40 Days for Life: An Opportunity to Speak for Those Who Cannot Speak

America has come a long way since her remarkable founding by men who authored our U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence, documents intended to create the framework of our body politic.

All Americans should know by heart the historic words:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

The very first of the enumerated unalienable rights is the right to life, endowed by the Creator — not government nor even the expectant mother. Indeed, without the right to life none of us would have need of any subsequent “rights.”

“To be endowed” is such an archaic term, more likely than not a foreign word to younger generations steeped in a culture of entitlement mentality.

Millennials, coddled and propagandized in the dogma of self-esteem, naturally form a me-centric mentality and worldview. The radical Left has skillfully gained control of academia, media, entertainment and the halls of government, infusing our citizenry with a worldview diametrically opposed to the Bible and our country’s founding.

But a not-so-silent swathe of the country has been awakening.

Mothers and fathers are becoming active in school districts. Children are being homeschooled. Churches proclaiming God’s Word are growing (while those mainline denominations, shirking the Bible and its instruction are dying).

The culture war rages on, with LIFE at the core.

We cannot and should not be silent. We cannot and should not shirk our biblically-prescribed duty.

In a society that has advanced every form of hedonism, the foundational battle is life versus death.

What does the Bible have to say about life?

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live. Deuteronomy 30:19

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. Psalm 139:13-14

And the pinnacle of all consideration of life is Jesus, the Lord of Life, who announced:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

Yes there is a war and Ephesians makes it clear who we are fighting:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Consider, we are in a war against darkness and death. The Enemy of our souls is the Prince of Darkness and we are warned:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Ephesians 6:12

But we who follow Jesus have been bequeathed the weapons to fight the enemy, and we know death and the grave could not hold our Savior, and they cannot hold us.

The prophet Micah admonishes us:

He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

Mercy and justice should be our hallmark.

And the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus wrote concerning the weapons we have to fight the darkness:

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit. Ephesians 6:13-18

Enter 40 Days For Life!

We have the tremendous opportunity to pray for life! To pray for expectant mothers to choose life! To pray for those deceived by the lies of the Wicked One.

The stated vision and mission of 40 Days For Life:

Vision

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life campaign with a vision to access God’s power through prayer, fasting, and peaceful vigil to end abortion.

Mission

The mission of the campaign is to bring together the body of Christ in a spirit of unity during a focused 40-day campaign of prayer, fasting, and peaceful activism, with the purpose of repentance, to seek God’s favor to turn hearts and minds from a culture of death to a culture of life, thus bringing an end to abortion.

In other words, by partnering with 40 Days For Life we can live out Ephesians 6:13-18, “your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace…Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

There is power in prayer!

And there is even greater power when we gather with our brothers and sisters in prayer!

The epistle of James encourages us, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [universal meaning] availeth much. James 5:16b

Over the past forty-five years more than 60 million innocents have been killed via abortion. God surely weeps at the calloused and gruesome holocaust of the unborn.

God surely weeps over the needless guilt and burden borne by the mothers, duped by the lies of the pro-aborts who call abortion a “woman’s choice.”

We cannot and should not be silent. We cannot and should not shirk our biblically-prescribed duty.

Choose to speak for those little ones who cannot speak. Choose life and God’s blessing.

Join us in partnering with 40 Days For Life and, hopefully, with God’s people petitioning heaven, we WILL see the beginning of the end of abortion in America!

First published at Illinois Family Institute