Replies

The first time I was invited to pray outside of an
abortion facility, I didn’t really want to do it.

Like me, many people’s initial reaction is to find
the most heartfelt and sincere excuse. However, when
we overcome that first natural hesitation and just
do it, we don’t regret it. And it’s never what we
thought it would be like.

When you pray outside an abortion facility at a
40 Days for Life vigil, you may affect women going
into the building ... the people driving by ... the
people who work there.

But there’s one other person your prayer experience
can affect — YOU!

Here are just a few examples from the sidewalk.

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA

“Today I prayed for three hours in front of the
Planned Parenthood in Chapel Hill,” a volunteer wrote
on the 40 Days for Life blog. “The steady stream of
people going in and out, the sometimes packed parking
lot, other people walking in from nearby parking lots
and streets, was heartbreaking.”

People outside the building generally ignored him,
he said — except for two men holding babies. Whenever
he looked their way, he could tell they had been
looking at them. But they would quickly glance away,
trying to avoid making eye contact. Why were they
there? What were they thinking?

The volunteer just continued to pray. “I prayed for
babies to be saved, for mothers and family members to
have a change of heart and find real help elsewhere,
for workers to be convicted and quit” — anything to
stop what was going on inside.

“I prayed with a small stone cross in my hand, the
word ‘hope’ written on it,” he said. “I pray that
those considering abortion will find real hope, real
help and real life in Christ.”

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Another volunteer, praying at the 40 Days for Life vigil
in Sacramento, was also seeking signs of hope.

“The clinic faces two streets,” she wrote in a 40 Days
for Life blog posting. “One is a very busy — Alta
Arden Way — with many cars whizzing by in both
directions. The other is Wright Street, which is a
far more quiet street. Our opportunity to witness is
greater on the Wright Street.”

As she and others were praying together, they
noticed the abortion center’s sign was in “utter
disrepair. I hoped that it meant that as the clinic
was losing business and ... that this battered sign
meant hope that soon no preborn babies would lose
their lives at this location.”

KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN

“It was an abortion day in Kalamazoo,” a third prayer
volunteer wrote. “I was new to the sidewalk.”

She had prayed at home during several campaigns, but
she said the daily 40 Days for Life emails — plus
God’s prompting — convinced her she had to do more.

As she and several others prayed outside Planned
Parenthood, a large truck pulled up and a man got
out. “He thanked us for being there and for praying,”
she said. “He explained that his oldest child was
aborted. All these years later he still carried that
pain and loss. He lived the tragedy.”

He thanked the volunteers again, then drove away.

“If I had any doubts of my need to be there, they
were instantly gone,” she wrote. “God sent the
guy in the big truck to tell me that my presence
mattered. God keeps showing me that our presence
on the sidewalk matters.”

Carmen Pate, 40 Days for Life board of directors

Intention:

Pray that the post-abortive woman

would be repentant, accept forgiveness,

be healed and restored, and

bring glory to God with her new life.

Scripture:

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my

iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will

confess my transgressions to the Lord,’

and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

—Psalm 32:5

Reflection:

Because abortion is legal in America,

many have justified their choice. “If it’s

legal, it can’t be wrong, right?” We now

have an entire generation of men and

women who have never known abortion

to be illegal; a generation of people

who have never been broken over their

sin of abortion.

As a result, the consequences of unconfessed

sin weigh on their souls, yet they

have never connected the dots as to

why their hearts are heavy. No wonder

we have millions of women who are

struggling with depression, addictions,

eating disorders and more.

Post abortion syndrome is very real

but recovery begins when the individual

agrees with God as David confessed

in Psalm 51:3-4, 14, “Against You, You

only, have I sinned, and done this evil

in Your sight — that You may be found

just when You speak, and blameless

when you Judge. Deliver me from the

guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of

my salvation.”

Brokenness is the key to accessing

God’s glorious mercy and healing.

Christ came to heal the broken hearted

and He is waiting with open arms to

take the post-abortive woman on a glorious

journey of healing and restoration

if she will only run to Him.

God will not waste any sin we lay at His

feet. Imagine millions of healed and restored

post-abortive women like myself

singing aloud of His righteousness

and giving testimony of His love and

forgiveness. What a day of rejoicing

that will be!

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.