A Prayer for the End of Abortion

The anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion is just a few days away (January 22^nd). Since that decision was handed down, there have been over 60 million abortions that have destroyed the lives of unborn children. [1]

Every year, we take one day of Pursuit 21 and focus our prayers on the end of abortion. This is our focus today. We may not be in Washington D.C. marching with March for Life, but we can march right into the throne room of heaven, lift our voices, and cry out for the end of this genocide.

Pursuit 21 participants join us each year from over forty countries on six continents. If you’re fasting with us from another location besides the United States, is abortion legal in your country? Do the little ones in your nation need protection from evil? This post applies to you also.

Seeking Help From God for the Little Ones

I wrote in For the Little Ones about the corporate fast Ezra proclaimed. He led the Jews to seek God’s help for the safety and wellbeing of their “little ones.”

“Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones…”  (Ezra 8:21, NKJV).

God answered their prayer and fasting:

“So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer” (Ezra 8:23).

Ezra properly led the Jews to seek help from God—not from the king, not from government, not from political systems, but from God.

Abortion will not end because of the courts or political system. When it ends, it will end because God moved in response to the prayers of His people. He may choose to bring His answer through the courts, but it will not have originated in the courts. Political action has its place, but it does not possess the power to forgive us for the sin of abortion and heal our land, Only God possesses that power.

Except by Prayer and Fasting

“But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting” (Matthew 17:21, AMPC).

This kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting. This sin, this evil, this murder, this genocide, this shedding of innocent blood that is polluting the land and calling for God’s judgment on the nation—it will not be driven from our midst by any other means except by prayer and fasting.

So as we fast, let’s go to God in prayer.

Prayer

Lord, forgive us for the sin of abortion that we as a nation have committed for so many decades. We acknowledge our sin of the shedding of innocent blood.

We pray for hurting mothers and fathers who have aborted children. May they experience complete healing and forgiveness in You. Embrace them with Your compassion, mercy, love, and grace.

Forgive us for the innocent blood we have on our hands. Forgive us for not following Your Word. Forgive us for not valuing the lives You so fearfully and wonderfully created. This includes all lives—the unborn, but also those who are elderly and disabled, the most vulnerable and needy among us. Bowed low in worship to self, we have lost sight of You in the least of these among us.

We have forsaken Your beautiful, unmatched righteousness and Your good path for the ugliness and evil that come from choosing our own foolish paths.

Forgive us for glorifying sin in the entertainment, movies, and television we watch. Forgive us for our perversion, for calling good evil and evil good. Help us turn back to the Bible and to Your holy, righteous standard.

Father, we have blamed the taking of innocent life on convenience or science, but Your Word calls it murder. Israel did not escape Your judgment for killing innocent children and neither will we. For You are the same yesterday, today and forever. We ask Your forgiveness for murdering millions of precious boys and girls. Grant us a path toward protecting the life You have created within the womb.

May we turn from our wicked ways and become a people who hide Your Word in our hearts, that we might not sin against You.

We are not able in ourselves to win this battle. We are not able to change hearts or minds. We are not able to change worldviews and transform culture and save millions of children. But You are able! You are able to reform the judiciary and embolden the legislature and mobilize the slumbering population. You area able to heal the endless wounds of godless ideologies and their bloody deeds.

O God, You are able! We turn from reliance on ourselves to You. We cry out to You and plead that for the sake of Your name, and for the sake of Your glory, and for the advancement of Your saving purpose in the world, and for the demonstration of Your wisdom and Your power and Your authority over all things, and for the sway of Your Truth and the relief of the poor and the helpless, act, O God. We hunger for the revelation of Your power. Come. Manifest Your glory.

May Your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven in the government and judiciary of this nation. Come and save us at this desperate hour. As we humble ourselves and return to You with repentance and fasting, visit our land with the power of Your Spirit once again. May our land be cleansed and evil strongholds demolished. Lord we cry for mercy. Send revival! Pour out Your Spirit on all people.

Forgive us for the idolatry that paved the way to this slaughter. Forgive us for our lukewarm passion and commitment to You—for our self-worship, idolatry, and complacency. For our love of self that so vastly outweighs our love of You. Show us mercy, Lord. Mercy in giving us godly sorrow and repentance. Mercy in stopping the slaughter. Mercy in rekindling our love for You. Mercy in the courts for those seeking to obey You above men. Mercy in sending revival to our land. In Jesus Name.

Questions:

• Do you believe if we fast and pray for the safety of our little ones, God will answer our prayer as He did for Ezra and the Jews?
• If so, are you earnestly praying with faith and expectancy for the end of abortion?
• Is your confidence and expectancy in the courts and political systems … or in God alone? 
• In what ways are you worshipping self and losing sight of Jesus in the least of these among us? What can you do for the least of these among us that you are not doing? 
• What entertainment do you watch? Does any of it glorify sin?
• Do you genuinely desire that God send revival? Do you secretly think it’s impossible, that we’re too far gone? Do you want Him to pour out His spirit on your church, your city, your state, and the nation? If so, are you praying faithfully to that end? 

RELATED POSTS

• Fasting Day 14: For the Little Ones
• This Kind Does Not Go Out by the Courts or Political System
• Matt Chandler: The Sanctity of Human Life
• Praying for Government Leaders (Part 1): A Prayer for the President
• Praying for Government Leaders (Part 2): A Prayer Guide
• Praying for Government Leaders (3): A Guide to Praying for Your Country
• President Lincoln’s Proclamations for Fasting and Prayer

FROM THE FASTING ARCHIVES

• Fasting Day 13: Don’t Judge the Results Based on What You Feel (Part 2)
• Fasting Day 13: The Ezra Fast
• Fasting Day 13: Fasting, Justification and Sanctification
• Fasting Day 13: On Target
• Fasting Day 13: Fasting and Weight Loss
• When God’s People Pray (Video by Jim Cymbala)
• This Kind Does Not Go Out by the Courts or Political System

_____________________

1. There have been 61,628,584 abortions since Roe v. Wade. This statistic is based on numbers reported by the Guttmacher institute from 1973 – 2017. See https://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/2020/01/abortion-statistics-united-states-data-and-trends-4/. Accessed January 16, 2020.