Discouragement. That's the word that sometimes comes to my mind when praying in front of Planned Parenthood. My feet are tired, my body is weary, and I stand and pray in the heat!! We do this several times a year with the hope of convincing pregnant women to choose life for their babies, and ultimately to close down this abortion center, the largest one in Houston and the largest Planned Parenthood in the western hemisphere.
I think of the Old Testament prophets whose warnings were not heeded and who grew weary and tired of repeating them. Elijah said as he was running for his life from Jezebel, "This is enough; now, O Lord, take my life." But the Angel of the Lord said, "Get up"! And then he fed him to regain his strength. (1 Kings 19:4-8)
Now I haven't thought of taking my life and I'm not as important as Elijah who preached to a whole nation. But God still had a lesson to teach. So, back to our morning at Planned Parenthood where we six prayer warriors were praying the Blessed Mother's Rosary on her feast day, "The Holy Name of Mary".
Cars continued to drive in and out, all of them seeking the services of the most notorious abortion mill in the world. 345,000 unborn babies lose their lives every year in the United States at Planned Parenthood centers. We stood and prayed in the heat, hoping that God would hear our prayers and that those in the cars going in with passengers seeking abortions would change their minds.
And then it happened!
God gave us our "Get up" moment. A car driven by a young man with a woman passenger drove out of the gate and stopped. He opened the car door and said to us, "God bless you all!"
Olivia and I nodded at him and he drove off. We stared at each other and simply reveled in the truth that one woman may have decided to keep her baby, partially due to seeing people praying outside! God had given us a sign to strengthen and encourage us to be faithful prayer warriors for women and their babies.
The lesson learned? Faithfulness is the antidote to discouragement.
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