the nuclear threshold, reports Just the News. Previously, Russia would only respond with nukes if attacked with nukes or other weapons of mass destruction, or if the “very existence of the Russian state is in jeopardy.” Putin’s declaration comes as U.S. and Britain decide whether to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with long-range missiles.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Putin’s announcement “totally irresponsible” — and ill-timed, considering world leaders currently are gathered at the United Nations in New York.

Then again, perhaps having Kamala Harris’s surrogate, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, gleefully signing munitions destined to kill Russians wasn’t so responsible, either.

Zelenskyy met with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris recently, doing a joint press conference with Harris.

Kamala: "Ukraine’s fight matters to the people of America" pic.twitter.com/OXMH4txaZz

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) September 26, 2024

Does Ukraine’s fight really matter to Americans — really? What are we protecting there while our own streets and borders go unprotected? Is it Zelenskyy personally — guy who cancelled elections, bans certain churches, drains our treasury with no accountability and whose term ended months ago?

Harris declared, “My support for Ukraine is unwavering. I’ve been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine. And I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails.”

Kamala Harris with Zelenskyy: "My support for Ukraine is unwavering. I've been proud to stand with Ukraine. I will continue to stand with Ukraine. And I will work to ensure Ukraine prevails." pic.twitter.com/6A4dzNslAH

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) September 26, 2024

Be warned, Volodymyr, this is the same person who swore she was going to ban fracking. Seriously, what does ensuring that Ukraine “prevails” mean? Using American bombers to do it? American troops? Involving the U.S. in an all-out war with Russia?

Or is this just another Harris word salad, this time with Russian dressing?

Meanwhile, for the first time in 40 years, China has launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters. They’re calling the launch a “test” and “routine,” and not directed at any one country.

And in the Middle East, Israel has told its forces to prepare for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon.

Let us pray for leaders who bring a blanket to smother the flames of war, rather than gasoline.

Kamala Harris Runs for the Border on Friday

The Border Czar is finally going to the border. Yes, nearly four years into her term and only 39 days away from the presidential election, Kamala Harris will be in Douglas, Arizona, touting how tough she’ll be in securing the border that she’s advocated for being left wide open all this time. Sure. And Arizona is a great place to build an igloo in the middle of summer. According to Axios, the vice president will be proposing hiring more agents and using new technology to halt the flow of fentanyl from Mexico into our country.

Harris is to border security what Diddy is to family-friendly parties. But with polls showing her getting rocked on the immigration issue, she’s going to give it the good ol’ college try. However, in nearly the same breath, Harris again talked this week about creating a “pathway” to citizenship for the millions of illegals she’s let waltz into our country.

And, while it is surely an amazing coincidence, her Justice Department just announced federal corruption charges against the one Democratic mayor of a major city to gripe about her border policy.

Adams Ties Indictment to Complaints About Border Policy

A 57-page indictment was unsealed yesterday against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Adams is accused of bribery, wire fraud, collecting illegal campaign funds. Adams himself tied his indictment to having challenged the Biden administration on their open-border policy.

“Despite our pleas, when the federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief,” he said, “I put the people of New York before party and politics.”

According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, Adams pocketed over $100,000 in bribes. (Or as Biden Inc. calls that, chump change.) He’s also accused of raking in $10 million in illegal campaign contributions, along with assorted ritzy perks from foreign nationals in exchange for favors.

“What, no fancy diamonds?” Hunter Biden might well be saying right now. “What an amateur.”

Adams is proclaiming his innocence and refusing to resign, saying, “My day to day will not change. I will continue to do the job that I was elected to do.”

How Will You Be Praying and Fasting for the Election?

The Stream is honored that you have been sharing your thoughts and plans to join our 40-day fast for the election, and thought it would be encouraging to share some of the messages we’ve already received. However, it’s not too late to join! Ask the Lord what He wants you to do, and then let us know by emailing us at [email protected].

• I so very much appreciate the call to prayer and fasting by The Stream. I read y’all daily and throughout each day with great appreciation and admiration for the strong biblical Christian stance y’all consistently take. I have recently overcome a hyperthyroid condition (thank you, Jesus!), so my fasting will be the 8/16 intermittent fast. I hope and pray that thousands, if not millions, will be participating as a means to give the Lord his rightful place in this country.
• For the next 40 days I will be doing a liquids-only fast on Mondays and Wednesdays. The other days I will be doing 1,000 calories a day, no sugar. (Also known as 3-0-1 = 3 meals a day – nothing in between – one day at a time.) More importantly, I will be praying using the Intercessors of America prayer guide as well as the Robert Murray M’Cheyne Bible reading guide, which I have been using for several months.
• There will be no chocolate coffee, no chocolate syrup on my ice cream, no chocolate chip cookies, and no eating chocolate chips out of the bag. Fasting for the election is very worthwhile.

We’re going to end the week with this reader’s beautiful prayer. May it motivate us through the weekend.

My prayer is: “Dear Jesus, work in the hearts of all those who don’t know You, that they would be filled with a desire to seek You and realize they need a savior. May Americans repent of our sins, turn from our wicked ways, and may Your grace and mercy rain down upon our beloved America and yet save us from the powers and principalities that would destroy us. In Jesus’s name, amen.”

Amen and amen.

Along the Stream

Stream editor Tom Sileo offers “Service & Sacrifice: In the Hurricane’s Path.”

In keeping with our 40-day fast, we’ll be posting Wanda Alger’s “Pastors are Key in This Election” shortly. It contains some powerful prayer points, so be sure to check for it!

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.