News

The Power of Prayer

According to the Thomas More Society, Illinois will more than double its annual abortion rate from its current average of 40,000 abortions to about 100,000 abortions. This is due to Illinois’ loose restrictions on abortion, the repeal of parental notification, and that Illinois does not impose barriers such as mandated counseling, waiting periods or short gestational limits on those who travel here from other states.

So what can we do? One way to stop the amount of abortions performed is to pray with others outside your local abortion clinic. We hear it so often – the power of prayer is amazing. And, it is what we can do in the midst of being powerless and helpless in a culture that seems so very lost.

Prayer works, and statistics support this. Former Planned Parenthood workers, including Abby Johnson, say that the no show rate for an abortion appointment can be as high as 75%when people are outside praying. 40 Days for Life has had similar experiences. Shawn Carney says they have had over 400 moms choose life in one of the 40 Days Campaigns that come together to pray outside a clinic.

Abby Johnson continues, “You see, when you come to pray, you are saving lives even if you don’t know it. Women see you and instead of pulling into the parking lot, they drive right by. When you are on the sidewalk, women see you as an outward sign of their inward conscience,” she said. “Your presence shows them that the decision they are making is morally objectionable. Doesn’t it feel good to know that you CAN save a baby from abortion? You just have to show up. You have to be present.”

Praying outside an abortion clinic is not easy. Aside from legal concerns, these are places of sorrow and despair, but as always, we can trust in Christ and our Lady when praying.

And if you cannot pray while physically there, you can still pray for the mothers troubled over their unplanned pregnancies, the workers who feel they are performing a just service, and for the innocent human lives not knowing what their mom is about to do. Keep praying. It might seem as if our prayers are not answered: abortion rates are increasing; pregnancy centers are under attack; and many Catholics advocate abortion.

So how can we pray? With great humility, faith, confidence and persistence. In the words of St. Jane de Chantal: Let us tie ourselves down to prayer and never quit it, for in this game (so to say) he is the loser who gives up his prayer. If it seems to you that you are not heard, cry out the louder; if you be driven out by one door, come in by another; if you hear the words said to the Canaanite woman–that you do not deserve the graces for which you ask–humbly reply that, like her, you do not aspire to unusual favors, but only to eat the crumbs that fall from the divine table.

The heroes in this story are me and you: Moms, husbands, aunts, neighbors, and friends who support life and talk about its importance with others. Who are willing to gather together early in the morning with their rosaries outside a clinic or in a dining room chair in their home asking for our Lady’s intercession. Those who consider the task set before us as Christians: That we were made to know God, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

We’d love for you to join our ministry! Email RespectLife@olwparish.org today.