blog that speak once again of the impact of the
non-stop prayer vigil -- on individuals, on communities
-- and on the volunteers themselves. Thank you for ALL you’re doing by praying and fasting
for an end to abortion.
-------------------------------------------------------
CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE
------------------------------------------------------- "The closer I got to actually doing it, the more I
wanted to turn back due to fear," wrote one first-time
vigil participant. "As soon as I arrived at the facility
and was welcomed by God's church ... a sense of peace
came over me. I knew I was right where I belonged." A woman walked up and thanked the prayer team for being
there. "She had just gotten back from a doctor's
appointment elsewhere. Although she and her husband
have a child, they have not been able to conceive for
seven years." The volunteers asked if they could pray with the woman.
"We all circled closely to her and after praying, this
young woman left with teary eyes -- and I will never be
the same. Praise God!"
-------------------------------------------------------
COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND
------------------------------------------------------- A volunteer wrote that passersby often say, "I didn't
know they did abortions here." "People are usually shocked and not happy that there
is an abortion clinic they never knew about right in
their neighborhood," she wrote. "This alone is a powerful reason to keep a prayer
presence so that people will know that abortions are
being done and spread the word. Women will now have
pause -- because everyone knows that it is really an
abortion clinic."
-------------------------------------------------------
SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA
------------------------------------------------------- A young man stopped by one morning while the facility
was closed and asked what was going on. "I explained about 40 Days for Life and that we are a
prayer vigil praying for babies' lives to be saved,"
wrote a prayer volunteer. She told him of how -- 40 years
ago -- she considered having an abortion herself. But
"God was able to convict me that abortion is wrong and
that I couldn’t do it." The young man then said his own mother had thought
about aborting him! "I said I was so happy that his mother wasn't aborted
because then he wouldn't be here talking to me today!
He looked like he hadn’t thought of that before. Keep
praying, even when the doors are closed because
everyone who sees us there praying can be touched.
God is sending answers before we even finish praying!"
-------------------------------------------------------
MARIETTA, GEORGIA
------------------------------------------------------- "This is the first 40 Days for Life in which my hour
is at a time when they are closed," wrote a vigil
participant. "At first I wondered how much good I was
doing, but the Lord reassured me of the power of prayer
to overcome the hold Satan has on these places and to
reach the hearts of all involved or living nearby." She recalled the story of a young woman who had driven
by one day when there was just one person praying. She
had an abortion appointment -- but when she saw that
person praying, she changed her mind. "We never know who's driving by at any time of day and
how their hearts might be changed. Thank you for
40 Days for Life!"
Here's today's devotional from Rev. Rob Schenck,
President of Faith and Action and National Clergy
Council...
-----------------------------------------------------
DAY 19 INTENTION
----------------------------------------------------- We pray for a renewal of our zeal to offer generous
help to the unborn and their families.
-----------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
----------------------------------------------------- If I have despised the cause of my male or female
servant When they complained against me, What then
shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how
shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb
make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the
womb? -- Job 31:13-15
-----------------------------------------------------
REFLECTION by Rev. Rob Schenck
----------------------------------------------------- The ground is level as we stand before God. Job lived with an awe provoking sense of God's
expectation of him, particularly regarding his
obligation to care for the weak and needy. He knew
that in God's economy everyone stands on level ground
when it comes to our status as God's creatures.
Because of that central truth, we must take care of
each other. Job also knew that he didn't deserve any of the good
things God gave to him. Instead, those blessings came
to Job from God's benevolent heart. As an extension of
that knowledge, Job instinctively linked his
obligation to be generous to others to God's kindness
toward him. As in Jesus' parable of the unmerciful servant
(Matthew 18:23-35), Job knew that it is an egregious
sin to deny to others what we enjoy ourselves. He
actually calls down on his own head severe
condemnation and even punishment should he fail to
share with others out of his own abundance (see verses
16-23). Proverbs 3:27 reads, "Withhold not good from them to
whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand
to do so." Some things are so obvious that we don't
even need to pray except to ask of God forgiveness and
the power to do what so obviously needs doing.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRAYER
----------------------------------------------------- God, forgive us when we try to explain away the
obligation we have to help others who need help.
Enable us to not devalue them because they are in the
circumstance that they are in, but to see them for
what they are, those, who like us, were formed by your
hand in their mother's womb. Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------
PRINTABLE DEVOTIONAL
----------------------------------------------------- To download today's devotional as a formatted,
printable PDF to share with friends: http://40daysforlife.com/docs/fall2011day19print.pdf ----------------------------------------------------- For Life, Shawn Carney
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life PS: Share the news from your city's 40 Days for Life
campaign! Please leave a comment on today's blog
posting at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=2406 40 Days for Life 10908 Courthouse Road
Suite 102229
Fredericksburg, VA
22408
US
