Cities planning 960-hour prayer vigils

Cities planning 960-hour prayer vigils
40 Days for Life to bring abortion businesses to their knees

Nearly two dozen cities already have signed up to participate in a pro-life campaign that will stage prayer vigils outside their abortion businesses 24 hours a day for the 40-day period from Sept. 26 through Nov. 4 – a total of 960 hours of prayer, officials say.

And that's from just the first day of the week-long sign-up period.

"God is amazing," said Shawn Carney, a spokesman for the campaign called 40 Days for Life. "That is more communities than we ever originally expected to participate in this ambitious pro-life initiative, and there are still six days left for communities to register. We can't wait to see what God has in store for America this fall!"

As WND has reported, the 40 Days is an intensive pro-life effort that will focus attention on prayer and fasting, as well as the 40 days of round-the-clock peaceful prayer vigils at abortion facilities, officials said.

There also will be intensive community outreaches designed to draw more people into the effort to defeat abortion in America, which has cost by most estimates more than 40 million lives since it was legalized by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade in 1973.

The 40 day model was taken from the Bible, where in repeated instances God transformed individuals, cities or nations over a 40-day period.

Officials confirm that seven cities already have run individual 40 Day campaigns, with results that range from a 28 percent reduction in abortions to more than 1,000 new volunteers getting involved in the pro-life movement.

"Forty Days for Life gives people of faith and conscience the opportunity to save lives and make a difference at the grassroots level in their own community," said Carney. "When they join with other cities across America in this fall's campaign, the collective effort has the potential to significantly impact the abortion debate in our nation. It is not about raising money or building a national organization; it is about saving lives in cities and towns all across America."

Pro-life leaders in communities across the country who want to join can register online at the campaign's website.

Volunteer Director David Bereit told WND earlier that the campaign, during its tenure in College Station, Texas, brought more than 1,000 people into an involvement in the pro-life campaign for the first time.

"In Dallas, folks confirmed 14 women planning to have an abortion – because of the people outside – changed their minds," he said. And in Houston area pregnancy centers reported 120 appointments set by women who had abortions scheduled, but did not follow through.

This program will be different from most protests, he said, because it is being centered on prayer and fasting "with absolute intensity."

"I've been involved in pro-life work for years," Bereit told WND. "Nothing has caused an impact like this."

"The three things that create the most impact are prayer – people of faith united in prayer, the constant vigil outside abortion facilities, 24 hours a day for 40 day, and the incredible amount of community outreach," he said.

He said more than 400 communities from 45 states have been given information about how to prepare for the campaign, and Wisconsin leaders have told planners that there already is a team in place with plans to have prayer at every abortion clinic in the state, 24 hours a day, for the full 40 days.

"I can't imagine what kind of an impact that can have," he said.

The 40 days is drawn from the 40 days of rain on Noah, the 40 days on Mount Sinai for Moses, David's transformation by Goliath's 40-day challenge, Elijah's 40 days of strength from one meal, and Jesus' 40 days in the desert.