Interstate 20

Interstate 20

Do you believe prayer works? You sit and pour out your heart to the Lord and hope to see Him move. Sometimes you pray the same thing for days, weeks, months or years without seeing any activity. Do you think He hears your or is He just too busy?

A friend of mine stood in church yesterday and shared how God answered a prayer she’d been praying for some time now. She has family in south Georgia she visits fairly regularly.  This trip takes her up and down interstate 20. Since she makes that trip alone, she tends to use the time as prayer time.

In the past couple of years, she’s become aware of the issue of human sex trafficking in America and specifically in Atlanta. Being the mighty intercessor she is, she uses her travel time to cry out to God to free those held in captivity. She prays specifically for law enforcement to become vigilant in their work to free young girls who are bought and sold for another’s gain.

Last week her prayers were answered when alleged Decatur sex trafficker, Johnathon Nathaniel Kelly, was stopped for a routine speeding ticket and a 17 year old girl was found in the car with him.  The officer, who had been trained in the sex trafficking victim indicators, was able to act swiftly, rescuing this young girl who had been trafficked for over five years. You can read more about the case here.

As my friend praised God for the rescue of this young girl, thanking Him, she heard Him say, “Thank you.” It was only then she remembered the countless times she prayed for this to happen as she has journeyed up and down the very road where the rescue took place.

Prayer turns the heart of God.  While we may feel our prayers are insignificant at times, they are powerful. James 5:16 tells us,

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

There are many people who learn of this evil taking place in our nation and feel overwhelmed or powerless to do anything about it.  I completely understand. The magnitude of modern day slavery is incomprehensible; however, ignoring it will not make it go away. We have to unite as one if we want to see it come to an end.  We were given power and authority to set the captives free [Isaiah 61;1-3, Psalm 146:7, Matthew 10:8, Luke 4:18, ]. Prayer lays the groundwork for this.

When you and I bring our voices together, crying out for the freedom of the captives, the power of our prayer is multiplied.  Our prayers become like the Mississippi River, that gains strength because of the many, many tributaries that feed into it, making it a force to be reckoned with.

There are thousands of young girls in our nation and around the globe that are held captive. We can’t all weld a gun and be on the front lines of a rescue, but we can all be part of it. Whether we’re in the privacy of our own home or riding down the road, we can all cry out to the Lord on their behalf.

Proverbs 31:8 tells us to,

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.”

We need your voice, because your voice added to my voice and the voices of others across this nation will create a force that will push back the armies of darkness and set captives free.

Now that you know, how will you respond? What will you do? As William Wilberforce once said,

You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”

Choose to be the voice of those who have been silenced, a voice for hope.