…a prayer for:
- Those held in slavery, especially children and young women;
- Those who enslave;
- Those who fight against it.
Facts:
- Boys, girls, young women from around the world: 14,500 to 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year, primarily from Thailand, Mexico, Guatemala, Philippines and China.
- An additional 100,000 U.S. children exploited by the commercial sex industry each year.
- 200,000 U.S. citizens (primarily children and young women) face high risk of being trafficked within the U.S. for sexual purposes.
Please pray with me:
Father, human trafficking seems like something we only see on television. It seems to live somewhere else, removed from our reality. It is unthinkable that it is on our street, in our communities, in our parks…even right in front of us. We are unaware, unconscious, and therefore we miss it.
Forgive us for being so self-absorbed that we have overlooked such heinous activity. Father, we easily overlook these individuals and we dismiss them, rather than recognizing that they are each unique, one-of-a-kind, and precious in Your sight.
These are people You created and that You know. We minimize their value and their existence. Open our eyes, transform our awareness, raise up anger, and show us what we can do about this industry that is born of evil.
Father, little girls and boys, even toddlers, and young women —these most vulnerable people are held as slaves, hidden, abused, and without hope of escape. They are stripped of any value, treated as disposable animals, and repeatedly sold on a daily basis until they are finally discarded as trash. Surely, on every day of their lives, a part of them dies.
Where is hope? How can they find it? Strengthen them to hold strong. Comfort them in some mysterious way. Give them ideas of escape and a deep belief that there are people who seek their release and healing. Affirm in them that You, their Creator value them deeply and that You have not abandoned them.
Did you not speak to the child, Samuel, and call him? Children are precious to You. Are they not part of your inheritance? Rise up on this matter. Raise up an army so that these children and young women do not hope in vain.
What about family members who steal the self-worth through incest? Surely You must cry as this heinous sexual misconduct steals every speck of value from these victims. The damage is done. Something deep inside of them has been changed and only You can heal this deep, deep damage to their body and spirit. ONLY You! Truly, the damage is so deep that only You can reach it. Will You?
Forgive us for ignoring what is so difficult to even consider. Forgive us for knowing about it and turning our backs. Forgive us for filling our lives and minds up to the brink with frivolous amusements so there is no room to consider these realities that are before us. O Lord God of judgment, how will we stand before You. Surely, unless we change, we will weep at what we have attended to and what we overlooked. Save us from this fate!
We give You thanks that You are sovereign and that You beckon us to turn to You for help in time of need. Lord God, on this matter, we have been sparse in seeking You. Forgive us and put these things on our hearts. Bring true repentance and grant us prayers that we may seek You continuously on those things that are of such grave consequences.
We are to hate what You hate and love what You love. Surely You hate this industry and those who participate for their personal gain. Raise up Your army, Lord God of the Universe. Did You not tell us in Psalm 50 that the world is Yours? …and the fullness thereof? Then we ask for the following:
FOR THOSE WHO TRAFFICK:
It seems unbelievable that there are those who have sunk so low as to profit from the sale of another person. How can we have sunk so low? Father, what horrid, atrocious thing happened to those that are involved with the trafficking of human beings, selling their bodies, and organizing these hell-houses where others come and pay to indulge themselves? What goes so incredibly wrong that people visit these places?
Bring newness of life to those who organize, transport, and otherwise participate in this industry for their physical and financial gain. Open their minds and hearts to switch sides that many may be saved. Did you not do this with the Apostle Paul? And did he not serve You faithfully for the remainder of his life? Can You not do it here in this time and in these places? We ask it.
FOR THOSE WHO WOULD JOIN THE BATTLE:
Father, for an army of prayer warriors. Please protect the longevity of these prayer commitments. Enable them to continue and not tire. Protect them emotionally as they scope out the stories. Place an individual, perhaps a youth who is missing, for each person to pray for specifically.
Protect these prayer warriors from Satan who will hate and attack them. Place a wide and tall hedge about them and may the light of Christ be so bright that it blinds the enemy’s sharpshooters. Preserve and protect those who pray.
Place organizations in front of those who would join in the battle; and prick the spirit of those who would serve in them. Uphold these individuals, press and urge them to become involved.
You changed and hardened Pharaoh’s heart! You redirected the servants of King Saul and they prophesied. Can You not change the hearts of those who would become involved in this industry? Aren’t You able to redirect those who do evil, and focus those who would fight to raise up the cause of Christ.
FOR THOSE WHO FIGHT:
What about organizations like
Love 146? They stand steadfast and unflinching. Daily, they move on the street. Strengthen their hearts and resolve. Protect their innermost beings from fainting at the disgust and waste that they face every day. Oh Father, protect their families and may they see clearly the balance between their unending work with it’s dire urgencies— and their families. May their families not be without their presence.
Holy Spirit, give them solutions, strategies, and raise up a network of protagonists to advocate for what is needed. Do they need funding? Physical houses? Offices? Staff? What about marketers, lawyers, temporary places of safety? Who will speak on behalf of Love 146 and other organizations? Must they do it themselves, in addition to their “street work”? Father, please bring many people alongside them with a deep commitment to help.
There are other organizations too. Put your shadow of invisibility over all of them that they become elusive to the enemy. Yet send out Your messengers to speedily bring miracle after miracle that You are glorified, and that Your testimony goes forth…and that these soldiers may be encouraged. May their joy be complete as new survivors move into recovery.
Give these warriors-for-the-cause a boldness, an undying strength. Give them insight and tactics to undermine this industry. Give them advocates to speak on their behalf and carry on the education to those of us who have been indifferent. May hearts be turned. May their words cause listeners to become activists.
Work in the hearts of the Church at large that we may hate this as much as You do. May we seek You with great audacity and feverous, vehement, and unceasing pesterings, that You would be compelled to move speedily and mightily!
Wage the war against this blight. May the light of Christ shine in the face of the enemy, so brightly that he enemy is blinded and left impotent to retaliate. May these warriors of Christ, snatch these victims out from under the hands of Satan.
All things are at Your disposal! All the money, all the resources – create a supply line of assistance, of revenue, of financial support, of people who will commit to helping to the rescue and healing of these people who have been imprisoned.
Father, may this army be unrelenting through Your strength, Your strong right arm, and Your hand and surely, by Your Spirit. May Jesus Christ be served with excellence that may we all stand honorably before You on the day of our judgment.
In the Name of Jesus Christ. Hallelujah!
References:
Please read this article by World News Magazine
The Global Shame of Sex Trafficking:
http://www.worldmag.com/2015/08/the_global_shame_of_sex_trafficking
Those trafficked into the U.S.
http://misacor-usa.org/index.php/who-is-trafficked-in-the-usa-from-where
Types of human trafficking in the U.S.
http://misacor-usa.org/index.php/what-types-of-human-trafficking-in-the-usa
…are often forced to work in massage parlors, brothels, strip clubs and escort services. Some examples of human trafficking for forced labor in the United States include domestic work in private homes, small, family businesses such as restaurants, begging rings, factories and agricultural farms.
What the Bible teaches about human trafficking
http://www.gotquestions.org/human-trafficking.html
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime:
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/human-trafficking/what-is-human-trafficking.html
The United Nations defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”
