They cannot stop us

Since 1962 it has been illegal to pray in public schools in the US. It was ruled to be unconstitutional. Since then the very act of praying has been attacked in ways never seen before especially in the United Kingdom and Australia. In October 2024, Adam Smith-Connor who served in Afghanistan, was given a criminal record and ordered to pay £9,000 in adverse costs for breaking the rules of a local “buffer zone” ordinance banning “expressions of approval or disapproval” of abortion on several streets in the area. He was caught and arrested for silently praying in a green near an abortion clinic.

More recently prayer has been attacked in Australia. On April 4, the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) began enforcing a new law criminalizing anti-conversion therapy, which now includes praying with someone about their gender or sexual identity and even encouraging abstinence for queer Christians. 

On the website Anti-Discrimination New South Wales, a government body that administers and investigates anti-discrimination, it’s explained that “praying with or over a person with the intent to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity is unlawful … even if that person has asked you to pray for them to be able to change or suppress their sexuality or gender identity.” 

These extremes and invasions into the spiritual lives of believers seem extreme but they are really nothing new. Prayer and any outward worship has been attacked all the way back to the time of Noah.

One thing many Christians need to realize is that these laws may terrify people as they are intended to do but they cannot stop it in the Children of God. They always have a direct way to bring their request right to him. It is something that cannot be suppressed through man made laws or buffer zones.

The bible has a lot to say about prayer. In fact it has many disciplines that defy anything man can use to try to prevent it.

The first one is prayer can be seen by God anywhere a believer is. It is not location specific at all. Praying in front of abortion clinics may not be something God wants us to do either.

Matthew 5:5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

This is a direct ordinance of Jesus to not make a spectacle of yourself. Some may be prompted by God to pray in public as a way to draw attention to the severity of these laws but understand, He hears you no matter what and where you are. People throughout history have changed events according to God’s will just by praying. Many prayed for the end of world wars and eventually it came to pass. An abortion clinic is small in comparison, but still worth praying for them to close. God hears you and blesses you and others in His time.

Understand it is not God’s will to change the world now. That comes when Jesus Christ returns in the future. This world is here and will test us and our faith. But we should never give in when it violates God’s commands. All things are a testing and building of our faith in Him.

More to come on this next week.

Your Brother in Christ,

Steve Koenig

Lakeshore Fellowship