Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him (Peter), and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:31
This is one of my favorite Bible stories. Peter and the apostles are in a boat. They see Jesus walking on the stormy sea and, in awe, Peter calls out, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28) And indeed Jesus does call out, “Come!” How often are we like Peter saying to God, “If you’re really there, God, then show me!” How many times in our lives do we feel Jesus calling out to us to come walk with Him in faith? We yearn for a sign of God’s presence in our lives, and yet sometimes when he does call us “out of the boat,” we are reluctant to go. We fear the storm. Like Peter, we take our eyes off of our Lord. We worry about what could happen to us if we give ourselves completely over to God’s will. What will people say if you tell them of your pro-life stance? What will happen if you pray outside an abortion mill? The “winds” of fear can whip us into staying inside the boat like the other apostles did. Decide to “get out of the boat” today. And if things get tough, cry out with Peter, “Lord, save me!” Let Jesus reach out to you in whatever challenges face you today. Allow Him to take a firm hold of your hand. Be filled with the strength of the Holy Spirit, and be brave enough to “get out of the boat.” You’ll be amazed at what you and God can do. Then you’ll wonder why you ever doubted! **40 Days for Life begins a week from Wednesday on Sept. 24. If you have never participated in a campaign before, this is the time to “get out of the boat” and walk in faith. You can participate by praying and fasting daily for these 40 days. However, it would be a real blessing to also cover an hour of prayer at a vigil at one of the Chicago-land sites, Chicago, Glen Ellyn, Downers Grove, and Aurora. Sign up for an hour at www.40DaysforLife.com. You will not be asked to counsel, simply stand in prayer. Yet, your impact is nothing simple. Who knows who will drive by, see you standing there praying for them, and change their mind. ** 40 Days has remodeled their website, so even if you have been registered in previous campaigns, you will need to register again. And please do, then you will receive 40 days of inspirational email updates throughout the campaign and find out about lives changed! Sign up at www.40DaysforLife.com . News from vigils in Wood Dale: ** On Saturday, August 23, a prayer warrior made her way to the clinic at 7:00 am. For two hours, she prayed, sang, and carried signs offering free help while a man in the parking lot sat in his car. Finally, at 9:00 a young woman exited the clinic and told her that she “couldn’t go through with it.” The woman, Molly, has a two year old daughter with Chris (man in the car). They had aborted their 2nd child a year ago and were now here to kill their 3rd. Molly and Chris were grateful to the prayer warrior for all of the information and support she offered. She told them that we would all be praying for them, so let’s get to it! Molly would like to go to college and get married to Chris. Please pray that this choice for life will bring abundant blessings to this family. This shows what one person stepping out in faith can do! Thank you, Claudia. ** On Thursday, August 28, we estimate that TWO women failed to protect the lives entrusted to their care. ** A young man came out to smoke. I told him that his baby has a heartbeat and he responded, “I know.” Our culture has become so desensitized to the sanctity of life that even the knowledge that his child has a beating heart could not change this man’s mind. ** On Thursday, September 4, we estimate that SIX babies died at a business disguised as a “health” clinic. ** Four of the six women took a Project Rachel brochure from us afterwards. They so often just drive by with their heads down, but thankfully, that day almost all of the women saw that we wanted nothing else but to offer them hope and healing. We pray that they will read the brochure and seek forgiveness. ** On Thursday, September 11, NO babies were killed or women wounded at Advantage Health Care. ** The only people at the clinic that day were two employees (both office administrators, Nancy and Marisela) and us prayer warriors! We do not know why it was not open for killing business on this Thursday. Since we began praying here in late April, there has never been a Thursday they were closed. In fact, Advantage had extended their days open to include Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Could business be dropping off? Maybe they are finding it is not profitable to be open all 4 days without enough business. Only God knows! Praise Him that no babies died there that day! Pray for more days like this one.
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