Thinking About What’s Going Wrong: The Sanctity of Human Life

Sanctity of Human Life (SOHL) Sunday is a day that churches across the nation set aside to celebrate and recognize the value of all human life. This year, SOHL will be observed nationally on Sunday, January 17, 2021. As I was praying and thinking about what to write for this blog piece, the Lord impressed upon me the need to consider how we should think and behave regarding the sanctity of human life, abortion, and the abortion-minded.

So, how should we think rightly about these things? 

There are many things we could discuss:

• The Biblical stance on life / created in God’s image
• The sanctity of life
• The biblical imperative to take care of the weak and fatherless
• Political action / activism
• And many other things

For the focus of this four-part blog, I want to focus on four points…that are concerned with our own attitudes and behavior towards those who think and behave differently than us.

Number one – we need to be devoted pray-ers!

Allow me to share a quote from David Platt:

We Christians…have convinced ourselves that if we can position our resources and organize our strategies, then in the church as in every other sphere of life, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to…but what is strangely lacking…is desperation for the power of God…I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities smoothly, efficiently, even successfully, never realizing that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture.

– David Platt.

It should absolutely scare us that we can run pro-life ministries void of God’s Spirit and power!  Let’s be honest… we can write a blog, we can run the day-to-day operations of a church-based pro-life ministry, we can get involved in politics or activism, we can run a successful prayer campaign, etc., totally devoid of God’s Spirit and power.

Here’s the shift we need in our prayer life: we need to be devoted pray-ers!

• “All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…” – Acts 1:14. Immediately following Jesus’ ascension, the disciples went back to the upper room, where they had spent time with Jesus.  The first thing they did was pray.  In the next chapter, Peter preaches a 10-minute sermon, and 3,000 people become Christ-followers!
• The early church emphasized prayer constantly, in the book of Acts!
• These early Christians had devoted themselves exclusively to Jesus and His purposes, and their life was characterized by prayer!  They prayed with zeal!  And we have to do the same for this issue!  We need Jesus desperately…things will not change without his intervention.

In 2015, I was on staff at an Atlanta church that had been involved with the 40 Days for Life ministry for some time.  After praying outside an abortion facility for over two years, that clinic closed down!  And, we have many stories of babies who were saved during the times when people were present and praying.  How did those things happen?  Was it because of our church’s talented leadership or the talented leadership of the 40 Days for Life team?  Was it because of an ample number of volunteers?  Was it because of really good signage or sidewalk counseling?  No!  It was because the body of Christ came together in prayer, and the Lord responded to the cries of His people.  That’s it!  We need to remember that.  We need to sit in that and feel the weightiness of that!