1.23.12

Hello again! How was your day of prayer and fasting? Good I hope, though I would love to hear about it in the comment section. Mine was probably the best fast I've ever done. I had so much energy and joy (even when everyone decided to go to Jose Peppers, a delicious local establishment that I often crave, but alas, could not partake in)!


As I prayed, I wrote in a notebook as I often do (I have a very short attention span and find this helps me focus, besides the fact that I love looking at past prayers and seeing what God has done) and after much debate, decided to post it. It's quite long, but I feel like God guided my prayer profoundly. This said, I will be praying this prayer throughout the year and am wholeheartedly inviting you to do the same! Join me :)

January 22, 2012

God today I am fasting again as I did in 2008. Today is the 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Today we begin our 40th year in the desert of convenience, of selfishness, of lies and of ignorance. Could this be the year where we turn from the sins of our fathers and You can finally bring us into the promised land? May it be so, God.

Many people are fasting with me today. We have humbled ourselves and have taken this time to set aside our desire for the things we fast and decide that we want you more. We want to see Your heart, to be tuned to hear what You say and do Your will. Give us more love for our nation's children and for their mothers. Help our people to see the blood on their hands. May our eyes be opened to the horrors and the evil deeds in our depravity so we will all be so mortified that we can no longer sit and watch death win. May we see when death is about to steal our lives and the lives of our children that we will hold them back and say, "No, not this one".

Help us understand fully Your love for us so we can see Your love for them also; so we may have the boldness to stand for their rights as well as our own.

Fill our hearts with love for the mothers and fathers, God. Help us to be overflowing with grace and understanding. May we love them enough to call them out of their sin, but also to stand by them and hold them up with prayer and encouragement. May we have so much compassion that there is no room for judgment. Help them to feel so loved that they turn to You and can’t help but love their children.

Help our people to love adoption. As You set the lonely in families, help us do the same.

Change the heart of our government to love our children. Make their eyes be open to the truth so they may repent and turn from death. Help our nation to be known for cultivating a passion for life and kindness and humility. Break our selfishness.

God, help us to be so passionate about life and so bold that our communities are changed. May we gather so many mothers and babies in our arms that abortion clinics go out of business and our communities can’t help but see You.

May 2012 bring radical revival that we haven’t seen yet. Gather people into Your embrace by the thousands. Rid us of the complacency that creeps in and steals life from us. Use us in ways we wouldn’t have thought to dream of.

God, may the men of America stand up as protectors of life. Help them lead us in boldness and bravery. May their hearts break with compassion so they won’t allow such morbid action and cruelty on their children. Have them take responsibility for these orphans and no longer be weak as our society makes them, but let them lead us as heroes and champions into freedom by paths of righteousness.

Give grace to women who have had abortions and let them not forfeit the grace that is so freely theirs. May they know how incredibly cherished and valued they are as Your princesses. Make their hearts contrite and broken for their deeds, but then filled with joy and peace in your grace and forgiveness.

Thank You, Jesus, for Your love for the millions of killed babies and that Your arms are big enough to hold every single one of them. Thank You that they are alive in You as You sing and laugh over them.

Thank You that you love America enough to answer our prayers when we humble ourselves. Thank You that You love us too much to let us choose wickedness without discipline. Thank You that Your grace is enough to drown out condemnation and cover our mistakes. May we not take advantage of that. Give us strength today as You guide our prayers and encourage us when we are weak. Let us know that even though it may not seem so, every prayer we pray is taken seriously by You and will always come to fruition.

Use us, God, in 2012 that we and our people see Your heart.

Amen.