40 Days for Life - Prayers Day 1 to Day 7

Starts on Ash Wednesday 13th February 2013

Day 1

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12: 9-12

Heavenly Father, fill me with your zeal and fan the flame of my spiritual fervour, so that my heart is aligned with your heart. You are the God of life and the giver of life. You create life in the mother’s womb. Every life is precious to you, fearfully and wonderfully made. For each of these next forty days, dear Lord, keep me joyful in hope and faithful in prayer for the unborn and for all those affected by the tragedy of abortion. Amen.

Day 2

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. Philippians 2: 1– 4

Dear Lord, you have given me encouragement, comfort, and love. You gave me life. You formed me in my mother’s womb, protected my life, and brought me into this world, just as you did for every member of our human family. Help me to be your ambassador on this earth. Stir my soul, Lord, with your tenderness and compassion. Show me how you would have me look to the interests of others, born and unborn, even when I cannot imagine what difference I can make. Amen.

Day 3

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55: 8– 9

Father, never let me doubt your power to accomplish your will. And remind me to not try to limit the breadth and grandeur of your vision. My dreams and aspirations may be modest, but yours are sweeping, majestic, and awe-inspiring. Give me the courage to dream big along with you. Amen.

Day 4

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.Hebrews 12: 1– 2

Thank you, Lord, for the many ways you provide for me. For your daily provision of food, shelter, and other of life’s necessities that, even if it doesn’t come easily, does come when I need it. Thank you for the provision you make when I’m called to special challenges, such as 40 Days for Life. Continue to meet the needs of 40 Days for Life for financial support and for the energy and emotional resilience to stand and pray for long hours, often in the face of adversity. Help me to not take your provision for granted but rather to feel anew a humble and loving gratitude each time I experience it. Amen.

Day 5

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God— this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is— his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12: 1-2

Dear Lord, give me the strength to set aside my own fears, desires, aspirations, and plans and conform to your perfect will. Help me with priorities— when it’s a choice between some new comfort or diversion for myself and the possibility of saving a life, help me see that choice in clear terms. And remind me to be grateful for all you’re already doing, not only for me and my loved ones but for the unborn and the desperate families searching for answers. Help them to find the right ones. Amen.


Day 6

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name,there am I with them.” Matthew 18: 19– 20

Dear Lord, you know what holds me back. It’s easy to tell myself that I am too insignificant to make a difference, especially when you call me out of my comfort zone. I confess, Lord, that all too often I have trouble seeing past the rain on my windshield and forget— or even worse, don’t even believe— that you have a grand, eternal plan and that you call me to play my part in it. Today I pray for your strength in the simple obedience to step out no matter what the world thinks of me. And I ask you to give me the boldness to play my part in your work of saving lives. Amen.


Day 7

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13: 1– 8

Dear Lord, your love is so far above my own, I confess that I am not sure how to love people I’ve never met. But your Word says we love because you first loved us (1 John 4: 19). You love each woman entering and leaving every abortion facility. As I read the voices of some of those women today, I could sense their loss and pain. Today, I pray for the women in my town who have gone through the painful experience of abortion. I thank you for the people you have called to the front lines to stand and pray and be a witness that you love us all. Increase my love for those women today, Lord, and give me the boldness to take the next step in showing your love to them in concrete ways. Amen.




Bereit, David; Carney, Shawn (2013-01-17). 40 Days for Life: Discover What God Has Done...Imagine What He Can Do (Kindle Locations 1035-1038). Cappella Books. Kindle Edition.