Sometimes the smallest gesture can make a huge difference in a person’s life. A welcoming smile, a phone call, or an encouraging note received at an opportune moment has the power to turn despair into hope. This fall, just one hour of prayer could make a life-changing, life-saving difference in not one but two lives.
If you’ve ever participated in a 40 Days for Life peaceful prayer campaign, you know what I mean. As men and women gather to pray outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic or other abortion mill, the truth of James 5:16 is manifested: the earnest prayers of the righteous followers of God are powerful and effective. And, while prayer is of the utmost importance, the value of the physical presence of prayer warriors cannot be overstated.
Over and over again, we’ve heard women recount how their hearts softened and their minds were changed as they witnessed 40 Days for Life participants praying for them and for their unborn babies. Many women have admitted that, though they had decided to have their babies aborted, they had also decided that if one person acknowledged them, smiled at them, or spoke kindly to them, they wouldn’t go through with it.
Will you be that person? Will your peaceful, prayerful presence communicate the message that every life is fearfully and wonderfully made and bears the image of his or her Creator, the Holy God of the Universe? These women need to know that the lives they are carrying are precious to our gracious and merciful Lord. He loves and cares for each mother and her baby. They also need to see that the people of God love and care for them in the midst of their pregnancies and beyond.
This year’s 40 Days for Life campaign begins on Wednesday, September 23 and runs through Sunday, November 1. In order to cover the approximately 960-hour duration of the campaign, many prayer warriors are needed. Families, Bible study small groups, Sunday school classes, choir members, college students, co-workers, and others have traditionally come together for an hour of prayer every week at a nearby Planned Parenthood center. What a blessing it would be if you and your praying family and friends would join with thousands of pro-life supporters this fall as we earnestly pray that unborn life would be valued and preserved, and abortion would be abolished!
Take ACTION: Please visit 40daysforlife.com for more information and to sign up for a location and prayer time. One hour a week over 6 weeks could change a life–just one hour a week spent being a silent witness in loving, prayerful support of two lives. This relatively small commitment could be the most important hour you’ll spend in prayer this year.
Our friend Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, Pastor Emeritus of Moody Church, recently took time out of his busy schedule to record a short video exhortation for IFI readers to encourage Christians to use the power of God in prayer against abortion and for the sanctity of life. Listen to his wisdom and advice:
Join us in partnering with 40 Days For Life and, we hope that with God’s people petitioning heaven, we will see the beginning of the end of abortion in America!
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