Pray to end Abortion. Why has God not answered this prayer of Anti-Abortion Activists?
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There is great power in prayer. It can change the hearts of people. Over time it can bring monumental changes in society. Two events in recent history testify to this enormous power of prayer. The prayers of Mahatma Gandhi to rid the Indian subcontinent of the scourge of colonialism were answered. So were the prayers of Nelson Mandela to bring a peaceful end to Apartheid in South Africa. So we don’t have to even look very far back in history to realize the powerful effect of prayer. It may take time, half a generation or a bit more, but prayer can bring change. Not so with abortion in this country.
One important thing is the prayers have to be sincere and the person’s life should reflect the change they are seeking. Gandhi ji said: “Be the revolution you seek to see in the world”. That is, start practicing what you are asking for others to come to. Nelson Mandela’s message was of peace even against the most atrocious violence of the aggressor. That is don’t react with violence even if the other is violent and CERTAINLY don’t commit violence.
Insincerity in matters of faith is contemptible in the eyes of God. To say one thing and practice another is the worst crime against religion. In another blog I used this quote from the Book of James and it is most appropriate in the context as well:
“14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good [2] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Indeed the whole Book of James is worthy of paying serious attention to. The overly zealous rhetoric that inundates the airwaves and attacks that are verbal but do turn to physical and sometimes fatal.
“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, [1] and set on fire by hell. [2] 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, [3] these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.”
We live in the richest nation in the history of the world (and number 2 is not even close). So it would really behoove us to heed this warning. Who can it apply to more than us?
“Warning to the Rich
5:1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”
Gandhi early life http://nhdmkgandhi.org/
Both Gandhi and Mandela could have lived lives of luxury but gave it all up to bring change in their societies. Their lives reflected their prayers. It is difficult to say the same for most anti-abortion activists. Anti-abortion activists insist on calling themselves Pro-life yet show scant concern for the poor. We, the greatest nation in the world, has over 30 million people living in poverty, without health care and wherever anti-abortion groups have prevailed in election process (like here in Missouri) funding is deeply cut to help with these problems of the poor. Is it a wonder that for over 40 years their prayers are not being answered?
Gandhiji from rich lawyer to carpet weaver http://www.indhistory.com/
Both Gandhi and Mandela did not wait for change to come. They worked to help make positive changes, no matter how small, for 20 - 30 years until finally the wonderful transformation came. Again, the same cannot be said about Anti-abortion activist. Abortion is really a symptom of problems that lead to abortions. They rail viciously against abortion yet do little to help remedy the root causes that lead to abortions. There is strong evidence internationally that wherever Anti-abortion activists are strong in a country the abortion rates are actually higher. Our abortion RATE is twice or more that of comparable western European societies. So not only do they not help remedy root causes, they try to prevent others from doing something as well. This shows Anti-abortion activist are making negative changes to reduce abortion. Is it a wonder that for over 40 years their prayers are not being answered?
Nelson Mandela age 42 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Mandela in prison 27 years http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk
Khalid Shah, 50, is an American Muslim who came to the U.S. 32 years ago. He and his wife have lived in the St. Louis area since 1990, and have been active in a variety of interfaith activities as well as in the local Muslim communities. They have both spoken about Islam at a variety of houses of worship. After working as an engineer for most of his career, he is currently a small business owner. 
Khaled - Our government is an institution of man. God (as understood by Christians)gave His creation free will and Americans have not come to a consensus on abortion. I guess that begs the question what good is prayer if it doesn’t yield an immediate result. It’s a tough one to answer. I can only say prayer connects us with God, it does not bend him to “our” will. I think it is His will that we, while on earth, struggle with moral issues. I hope you are not suggesting that because God has not moved our leaders to end abortion that abortion is moral in His eyes. Slavery was legal in America for close to a century; Abortion has only been legal for about 35 years. And I don’t want to put too much stock in a media poll, but Gallup recently reported 51 percent of American consider themselves “pro-life.”
Khalid-
I understand the point you are trying to convey, but you could paint a barn in one stroke with the brush you are using. Arguably the most visible pro-life activists are Catholic. They also belong to a Church that is the largest private provider of social services in this state as well as the largest philanthropic organization on the planet. Poverty eradication, adoption, healthcare, etc. are all provided by the Church and its organizations. This clearly contradicts your statement, “Anti-abortion activists insist on calling themselves Pro-life yet show scant concern for the poor.”
Furthermore, prayer is powerful. However, it is not always answered and that does not imply that one’s actions are wrong or in vain. Could some abortion activists do more? Certainly. However, your post implies that their prayers are not being answered out of some lack of sincerity.
Also, I would like to state that Scott Roeder is mentally ill. It is a fact, not something up for debate. I am tired of the media portraying him as some sort of fanatical Christian terrorist, yet conveniently omitting the fact that he was prescribed medication and was not taking it. One must be rather deluded to indict a large part of society based upon the actions of a mentally ill individual.
Finally, I like how you used Gandhi and Mandela in the same post. Gandhi was quoted numerous times stating that native South Africans were beneath Indians and similar to Indian Untouchables. Gandhi definitely had some skeletons in his closet. He may have changed later in life, I am not sure, but this fact is often glossed over. I just included this last part as an interesting historical tidbit.
Mr. Hamid, as a man of faith the answer should be very obvious to you. It is clear that this country has turned its back on God. This country supports abortion and the Democrat party which supports abortion. Why should God answer us? We have strayed from Him. He will send his rath down on the U.S. for this. Read the various comments on the various blogs.
Most of the posters mock relgion.
I am personally pro-life myself and also do not believe in the death penalty as I believe that only God can take a life at any time. However, I am curious why Democrats who support abortion, yet are anti-death penalty.
How do you differentiate the two? Why should innocent babies die, but murders should not be put to death? This is inconsistent thinking.
Joe,
Thank you for your comment. In the Qur’an it is stated: “God does not change the condition of a people until they change themselves”. I gave the examples of two wonderful people Gandhi and Mandela to show that prayers do work but we have to sacrifice and change ourselves. Sometimes you have to fight for change but change as a result of violence is not as good as peaceful change. Over 150 years after the Civil War majority blacks in USA still live with the scars of slavery (just visit most of north St Louis city). In contrast India, 60 years after colonialism, has made a lot of progress.
The term Pro-life is very troubling because it is used very hypocritically as I point in the blog. And it is this hypocrisy that God does not like, as noted in the Book of James. It would also be good to remember that abortion is not the problem. The problem is the actions that lead to abortion. And changing actions requires changing behavior. Laws don’t change behavior, they just fill up the prisons. The drug laws passed twenty some years ago did nothing to reduce drug use in America but they tripled our prison population. People of faith should focus on the behavior changes needed if they want a positive change in society. That is what Gandhi and Mandela did.
Wowee,
From personally knowing a number of people in the Catholic church who are doing wonderful work on helping the poor, I can tell you many of them are pro-choice and very strongly so. The catholic church is a big organization. Look at people. Those people who are protesting against abortion how many of those people go and work with the poor?
Your comment about Gandhi is I am afraid all too typical of what anti abortion people do. Denigrate anyone and anything contradicting them. I really hope you read the passage above from the Book of James. So let me take it in a positive light. If Gandhi has skeletons in his early life and CLEARLY overcame them to do the wonderful work he DID accomplish, then maybe there is hope that anti abortion activists can also change and stop using hate filled language sometime in the future.
Khalid-
You state that these Catholics are strongly pro-choice. Do they believe in the real presence? Do they believe in apostolic succession? The point I am trying to make is that as Catholics, one may not agree with all of the teachings, but one must be humble enough to accept the inerrant moral and theological teachings of the Church to be considered Catholic. By rejecting the sanctity of human life and replacing the Church’s teachings with the more convenient position, I would definitively state that your friends are not in full communion with the Church.
Might they be moral individuals who help the poor? Yes. Do they believe in one holy, Catholic and apostolic Church, as they would profess weekly? If they are strongly pro-choice, then the answer is clear.
Centrist,
umm…Khaled Abdel Hamid is a dear friend of mine. The name Khalid is one of the most common Muslim names (with some spelling variation).
Wowee,
“he who is without sin…..”. I think is dangerous to start judging other people. Look, at least 30% of the catholics did vote for Mr. Obama and the President of Notredame University is a person of the cloth right? There is a saying of Prophet Muhammad “if you call someone an Unbeliever then one of you two certainly is one”. They consider themselves catholic and have done decades of sincere service to the church, do you REALLY want to roll the dice with them on who is in full communion and who is not?
Sorry, but there’s nothing to suggest that prayer is anything more than hope formalized.
Khalid,
This has hit to the very core of everything that I have been both, studying (prayer) and that has been the focus of much of my attention much of this week (abortion). But the main focus that God has been bringing me back to is to worship Him in sincerity as He calls us Christians to do as written in our guide, the Bible.
You have hit on every single thing here that God has been stirring up within my soul for a while now and where I just today have made some new commitments within my own life where I have been failing in my part to do all that is within my power to reflect my faith in God and His word.
The main thing God has been dealing with me over is that worship of Him apart from how it is shown to us in scripture, (a Christian’s only point of reference for all that we need to know about God and Christ and all that we are to believe and do) is ALL in vain if we leave out even one command of His that we have been instructed. The message that God has been convicting me with in my heart for a long time now is, “Worship Me in spirit and in truth”.
Kahlid, you are a blessing to all who read your articles here and I am certain to anyone who knows you or have had contact with you.
D. Walker,
Thank you for your kind words and God bless.
EJ,
I get a nagging feeling that your cynicism is a facade below which there is a core of belief. Perhaps there is strong aversion to orgnanized religion due to something in the past. Either ways, peace be with you. What is real what is an illusion, can anyone really tell. Einstien said “All of reality is an illusion. Only it is a very persistent illusion”. Prayer is as real as you make it.
Wonderful observation about prayer.
If people speak always as in prayer, I think a big difference would occur.
Prayer is a safe place. Imagine speaking with the freedom of that safe place in all our thoughts and words.