Devotional for Preparation, September 23, 2014
Carmen Pate, Alliance Ministries
Intention: For God’s blessing upon the coming 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: 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 v. 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 out- side the church walls, 43 percent of women obtaining abortions identify themselves as Protestant, and 27 per- cent 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 abor- tion. We didn’t want them to abort. We didn’t mean for them to abort. But, because of our lack of knowledge, be- cause 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.
Devotional for Day 20, October 13, 2014
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life
Intention: May God’s people understand that the Lazarus of the 21st Century is the un- born child, and respond accordingly.
Scripture: There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.
“And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” —Luke 16:19-31
Reflection: The rich man did not go to hell because he was rich. He went to hell because he ignored the other man. He thought that because Lazarus had less that he was worth less. He failed to recognize that Lazarus was his brother. Lazarus was waiting at the door of the rich man for scraps of food; the Lazarus of our day, the unborn child, is waiting at the door of the womb for birth itself. God does not only prohibit aborting the unborn; he prohibits ignoring them.
Prayer: Father, I thank you for the life that I possess, and for the birth that you granted me. I hear the cries of the Lazarus of our day; I see them sitting at the door. Grant that I may never ignore them, and that through this 40 Days campaign, I may stir many others to pay attention to them as well. Through Christ our Lord, amen.