Today we prepare; tomorrow it begins: 40 days of focused prayer, fasting, vigil and outreach to help bring an end to the injustice of abortion.
Whether you’ve participated in 40 Days for Life before, or you’re along on this journey for the very first time, thank you taking the step of faith to join this prayerful effort.
What is 40 Days for Life? Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, Maine offered about the best one-sentence answer I’ve yet seen: “40 Days for Life is the work of the Holy Spirit, a divine inspiration in the ongoing effort to end the plague of abortion.”
And how does the Holy Spirit work? Often, in the hearts of those who join this effort to pray for others. When it comes to 40 Days for Life, expect the unexpected!
That message is clear in what people are saying about 40 Days for Life.
A blogger just posted: “As I sit here tonight awaiting the kickoff rally tomorrow, while holding my precious sleeping infant, I praise God for the gift of life.” But she writes with mixed emotions. Six years ago, she became pregnant as the result of rape. She chose life for her son, and arranged for a loving couple to adopt her child.
“Six years later,” she writes, “I still know and feel I made the right decision, but I miss him. So, tonight as I write this, I think about the women who go in for an abortion and wonder how I can make a difference. I realize that I can make a difference by being there praying for them, praying to God that their mind changes away from abortion.”
She is thankful for 40 Days for Life “because I believe it truly touches the hearts of the women who come there for an abortion. I am eagerly anticipating the Lord’s goodness in this fall’s campaign.”
Then there’s Val in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, who expressed her thoughts in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper:
Last spring I volunteered in the 40 Days for Life campaign. For 40 days I joined other volunteers to pray for the unborn in front of the Planned Parenthood clinic.
We didn’t pray only for the unborn. We also prayed for the women facing unplanned pregnancies. We prayed that those facing these circumstances would consider other alternatives such as adoption.
My family adopted a child whose mother once faced an unplanned pregnancy. After making an appointment to end her pregnancy, she changed her mind when she encountered volunteers who were present the day of her appointment, praying on behalf of the unborn.
This child has been such a blessing to our family. God has a plan for each one of us, and I’m seeing that, especially in the case of this child.
This fall from September 23 to November 1, another 40 Days for Life campaign will take place. I hope many will come and join us as we pray.
Miracles really do happen.”
If you haven’t yet signed up to participate in the prayer and fasting, vigil, and outreach for this fall’s campaign, please consider doing so. To find a 40 Days for Life location near you and get involved, you can visit:
http://40daysforlife.com/location.cfm
40 Days for Life is the work of the Holy Spirit — working in and through each of us.
May God richly bless you, and all those you will touch with Christ’s love, as you begin this 40-day journey!
Each of these next 40 days, I will send you a short update about what God is doing across America, Canada, and Denmark, along with a short devotional and prayer.
To help prepare, here’s a devotional from Carmen Pate, a 40 Days for Life board member and co-host of the nationally syndicated Point of View radio talk show:
—————————————————–
PRE-KICKOFF INTENTION
—————————————————–
For God’s blessing upon all participating in the fall 2009 40 Days for Life campaign.
—————————————————–
SCRIPTURE
—————————————————–
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”
– 2 Chronicles 7:14
—————————————————–
REFLECTION by Carmen Pate, Co-host, Point of View
—————————————————–
Not unlike God’s chosen people of Israel, we must humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways, if we expect God to hear from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. The need for repentance has not been greater since the Supreme Court decision of Roe vs. Wade in 1973.
The number one cause of death in America is the needless sacrifice of our children at the altar of convenience called abortion. Conservative estimates put the number of deaths at nearly 48 million.
And lest we think this is an issue outside the church walls, 43 percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27 percent identify themselves as Catholic. One in four women has at least one abortion by the age of 45 — both non-Christian and Christian alike. Where was the voice of Truth — the church?
Mary Comm of In Our Midst Ministries, Inc. sums up the issue best as she writes, “We (the church) have been an unintentional accomplice to the millions of lives lost and to the multiplied millions of lives devastated by abortion. We didn’t want them to abort. We didn’t mean for them to abort. But, because of our lack of knowledge, because of our fear, we have continued to stand by and do nothing. We, God’s hands and feet in this dark and hurting world, have been unintentional, unknowledgeable accomplice, but an accomplice nonetheless.”
May today mark the beginning of change within the church, as God’s people, in unity, seek His forgiveness.
—————————————————–
PRAYER
—————————————————–
Heavenly Father, we have turned our backs on you and your principles in your Word. We have allowed man to usurp Your role as God over life and the number of our days. But we come to you in brokenness and repentance over our sin.
We cry out for Your mercy and ask you to remove the scourge of abortion from our land.
Use us as your vessels, Lord, to bring the light of Your Truth to our nation once again. Because of Christ we pray, Amen.
—————————————————–
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
—————————————————–
To download today’s devotional as a formatted, printable PDF to share with friends:
http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2009day00print.pdf
—————————————————–
Let’s pray, fast, and shape history together starting tomorrow!
For Life,
David Bereit
National Director
40 Days for Life
No comments:
Post a Comment