[Salvation]

Day 35 - October 26

 

Intention:

Pray for post-abortive women who cannot forgive themselves; may they understand that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Scripture:

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the one to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.

-- Romans 4:7-8

Reflection:

In the passage above, the Apostle Paul making a point about justification by faith, refers back to David's words in Psalm 32:1-2. In spite of the enormity of David's sin -- adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband -- and the utter absence of any personal merit, David in his brokenness, understood the imputed righteousness of God. David's response was not continued guilt over his sins, but praise for his freedom from guilt, and God's power to live life differently.

Once your relationship with God has been restored, your guilt has served its purpose and should no longer be given place in your life. This is true regardless of the sin, including the sin of abortion. As a post-abortive woman, I too struggled with this issue until I realized that punishing and hating myself after receiving God's forgiveness was an insult to God.

It was as though I were minimizing Christ's work on the cross as insufficient to cover my sin. I was denying Him the opportunity to bring glory to His name for the healing and restoration He wanted to do in my life. I was giving victory to the enemy who having lost the battle for my soul, was bent on destroying my testimony as I accepted the continual guilt he heaped on my mind.

It is my joy to continually sing of God's grace rather than give the devil a foothold in my life. Don't waste God's mercy! Accept His forgiveness and forgive yourself as testimony of His amazing grace.

Prayer:

Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for your amazing grace that saved a wretch like me. I come against the enemy of my soul who would have me feel cast down and dejected. Lord, keep your children from falling prey to the accusations of the father of lies. Turn our mourning into dancing and may we bring praise to you as we give testimony of Your healing and restoration in our lives. For by His grace we are saved, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

[Salvation]

Email for Day 35 — I got behind, didn’t I?

I know there are many of you who would like to join
the prayers in front of the abortion center, but for
very good reasons you are unable to do so.

All of you praying are a very important part of this
campaign ... and I know your prayers are being heard.

“Thank you so very much, Shawn, for providing daily
coverage of the glorious happenings each day,” wrote
Katie. “I am 85 years old and handicapped, so I can
not go to Planned Parenthood clinics in my area; but
I do relay your message.”

Katie said she makes copies of the daily e-mails and
brings them to people at her church. “I know that
some of those wonderful people have been moved to go
to the Planned Parenthood clinic to pray and help
save babies.”

Mary Ann wrote to say that she doesn’t drive, but she
did have a friend take her to pray in front of a
Planned Parenthood facility. “The ten or twelve
people that we had was a grace from God,” she said.

“I go to church daily and you all are in my prayers,”
she added. “Please pray for my church so that we get
more pro-lifers so we can be more active — young
ones that can do what us oldies can’t!”

There are others who are great distances from the
nearest vigil — like Marcia in Kenya and Gabriela
in Argentina.

“I’m a missionary in Kenya,” wrote Marcia, “and from
here, the only thing that I can do is to pray. I would
love to be there to pray in front of those abortion
clinics, but I know that it doesn’t matter where we
are; the Lord hears our prayer.”

Marcia said she needs to remind herself that the
battle belongs to the Lord. “I feel that if I pray
more or fast, the Lord will shut down all those
abortion clinics. But His ways are higher than mine;
I always need to have that in my mind. And remember
that we are called to be faithful servants.”

“I really wish I could be physically present at one
of the 238 locations where all of you are praying for
an end to abortion,” Gabriela said. “However, I also
know that prayer is powerful regardless the
geographical place it comes from. God receives the
prayers from every single heart and distributes His
grace as He pleases.”

Margie prays at the 40 Days for Life vigil in her
community; but she also stays in touch with a friend
who is in a nursing home. On a recent visit, Margie
said one of the volunteers reminded her friend that
she is not far from a late term abortion clinic and
can offer prayers from right where she is.

The woman in the nursing home is someone who is used
to being on the front lines, “so this is a different
role in the abortion battle than what she is used to
taking,” Margie said.

“For those of you who can still get out there and
take a shift,” she said, “do it for pro-lifers who no
longer are able to get out to the clinics to pray.
Do it! Receive the courage and the grace to stand for
life today!”