Reality Check, Part 2-- Pray!

(If you haven't already read Part One, you better start there!)
Do I care about the suffering of others?  And if so how can I respond?  In first John, we are challenged not to shut up our heart to the sufferings of others but to love in action and truth.
And this is where the struggle comes.  What does it mean to have the mind of Christ, to walk in His steps, to love God first and my neighbor as myself?  Practically, in my life, with my 6 kids and wonderful husband and in my own personal struggles, what does it mean to care about the suffering of others.  And this applies not just to sex slaves, but to all varieties of evils.  They are all around us if we were just willing to open our eyes and hearts.
First, this... to love the Lord my God with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself.  First and foremost I must love God.  And to love God means to love what he loves and hate what he hates.  He hates the evil of human trafficking, with its roots in the love and worship of money, and the unbridled fleshly lusts, and the dehumanization of people created in the image of Almighty God!  Secondly, I must love my neighbor as myself.  And this applies to everyone!  Those I see everyday and those I have never met, but hear of them.  They are real people who represent other real people livng in hellish conditions, treated like animals.  I would want people to care about me if I were in that state.  And so I cannot look the other way!  I can't go back to life as I knew it.  But I can't go to Thailand or Moldova or Amsterdam, at least right now. So what can I do?
PRAY!!!!
At my house we have been studying and memorizing Ephesians 6:10-18, the passage of Scripture that describes the armor of God and why it is so important to "put on the full armor of God."  Today as I was watching the movie, I kept thinking about verse 12 that says, "Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, against world powers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavens."  Oh that I would take up my place, that the Church would take up her place, on the battlefields in the heavenlies and fight!  The battle rages, whether or not I join in.  I can turn my head and pretend that my little world is all that there is.  But that is not the reality!  The reality is that we have an enemy and he has forces that are creating all kinds of evil in this world!  And I am a soldier of Christ.  We all are called to be soldiers, fighting, not against flesh and blood, but fighting in the heavenlies.  And how do we do this?  Prayer is the biggest weapon!  Verse 18 concludes the well known armor of God in this way.  "Pray at all times in the Spirit with all every kind of prayer and request, and stay alert in this with all perseverance and intercession for the saints."  I have often heard the Armor of God talked about without mentioning this concluding piece.  But it is vital!!!  How else can we have strength in God and power in his might and take a stand against the "schemes" or "tactics of the devil" without prayer?  We, as a Church, must stay alert and pray at all times!
So to conclude my rambling...my response, then, to this tragedy, this evil in the world, first is to care, to remember.  I cannot "put my fingers in my ears" and sing "na, na, na, na, na..." not wanting to hear and have my heart broken or my life interrupted.  It's tempting, even now it almost seems dream-like, the images and stories told of lives broken and abused in such horrific and largely unseen ways.  Secondly, I must pray!  I am called to pray in a deliberate, purposeful way, and that is why both David and I have given this season of our lives to be part of the House of Prayer.  It is the one who prays, who changes the world!  This is truth!  But not everyone is called to pray in a House of Prayer, but EVERYONE IS CALLED TO PRAY!  And to pray at all times in the Spirit.  That's another post topic as well!  But I purpose to be intentional to take my place in prayer to see this evil defeated and God's Kingdom come on the earth as it is in heaven.  My bubble is burst, and I will shine forth the glory of Christ in each droplet of water that falls.
The movie does end with hope!  Many ladies shared how Jesus had supernaturally rescued them from their hellish lives and is redeeming them and using them to help others get free.  And there are parts of the Body of Christ all around the world that are laboring in prayer and servant love to help those who have been victims of human trafficking.  God is bigger than any evil in the world and He rules with justice and righteousness.  And this is the truth that sets men free!