When the Praying Church Ventures Out Into a Culture of Death
In late August 2013 a small group of families from our church were praying in front of Causeway Abortion Clinic, located in a nearby New Orleans suburb.
On that hot and muggy Louisiana day, I believe I heard the Lord release a strategy for us. I heard Him say, “Sing over this place.” I could envision the stance He called us to: singers, a few instruments and a wall of prayer lined up as a “siege.”
It was as if God was saying, “You priests, prophets, intercessors, stand before Me. Lift up your voices with prayer and worship. Bring My courtroom down, on earth as it is in heaven. I will inhabit the praises of My people,” I heard, echoing Psalm 22:3.
Later I asked the Lord exactly what He was saying, and a chapter came to mind I had to look up—2 Chronicles 20. When I read it, my heart was so moved because it was exactly the moment I experienced when He spoke to me on the sidewalk. “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you,” it reads. “Meanwhile, all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives and their children.”
The enemy hates the worship of our God and the lifting of our voices in prayer. He knows that’s how the governing of the earth takes place. It is the power of the praying church. From the rumble of our hearts within, to a roar of praise on the outside, we just may bring an “ambush” to the enemy as verse 22 says.
The power of worship is not anything new, so to speak, yet clearly God was nudging me to do something in response. And maybe others would join in.
On Nov. 9, 2013, we had our first worship and prayer siege outside Causeway Abortion Clinic. Since then, we have seen unprecedented history being made in Louisiana’s pro-life movement. Our state has passed many pro-life bills—notably one introduced by State Rep. Katrina Jackson, a pro-life African-American Democrat who pressed through substantial criticism to see Act 620 passed into law.
Garnering national attention, the passage of Act 620 has been challenged by Planned Parenthood in court—with the next hearing set for June 22. The law requires abortionists to have admitting privileges to a hospital within thirty miles of their facilities as well as requiring them to maintain proper licensing.
It also ensures women are made aware of the health risks associated specifically with chemical abortions, a deadly technique now often administered via webcam.
When Act 620 is upheld without restraint, it appears that three of Louisiana’s five abortion centers will shut down. While our efforts to protect pre-born lives will continue, this will be an important step in our state’s journey to becoming abortion-free.
Two other pro-life laws were also enacted in 2014, as we began to consistently pray and worship outside the nearby abortion center. HB 1262 ensures women are provided accurate information about the psychological impact of abortion and dangers of the sex trafficking industry prior to any abortion.
And particularly relevant to me as a school principal, HB 305 provides that no representative of any organization that performs abortion may provide instruction in schools that receive state funding. In Louisiana (at least), people representing Planned Parenthood will not be teaching our schoolchildren.
Our prayer group was disheartened to learn that Planned Parenthood bought property in New Orleans to build another abortion center. Then, inexplicably, business after business pulled out of their roles in the construction.
Three architects quit, electrical engineers walked off the project, one of the owners of the construction company in charge quit, the site supervisor quit … and, in its first safety inspection, the abortion center did not pass.
We began to hear from others involved locally in pro-life prayer. Several times construction workers on the site were witnessed to on break, received Jesus and walked off the site that day. Yet most recently, the concrete has now been poured on the construction site—nearly five years after Planned Parenthood bought the property. Clearly this story is still being written.
Babies are continually being saved from death, as denominations of all kinds and different races come together in prayer, fasting and action in obedience to God’s call.
For these pro-life laws to pass, many people with different roles came together; all I did was respond to the one thing the Lord called me to do. If we all would obey His strategy for the season, push aside every fear and go for it—as Joel 2:14 says, “Who knows? He may hear from heaven and relent.”
I believe we are running a critical lap in our nation concerning life. Your prayers and obedience could be what keeps us going in this race! We are seeing God answer prayers that have been sown for many, many years.
Persevering people have run before us, and it is our turn to do our part. I encourage you to pray, fast, vote and obey as God calls you to acts of compassion. Who knows? We just may we see the ending of abortion in every state in our time. Let the praying church arise!
Laura Aguillard partners with her husband Stephen pastoring their local church in Reserve, Louisiana. She serves as Principal of Lifehouse Daniel Academy and leads the local chapter of Bound4LIFE International, a grassroots movement to pray for the ending of abortion and for revival worldwide. They have five amazing children and she loves being their mother.
Reprinted with permission from Bound4LIFE.
