For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19
September 28, 2012 (Bound4Life.com) – I stood there holding a candle and singing 1,000 Reasons with the voices of men and women whose faces I see every spring and every fall. It is always such an honor to stand alongside these faithful ones and many new voices that are joining in for the very first time. 40 Days for Life has begun in our city again and my heart is filled with a hope that God is about to do something new through our prayers. He always does.
Yesterday, as we stood together worshipping and praying, Isaiah 43:19 kept swimming through my mind. God is about to do something new in our midst. Jesus is about to reach out to hundreds of thousands across the world in His passionate love for the gift of Life. People will be healed, rescued, and loved through the prayers that will sweep through our country and beyond.
40 Days for Life began in 2007 and there have been ten synchronized campaigns since then. It has mobilized people of Faith in 440 cities across the United States and Canada, also cities in Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Belize, Denmark, England, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Poland, Puerto Rico and Spain. But this fall, 40 Days for Life is much different than the other campaigns. This will be the largest 40 Days for Life campaign we have ever had in 316 locations with more than 40 brand-new cities, including Kampala, Uganda.
Five years ago, when 40 Days for Life was first born as a national effort, God placed this campaign in 89 cities. In these first five years, this prayer effort for Life has now reached an overall total of 440 cities. I am going to say it, again: God is in our midst and He is doing something new. Do you see it, yet? He is making a pathway through the hurt and the death-ridden. He is creating refreshment in the places of destruction.
God has marked this campaign with millions of miracles sung and unsung. Here is just one that will move your heart for praying for the abortion workers. The very first place where 40 Days for Life began was a Planned Parenthood in College Station, Texas where former director of this same abortion center, Abby Johnson, received new hope from 40 Days for Life participants. She received help when she decided what she was working for was wrong and wanted out. You can read her full article in the National Catholic Register here.
The most moving principle of 40 Days for Life for me is that it is established and sustained by the prayer of the people. The most vulnerable place to be for me is in the place of prayer. It is a display of submission and an effort of letting go of control and asking the God of Heaven to intercede and fight for us. It is one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen…driving up day after day to the same sidewalk in front of our city abortion clinic and seeing God’s people gather to pray in love and in persistence for the mothers, the fathers, the babies, and the workers inside to all live abundantly. We are all praying for something so much bigger than ourselves—to set the captives free so that they may live.
You can be a voice of prayer, too. I encourage anyone who has never prayed outside of their home or church for the ending of abortion to join the others praying on the sidewalks. A witness makes a difference as I was taught last night as a post-abortive mother told her testimony reiterating that there was no one standing as a witness that day she went to have her abortion. She says she often wonders if she would have changed her mind had there been someone there standing on the sidewalk and praying for her. I want the Church to be standing as a witness outside of these places where our people need us the most. You can see this full list of locations for the 40 Days for Life campaign so you can be a voice of prayer and a witness in your city. Once you find your nearby city, you can get involved immediately.
Lastly, here are some statistics from 40 Days for Life website where you to see just what God has been doing through the prayers of 40 Days for Life. A black and white picture of what He has done can be seen and mildly measured but what is to come in this new season will be a new thing….much greater and much more powerful than the latter. I invite you to come alongside us.
During these 5 years, these are the countless blessings from God:
- 1,894 individual campaigns have taken place in 440 cities
- More than 525,000 have joined together in an historic display of unity to pray and fast for an end to abortion
- More than 15,000 church congregations have participated in the 40 Days for Life campaigns
- Reports document 5,928 lives that have been spared from abortion — and those are just the ones we know about
- 69 abortion workers have quit their jobs and walked away from the abortion industry
- 24 abortion facilities completely shut down following local 40 Days for Life campaigns
- Hundreds of women and men have been spared from the tragic effects of abortion, including a lifetime of regrets
- More than 2,100 news stories have been featured in newspapers, magazines, radio shows and TV programs from coast to coast … and overseas
- Many people with past abortion experiences have stepped forward to begin post-abortion healing and recovery
Reprinted with permission from Bound4Life.com