Bound4Life Notes

SARASOTA HOUSE OF PRAYER– CAROLYN FARRIS Bound4LIFE SRQ I. BACKGROUND A. Bound4LIFE was founded in 2004, after 50 days and nights of around-the-clock corporate prayer and fasting. A large group of believers packed up their sleeping bags and headed to Washington, DC. Their goal: to exalt Jesus in the nation’s capitol, to see abortion end, and to contend for great awakening in every sphere of society. B. During that extended fast, one of the young leaders had a dream in which he saw a vast sea of people, thousands and thousands, and their mouths were covered with red tape that said LIFE. Believing this to be a divine strategy, the company of mainly young people began to stand in front of the United States Supreme Court in silent prayer wearing a piece of red tape on their mouths. C. What was birthed during those days of intercession has continued to impact this entire nation as well as many other nations. Jesus, the great intercessor, is looking for people to stand with Him in the gap in the midst of this silent holocaust called abortion. Bound4LIFE is committed to an ongoing stand-in agreement with God and His word- with the intention to remain so until His justice is released on the Earth. II. THE IMPACT A. Media and the News-A picture is worth 1000 words. Nearly every media news source has taken hold of this image and spread it everywhere. It quickly became a phenomenon that caught the eyes and heart of the world. “Life tape subpoenas the conscience of the nation.” (A subpoena orders a person to attend a court and stand before a judge. You cannot ignore a subpoena.) B. The Witness-Life tape was spread further and impacted more people than shouting on a street corner could have ever done. Political leaders and public policy was directly impacted. Women seeking abortions had experiences with the love of God and have chosen not to abort their babies because of it. C. The Movement-What started as just a prayer meeting has become a grassroots movement targeting the ending of abortion, the increase of adoptions, and the sending of revival to reform government and culture. This movement continues today through city chapters. Their mission is to mobilize a massive surge of prayer and pro-life justice through silent sieges and life bands. 1. Silent Sieges- Public stands of silent prayer, wearing red tape with the word LIFE written on it, in front of courthouses and abortion centers around the nation and the world. a). Silent sieges derive their name from Ezekiel 4: 2-3 FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ Bound4LIFE SRQ-Carolyn Farris Page 2 “Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it… Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This will be a sign.” ( Ezekiel 4:2-3) b). God tells Ezekiel to do this as a warning or sign to the house of Israel. Obviously silent sieges are not an interpretation of this passage, but it is symbolic just like Ezekiel’s stand was. We are not a symbol of judgement to the people but a symbol of the voiceless. The name “siege” was chosen because we are forming a siege wall, not of judgement but of prayer. c). A silent siege of just that-a stand in silent prayer on behalf of a nation that is aborting its children. When LIFE is written on a piece of red tape and placed over our mouths, we are identifying with the silence of the unborn who have no voice to defend themselves. In that place of weakness, prayerlessness is no longer and option. Hearts become tender and broken towards the unthinkable tragedy. A sense of urgency grows within. 2. LIFE Bands-The red Life Band that we wear is not a fad or a fashion statement. In fact, it is an outward marking of an internal conviction. We wear this band in unity and as a reminder of a solemn commitment that we have made—a lifestyle that we have entered into willingly. The Life Band Commitment developed out of a great desire to see the body of Christ make a deliberate, unified effort to work towards the ending abortion. The covenant has three parts—PRAY, VOTE and OBEY. a). PRAY-By wearing this band we commit to pray daily for the ending of abortion. God has given us a simple 22-word prayer to replace the one removed from public schools in 1962. (“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence on Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country.” Engel v. Vitale) “Jesus, we plead Your blood over our sins and the sins of our nation. God, end abortion, and send revival to America!” b). VOTE-By wearing this band we are making a commitment to vote for candidates who are pro-life. We cannot pray for abortion to end and still promote those who support it. c). OBEY-By wearing this band we are making a commitment to obey God as He leads us into works of compassion and justice. We must always be willing to be the answer to our own prayers. FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ Bound4LIFE SRQ-Carolyn Farris Page 3 III. WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO A WE ARE CALLED: God’s people are called to be a voice for the voiceless and a defense for the defenseless. What does that look like in a contemporary culture? How are these mandates walked out effectively? While the principles of scripture remain unchanged throughout the ages, God often releases divine strategies for their application in order to impact culture effectively. B. THE SIMPLE ANSWER: We pray and stand for justice because it is what God’s people are called to do. “And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” ( Luke 18: 7-8) IV. REVIVAL, AWAKENING, THE ENDING OF ABORTION, AND A CULTURE OF LIFE A. What would happen if every church would rise up in prayer and stand in the authority of Christ against the spiritual forces of darkness that are seeking to destroy a generation in the womb? B. We cry out for revival in our region, in the church, and it begins with us. We need to cry out for revival in our own hearts, to see, for lack of better terms, that ALL lives matter, and that includes those of the unborn. God cares about the blood of the innocent and actually demands a reckoning for the shedding of that blood. C. Because of the shedding of innocent blood, there is a blood pollution problem on America’s soil. The nation’s greatest dread is not Islam, but God. One of God’s names is “the Avenger of Blood”. Nothing can wash away this defilement except the blood of Jesus. “Because His judgements are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her’” ( Revelation 19:2) So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement, can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of Him who shed it. ( Numbers 35:33) D. Blood pollution comes on the land when innocent blood is shed. The sacrificing of babies is fueling the demonization of our nation. Without God’s mercy, through interceding and acting to stop abortion, a day of reckoning is coming to our nation. FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ Bound4LIFE SRQ-Carolyn Farris Page 4 E. Communal Guilt-The raising up of priestly, intercessory ministry in the body of Christ is to bring forth the blood of the Lamb on behalf of shed blood. Individual guilt and communal guilt must be atoned for , When a national law encourages the shedding of innocent blood, then there is a national guilt on us all. If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him. then your elders and your judges shall go out and they shall measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities.and it shall be that the elders of the nearest city to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke. The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to the valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. Then the priests, the sons, of Levi, shall come near for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. ( Deuteronomy 21:1-5) F. Ruth Graham said that, “If God does not judge America, He must apologize for Sodom and Gomorrah.” Lou Engle says, “ If God judges America, then the Church will have to apologize to the USA.” G. This is why God is raising up intercessors. He is raising up those who will stand in the gap before Him crying out that He would have mercy on a nation that has shed the blood of over 60 million babies since 1973. This is why we pray for revival and awakening. We are praying that God would awaken hearts again. We are praying for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as in the days of the first and second great awakenings. We are asking for God to raise up a culture of life. We need to see that every life is precious to God. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you were born, I sanctified you….” ( Jeremiah 1:5) “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” ( Psalm 139:16) “Because they have forsaken Me and made me this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents. ( they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into my mind).” ( Jeremiah 19:4-5) FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ Bound4LIFE SRQ-Carolyn Farris Page 5 IV. BOUND4LIFE SARASOTA ( B4L SRQ) A. Bound4LIFE Sarasota was started in 2007 by Dave Whitmire. Carolyn Farris and Georgia Schaefer then took it over from him in 2014 and it became a part of the Sarasota House Of Prayer. B4L SRQ believes that God has called us not only to pray for the ending of abortion, but also to put our words into action by standing as a witness to the city of Sarasota. We siege in three different locations: 1. Sarasota County Courthouse 2. Planned Parenthood 3. All Women’s Health Center B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THURSDAYS: We will meet every Thursday in the classroom at 2:55pm. You may want to bring another set of clothes with you, as you will get hot and sweaty. Sunscreen, hats and sunglasses may be permitted, outside only. C. ATTITUDE AND ETIQUETTE: Silent sieges are not a protest. It is a prayer meeting. (This is how you should look at it). You are there to PRAY, not to scare or make the women or men feel bad for walking into the abortion facilities. Our desire is to love them by praying for them. It’s intense enough for them to walk by us in the first place, so be kind. If anything, we hope that the sight of Life Tape causes them to wonder about it, not be threatened about it. You need to be respectful, loving, and ready to pray with your heart wide open. If this is a problem or a concern, both Carolyn, Georgia, and Dave will be available to answer and address any of your concerns or questions. D. SILENT SIEGE PROTOCOL 1. You will need to pick up your piece of LIFE tape or mask, before we leave for the siege location. Please do not lose it. When we arrive at the location we will briefly meet as a group to discuss what we will be targeting in prayer. 2. When we get to the location we will stand in a line. Please do not walk around unless it is a designated prayer walk day 3. USE THE RESTROOM BEFORE YOU LEAVE. There are no places to use it when we are out 4. If someone is trying to talk to you, direct them to Carolyn or the designated spokesperson. FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ Bound4LIFE SRQ-Carolyn Farris Page 6 5. Tape needs to be on your mouth. If this is a problem for any medical reason, you need to notify leaders BEFORE the siege. 6. Leave personal items ( water, bags, etc) in the vehicle. You may bring headphones with you. We ask that you are listening to things that are up lifting such as worship music, Corey Russell albums, Lou Engle teachings, ( these help me to stay engaged). 7. You are going to notice that you will get distracted. Just keep pressing in and pressing on. We will try to leave by 2:45pm so that we can get back on time. FACEBOOK.COM/BOUND4LIFESRQ