A Prayer

Father,

Today we mark an anniversary. But it's not a time for celebrations. Today marks the day when it was decided that it is legal, it is fine, to kill children. And that has been the law of our land since.

So, what we find now is that what was once the view of a small minority, though a vocal minority, has become the view of so many more. Having the right to kill a child is now defined by so many as not just legal but as normal.

We should not have been surprised by this. It is the result of an evil way of thinking that has deep roots in history. And it has also become a deep root that is bearing its own evil fruit these days.

We don't have to wonder what You think about this. To say that You think that this is abominable not strong enough. The most defenseless are attacked, and, as a nation, we are okay with that.

That this is the case is a failure not first of our courts or even of our culture. It is, first of all, a failure of Your Church. If we had been shining brightly with the Gospel in the decades before this ruling, it never would have happened. But it did happen. We failed.

So, we confess our sin to You, Father. We confess our failure to live Gospel‑saturated lives that would have affected the culture of the day. We are grateful, Father, that there is forgiveness for this sin also.

We do pray, Father, that we would learn from what has happened. Help us to see that we are called to live in this world as those who are not of this world. Teach Your Church in this land to understand well what that means, and then to work hard at putting it into practice faithfully. And prepare us for the reaction that will certainly come. Darkness hates light.

Father, it helps us to know that better days will come. They may come in our lifetimes - or they may not. But they will come sooner if we endeavor to live as becomes faithful disciples of Jesus. Help us in this for the sake not just of the children but more so for the sake of Your name. Through Christ our Lord Amen.

Proverbs 14:34