Read this aloud as a prayer to God for those who aren't free today.
http://www.freedomsunday.org/
Father
God,
You
who created all things out of the overflow of your boundless love, you
who defend the rights of the fatherless and the widow, the oppressed of every
generation, you
who set the captive Israelites free from their bondage in Egypt, and
each of your children from our bondage to sin, glory
to your name!
Hear
the cries of our hearts for those enslaved in our world today, for
their labor and for their bodies in sexual exploitation, the
countless unheard individual voices around the world and here in our own city.
Lord,
hear their prayers and ours for their freedom! Stretch
out your mighty hand to restore their dignity, to bring comfort and healing. Shelter
them and meet their material needs, and provide education, resources and
opportunities for
each of your enslaved children to live a life of abundance and fulfillment.
Lord,
you have called us according to this your purpose, to
be the hands that bring freedom and comfort and healing and opportunity to
the captive and the oppressed. May
we be a rising tide of abolitionists, flooding the world as in the days of
Noah.
Lord,
protect us from the attacks of the enemy--the
voices that tell us there is too much and we are too little, for
we are not the liberators, but you, Lord, and
we are walking in a victory that you have already won. Protect
us from the feelings of despair and helplessness, exhaustion and burnout, and
the desire to insulate our hearts from the pain of the stories we hear, but
let us meet pain with fearless compassion and faith in your provision, giving
generously of the talents and resources you have generously given, remaining
in your joy and inexpressible peace, as
the followers of one whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light.
Finally,
we pray for the oppressors--the
traffickers, who supply the demand, and the consumers who create it: both
we who demand ever-cheaper products, and
especially those who defile themselves by seeking sexual services without love
or freedom. Lord,
the world sees battles between good people and bad people, but
you have taught us that there are only broken people who are created in your
perfect image. We
pray for those men and women who are captive to their own sin, who
are manipulated and corrupted by the evil one. We
pray also for their freedom, for their healing, and that they may find
what they seek, whether
money, pleasure or love, in ways that honor you and bless the world.
Lord,
in all of these things, may
your kingdom come and your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, and
may your name be glorified, everywhere and always, now and forever. Amen.
