What if your child suddenly went missing? You would surely beat down every path to find her! Our hearts go out to parents and grandparents whose children are victims of human trafficking. But what can we personally do about it?
We are looking at a complex evil that involves millions of people trapped in forced labor and sexual exploitation. Many come from very poor families who were deceived by the tactics of traffickers. Others may have been fleeing political oppression, natural disasters, or extreme poverty.
As Christ followers we are called to defend the weak and poor, to rescue the needy from the hand of the wicked,1 to remember those who are mistreated as if we ourselves were suffering and those in prison as if we were their fellow prisoners.2 Just imagine for a moment the terror, pain, and humiliation in the unspeakable acts these victims endure. We cannot turn away! We must put their needs in front of our own.3
What can we do? The most power and effective thing we can do:
1. PRAY! This is a spiritual battle. The thief, our enemy the devil, “comes only to steal, kill and destroy.”4 He is a savage lion bent on devouring humans created in God’s image. We resist him by standing firm in our faith,5 faith in God’s powerful Word.
2. PRAY SCRIPTURE: We fight a spiritual battle with spiritual weapons, choosing the most powerful divine weapons to demolish strongholds.6 Ask God, “What is driving this sin?” In the case of human trafficking, we see greed, violence, and lust. What does God have to say about these things? What are the causes? What is the righteous behavior that He desires instead? We need to pray for the transformative power of God to take over evil desires, to pray into reality counter measures of righteousness that God desires.
3. PRAISE: Praise God for battles won! After all, He is greater than ALL the collective forces in the world, and He is a God of justice. You may have to dig a little to undercover the success that God has already orchestrated, but it is happening. Children and adults are being freed around the world, one operation at a time. Praise God for real people, as depicted in the film, “Sound of Freedom,” who risk their lives to answer the call of God. “God’s children are NOT for sale!” PRAY for their protection, for wisdom, for assistance, and success.
To assist you in powerful praying, I’ve attached a set of prayers, “Scripture Prayers Against Human Trafficking.” All based on Scripture, these prayers are divided into four categories: for traffickers, who do not realize that they themselves are captives ensnared in the devil’s traps; for victims, that they will hold onto hope in our compassionate God and find freedom and healing; for rescuers to be wise, protected, and courageous; and for parents and children, for wisdom and protection. Trafficking is all around us. Let’s pray for all parents to be constantly watchful over their children and for poor families to find safe options for employment.
Feel free to print and pass along these prayers to others as we fight together for freedom for the captives! May the surge of our prayers unite to see God’s power change our own hearts and the lives of others around us!
1 James 1:27, Psalm 82:3,4; 2 Hebrews 13:3; 3 Philippians 2:3; 4 John 10:10; 5 1 Peter 5:8,9;
6 2 Corinthians 10:4,5
Excellent blog alerting people to engage in prayer for our precious children. Thank you for making this available for us to use in prayer.
Thanks, Jeanne. Praying Scripture is a powerful weapon!
Excellent! Will use this at prayer meeting tonight.
Thanks, Kathleen! The more people praying, all the better!