Tag Archives: Pray

Trump decries ‘permissive’ U.S. abortion laws at rally

Participants attend the annual March for Life anti-abortion rally in front of the Washington Monument in Washington, U.S. January 19, 2017.

By Ian Simpson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump criticized U.S. abortion laws as among the most permissive in the world in a speech to anti-abortion activists at the annual March for Life on Friday, and pledged his administration would always defend “the right to life.”

The Republican president’s speech, relayed via video link from the White House Rose Garden to thousands gathered on Washington’s National Mall, highlighted his shift in recent years from a supporter of women’s access to abortion to a powerful opponent.

“As you all know, Roe v. Wade has resulted in some of the most permissive abortion laws anywhere in the world,” he said, criticizing the 1973 Supreme Court decision that affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion at most stages of a pregnancy.

Trump said the United States “is one of only seven countries to allow elective late-term abortions,” mentioning China and North Korea. “It is wrong. It has to change.”

The other countries that allow elective abortions after 20 weeks are Canada, the Netherlands, Singapore and Vietnam, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion research group.

Trump listed some anti-abortion measures his administration had taken, including an announcement March for Lifeearlier in the day by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency said it was revoking Obama administration legal guidance that had sought to discourage states from trying to defund organizations that provide abortion services, such as Planned Parenthood.

Roe v. Wade effectively legalized abortion nationwide. In the 45 years since the decision was issued on Jan. 22, 1973, the March for Life has been staged near the ruling’s anniversary in protest.

“Because of you, tens of thousands of Americans have been born and reached their full, God-given potential,” Trump, a Christian, told the marchers, who included many groups of students from Roman Catholic schools.

Trump has pledged to appoint more federal judges who oppose abortion with the hope that the ruling might eventually be overturned.

Trump is the third sitting president to address the march: Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush both made supportive remarks to the march at least twice each during their presidencies, speaking via telephone broadcast by loudspeakers.

Trump sent Vice President Mike Pence, a vocal abortion opponent, to speak at last year’s march, a few days after the presidential inauguration. This year, Pence introduced Trump, saying the president would “restore the sanctity of life to the center of American law.”

Many marchers, carrying signs with slogans such as “Pray to end abortion,” said they were excited to hear from a president they see as an ally, but hesitated to point to any specific advancements in their agenda from Trump’s first year in office.

“It’s so refreshing to have a standing president who supports pro-life,” Tim Curran, a 66-year-old grocer who had traveled to the march from Kentucky, said before the remarks and the march to the steps of the Supreme Court for a rally. “He seems to be moving us back in the direction of traditional families and morality.”

U.S. President Donald Trump greets a young girl among families gathered in the White House Rose Garden as he addresses the annual March for Life rally, taking place on the nearby National Mall in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2018.

U.S. President Donald Trump greets a young girl among families gathered in the White House Rose Garden as he addresses the annual March for Life rally, taking place on the nearby National Mall in Washington, U.S., January 19, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The event came a day before the first anniversary of Trump’s inauguration, a milestone to be marked by the second Women’s March in cities across the United States, including Washington. Organizers hope to recreate last year’s huge anti-Trump protests by hundreds of thousands of people who saw Trump as a foe of women’s rights and reproductive freedom.

Trump previously supported women’s access to abortion, saying in an interview in 1999, when he was still a celebrity real-estate tycoon in New York City, that while he “hated the concept of abortion,” he was “very pro-choice.”

As a candidate for the presidency in 2016, Trump said his position had “evolved,” describing himself as “pro-life with exceptions,” such as in cases of rape or incest.

Trump has said he hopes Roe v. Wade will eventually be overturned and that each state will instead be allowed to decide whether to ban it.

Americans tend to split roughly down the middle on abortion access, with 49 percent saying they supported it and 46 percent saying they opposed it in a 2017 Gallup poll.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Jonathan Oatis)

Frank Amedia Calls for 3 Days of Fasting and Praying before Election

Lori Bakker, Jim Bakker and Joel Richardson in prayer at Morningside

Esther 4; 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

Our recent guest Frank Amedia, co-senior pastor of Touch Heaven Church in Canfield OH, is pleading along with Revival One Network (R1N)  to join them in a call for believers to fast and pray from SATURDAY EVENING UNTIL TUESDAY, NOV. 8, 10:00 P.M. (ELECTION DAY).  

Charisma magazine spoke with Amedia who stated that they wanted believers to recognize the magnitude of the election and what it will mean for the U.S.

“We are calling to do warfare against the spirit of Jezebel that has become exposed in our nation and in our leadership,” Amedia says. “We know the power and force behind the principalities that have oppressed our nation, that are diluting our Judeo-Christian principles, attacking the Christian faith and breaking our covenant with God. As one nation under God, it is time for the church to take its position as Esther. We are the bridge, as Esther was the bridge for her nation.”

Through circumstances beyond her control, Esther, a Jew, was placed in a position where she eventually became queen and was instrumental in saving her people from a massacre. Haman, a servant of King Ahasuerus, plotted to destroy the Jews, but God intervened through Esther.

“It has been said that one can set 1,000 to flight and two 10,000,” Amedia says. “If so, then tens of thousands of spiritual warriors in agreement is a force of power that cannot be resisted. If we can get 100,000 people fasting and praying, there would be so many zeros behind the number that you couldn’t put a name to it. It would be incomprehensible.”

Beginning Saturday evening Amedia and Revival One Network ask you to do the following:  

If you can abstain from food and drink, or food, or limit your intakes, then do so as you are able. Please take your health into consideration and be wise during your fast.

As best you can in your schedule, set aside quality time for prayer and intercession.

Prepare yourself with repentance, soul searching and reflection.

Stay in tune with the Holy Spirit. Pray with the Spirit and with understanding

Remain in a state of readiness to hear from the Lord and to obey His lead. Let us humble ourselves and call upon the Lord and ask Him to heal our nation (2 chronicles 7:14)

Command the principality of Jezebel, with all of its host of dark angels and demons, to be exposed, judged, dethroned, cast down and destroyed.   Rev. 2: 22-23

Pray for deliverance, redemption, reformation, and restoration for our nation from the diabolical conspiracies and plots to turn us away from God. (Esther)

Pray for the elimination of abortion.

We pray that you receive tremendous supernatural blessings and favor also during this period of fasting and prayer as you have committed yourself to the Word of the Lord.

Make 2016 the Year of the Bible

Remember when God told me it was time to batten down the hatches?

When He spoke to me, I was sitting in Lori’s closet; actually, it’s more like a woman cave. You’ve heard of a man cave, right? Well, Lori’s got this amazing closet filled with all her things and there’s a little desk where you can sit. I find that it’s a wonderful, quiet place for me to talk to God and listen to His word. Continue reading →

Students Worldwide Gather For “See You At The Pole”

The annual See You At The Pole event today brought millions of youth around the world together for a time of prayer, praise and petitioning God for the schools’ safety and well-being for the upcoming year.

The event had a humble beginning in the town of Burleson, Texas in the early 1990s and now takes place in all 50 states and over 20 countries around the world.

“A small group of teenagers in Burleson, Texas, came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in early 1990,” the See You At The Pole website explains. “On Saturday night their hearts were penetrated like never before, when they became broken before God and burdened for their friends. Compelled to pray, they drove to three different schools that night. Not knowing exactly what to do, they went to the school flagpoles and prayed for their friends, schools, and leaders. Those students had no idea how God would use their obedience.”

Every year has a theme, with this year’s theme based on Ephesians 6:18, “Never Stop Praying.”

The Alliance Defending Freedom had been active in the days leading up to the event, providing students with information for administrators that might try to stop them from praying.

“Students don’t abandon their constitutional freedoms at the schoolhouse gate,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “They continue to have the freedom to peacefully express their beliefs while at school, and that certainly includes prayer. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech for all students, regardless of the students’ religious or political beliefs.”