Today I woke up and started to get ready for the Super Bowl. Yes, I am actually doing something for the Super Bowl. My housemates and I are having some friends over to eat food (which is exciting) and watch the game (which to be honest doesn’t interest me in the slightest). We’ve got to clean the house, make tasty things, and set up the living room… Yep, it’s gonna be a fun afternoon (because there will be food).
Every morning I try to start out with some Bible reading and prayer, and this morning my mind was going back to an article a friend of mine had posted on her Facebook: http://theresurgence.com/2012/02/02/sex-trafficking-at-the-super-bowl.
It’s all about sex-trafficking at the Super Bowl and how the demand for sex increases at a major event; so as droves of football fans descend Indianapolis, so will massive numbers of pimps and their victims (primarily women and children). This disgusts me. I don’t even know what two teams are going to battle it out today for a trophy, but I do know that thousands of women are going to be battered, abused and sold today. They are going to be dehumanized by their captors, the men paying for them, and by everyone who just sits around and does nothing.
I know this is an intense topic, but my heart is thoroughly burdened with this, especially today. As I was praying this morning and reflecting on that article, I decided to read my Bible. Right now I’m on an unofficial reading plan, so my chapters today were Proverbs 5 and Joshua 1-6. The amazing thing is that the major focus of most of these chapters is prostitution. This floored me. I had no control over what I was to read today, but the Lord in His sovereignty had this planned out already. I then realized I needed to figure out where the Super Bowl is so that I could know how to pray more specifically. I went onto CNN and discovered the headlining article was “The New Christian Abolition Movement” which is about ending human trafficking: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/05/the-new-christian-abolition-movement/?hpt=hp_c1.
The weight of the abomination of human trafficking is at the forefront of my mind today. I could care less that the Patriots and the Giants are going head to head. I could care less that Madonna is doing a half-time show. I could care less that there will probably be some hilarious commercials. WHAT I CARE ABOUT ARE THESE TRAFFICKED, ABUSED, BATTERED WOMEN WHO THINK THERE IS NO HOPE. THESE WOMEN THINK THEY WILL NEVER BE RESCUED. THESE WOMEN THINK THEY ARE DOOMED TO BE SEX-SLAVES FOREVER. GUYS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THIS ISSUE?
As we sit on our plush couches today, we are far-removed from the trauma these women and children are enduring. We don’t see their tears. We don’t feel their pain. We are numb to the issue. THIS NEEDS TO CHANGE.
I’m not telling you to stop watching the Super Bowl. I’m not telling you that you can’t enjoy this time with friends and family. I AM telling you to have some perspective and to DO SOMETHING.
A popular quote I’ve heard before is, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
So today I’m going to charge you all to pray. If you’re at a party, then pray. If you’re just hanging out by yourself, pray. Wherever you are, take the time to seriously pray that these women would be freed and that justice would come! Why pray? Because prayer moves heaven and moves earth. Prayer shakes things in the spiritual realm and, when demonic strongholds begin to crumble in the spirit, they start to shake on the earth, as well. When we pray, STUFF HAPPENS. THINGS CHANGE. ANGELS MOVE AT THE SOUND OF OUR PRAYERS AND FREEDOM COMES TO THE CAPTIVES!
James 5:16, “…The prayer of a righteous man [or woman] is powerful and effective!”
Matthew 18:19-20, “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name [the name of Jesus], there am I with them.”
Luke 18:7, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?”
Today as my friends and I gather together I am committing to spend the entirety of the half-time show in prayer (because who wants to watch Madonna, anyway?). I am going to go into my room, shut the door, and welcome anyone who wants to join me to pray against this abomination and that freedom would come to the captives. The Lord is so good and I believe firmly that He will move at the sound of my voice.
Join me in prayer! This issue is NOT too big for the Lord! The same thing was once said about slavery, but the Lord prevailed and brought up liberators like Lincoln and Wilberforce! There is freedom!
For more information on human trafficking and sex slavery I encourage you to check out Exodus Cry, an amazing ministry dedicated to seeing the end of these atrocities in our lifetime.
For more information on human trafficking and sex slavery I encourage you to check out Exodus Cry, an amazing ministry dedicated to seeing the end of these atrocities in our lifetime.
Be blessed, everyone! Set your eyes on the Lord today and join me in praying for the end of this!
Rachel
