Lent 2025 – War Against Mary’s Offspring – A Prayer for Healing from Abortion - Purity 1616

Welcome to the MT for Christ 24/7 podcast. I'm M.t. Clark, and this is today's photo. To see today's photo, go to mtforchrist.com or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or X, uh, or watch us on YouTube. Anyway, um, good morning. Today's photo of Albert Ernest's— Ernest— Ernst Carrière-Belleuse's sculpture, The Messiah, 1867, comes to us from yours truly as I captured this work of art while visiting the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Mass., back on July 9th, 2023. The caption read, the Virgin Mary lifts the infant Jesus above her head as if to offer her child to the world. The baby's arms are outstretched and his head hangs down in a pose that prefigures the crucifixion. Well, it's Wednesday, and while I was, um, yeah, let's see, my bad, um, what, yeah, it's Wednesday, and, and as I spent the day yesterday on the blog confessing my mixed, uh, mixed fasting intentions and failure to complete a Lenten supper fast, I forgot to mention that Tuesday was a feast day. And no, I didn't overindulge. I'm tracking everything I consume again on the MyFitnessPal app, uh, to be be more self-aware and to combat my tendency to overeat. So, day 2 of food plan success. Hurrah! Anyway, for those who forgot or didn't know, yesterday, Tuesday, March 25th, was the Feast of the Annunciation. What is that, and why is it celebrated on March 25th, you may ask? Well, according to an article on EWTN, the Solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated 9 months before the Nativity of the Lord. A feast that came about early historically. The Annunciation recalls the day when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and revealed God's will that she become the mother of the Son of God, and she accepted. At that moment, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The Annunciation is therefore a celebration of Mary's faith and the conception of Jesus. Thus, the day is celebrated 9 months before Christmas. As a former Catholic, I'm somewhat wary of the adoration of Mary and the prayers that are aimed in her direction at times, but I have to admit that she is worthy of praise and admiration, and I tend to sort of agree with EWTN's summation of what Mary's role is in the life of a Christian. EWTN's Annunciation page from yesterday, um, which I am sharing links to on the blog, explains Mary's role in our life as first, Mary is truly our mother. In Revelation 12:17, we see that the offspring of Mary are those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. Thus, as Christians, we become the sons and daughters of Mary. Second, Mary is our perfect example of following Jesus in everything we do. For example, at the wedding feast in Cana, she said to the servants, "Do whatever he, Jesus, tells you." This was the running theme throughout Mary's life, continually pointing to her son. Also, Mary shows us how to truly obey. At the Annunciation, Mary was a young teenager, a virgin. Instead of saying no to the Lord because of the enormity of the request, she put total trust in the Lord. In our daily lives, we should follow her example as we trust God in all large and small issues. While I appreciate that Mary is a spiritual mother to us as Christians, in a sense, I, I don't I won't be offering any prayers to her anytime soon. My prayers go right to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But I will follow her example as expressed in Carrier-Bellucci's sculpture and lift Jesus up for the whole world to see. I have to admit that my relationship with Mary as my spiritual mom is complicated because I think seeking prayerful intercession from saints is misguided., but I do admire Mary's faith to say yes to God in the most vulnerable way a woman can, to have his baby, to be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, God in the flesh, without even having known a man. The Virgin Mary is to be admired for this huge leap of faith and for faithfully raising, caring for, and being with Jesus right up until the minute of his death. Supernatural aspects aside, when we think of the Virgin Mary and her humanness, we can see a young teenage woman agreeing have a baby, something that many young teenage women would seek to avoid, and some may even choose to eliminate. Revelation 12:17 says, and the dragon was angry at the woman and declared war against the rest of her children, all who keep God's commandments and maintain their testimony for Jesus, which refers to the persecution of the church. But if we consider how Satan seeks to kill and destroy all of mankind, we could easily say how He declares war on all who are made in the image of God through the world system, and specifically against the most vulnerable—babies with abortion. The Virgin Mary chose to carry and give birth to her baby, but many other teenage girls are, are deceived by the world, the flesh, and the devil not to. Based on the teenage female U.S. population of 2023, and the reported rate of abortions per 1,000 teenage women in 2022, I calculated that there are, are approximately 58,212 abortions just among teenage women in the United States in any given year. I had to calculate this figure myself because, perhaps not surprisingly, these numbers aren't easily accessible, perhaps because of the sensitive nature of this data. My aim is not to cause outrage or shame. I know women who have had abortions, and I can understand why they would choose to terminate a pregnancy. Having a baby is a scary proposition for anyone, and my heart is with those who have chosen to have an abortion. I simply can't imagine what that's like, but I do know that God loves all of us regardless of what we have done in the past. There is healing and forgiveness for anyone who puts their faith in Jesus and asks for God's healing help and prayer. I have I have been sharing prayers from Dr. Neil Anderson's The Steps to Freedom in Christ during the season of Lent to offer people a way in which they can come to God in prayer to be set free of the shame, guilt, and pain of their sins. And today, as I contemplate the faithfulness of Mary and the spiritual, mental, and emotional state of those who chose a different path, I offer Anderson's Prayer for Abortion. This prayer is for anyone who has been involved with an abortion, male or female. Women and men carry the burden of abortions they have had or been involved with, and this prayer can help them to be free of it. Dr. Neil Anderson helps us to pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I confess that I was not a proper guardian and keeper of the life you entrusted to me, and I confess that I have sinned. Thank you that because of your forgiveness, I can forgive myself. I commit the child to you for all eternity and believe that he or she is in your caring hands. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. That's a short prayer, but it can go a long way to help people to find healing, closure, forgiveness, and peace. You can download a free JPEG of this prayer on the blog today., to use or to share on social media. The pains of our sins carry a heavy weight on our souls, and it is my hope that the prayers I have been sharing from Dr. Neil Anderson will help some to find healing and peace. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from the section on loving and serving others, and today's verses are come from Galatians 5:13-15, where the word of God says For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. Today's verses are the first of two passages of scripture that fall under the 22nd point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on loving and serving others. That 22nd point is: True freedom is to serve one another in love. Today's Bible verses encourage us to not let our freedom be an opportunity for the flesh to sin freely, denying cheap grace, and to instead use our liberty to lovingly serve others. The Apostle Paul also points to Jesus— well, the second of Jesus' two greatest commandments— as the means of fulfillment of the Old Old Testament law, but also for our lives. So don't let your freedom from God's wrath that was bought with the blood of Christ lead you to believe that you have a license to sin. But instead, let the love of the Lord move you to share God's free gift of grace with others by sharing the good news verbally and showing the good news in you through good works. As always, we encourage everyone to go to mtforchrist.com, where we always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist our brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. And today we continue sharing from Day by Day Along the Way by J.E. Adams. It's a 365-day devotional, and we're on day 115, where Adams shares a portion of 2 Corinthians 1:18, which says, as surely as God is dependable Our word to you has not been yes and no. And J.E. Adams writes, Paul had been accused of being unreliable because he changed his mind. False teachers who were troubling the Corinthian church seized upon this change of plans as an indication that his word was untrustworthy. Paul had planned to stop by Corinth on his way to Jerusalem but made a calculated decision not to do so. He decided not to visit at that time in order to give the church opportunity to deal with problems they had— that he had delineated in his first letter to them. He expected that if he didn't change his plans, it would be a very painful visit. So he said it was to spare them that he sailed by rather than stopping. The decision was made neither because of fear nor because of lack of dependability, but was a gracious act on his part. The principle that he enunciated, however, is of wide application. Unless there is a good reason, you must do what you said you would do. Is your word yes, or yes and no? That is, one that arcs back and forth between the two. God wants you to mean yes when you say yes. Amen. Yeah, and, you know, Jesus taught that in the Sermon on the Mount. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Don't make a bunch of oaths unless you're going to keep them, you know. And certainly don't swear by God or the golden temple or any of that stuff. Just let your yes be yes and your no be no. And if you're going to say you're going to do something or show up somewhere, do that. Do it and show up. That's one of the first, first, first, uh, first principles of, uh, discipleship is to be a man of your word, to tell the truth and to do what's right. And so, so, but at the same time, sometimes things change and we, you know, we have to allow, allow for that. Um, you know, basically instead of— if we get a feeling in our spirit like Paul did to change your course and not do what you said you were going to do, then we should listen to the Holy Spirit and you know, ask for apologies, make our apologies later, and ask for forgiveness later if it's warranted. But Paul explains himself too, that he did it for a reason. So, and that reason was, you know, out of mercy for them. So we should, uh, we should follow and, uh, give people mercy if they need it. And, uh, of course, be a man of our word as well. Anyway, um, Well, you know, being a man of word is really about surrendering to the Lord. So that's why we always ask, have you fully surrendered to God? Are you trying to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, doing what is right according to God's word, according to his Spirit? We recommend this path of Christian discipleship because we found freedom on it, and we found healing and forgiveness, grace, joy, and love through it all. And, uh, we highly recommend you put your faith in Jesus and decide to pick up your cross and follow him, because he will give you a hope in a future, and he'll give you a purpose. Part of my purpose is to serve as a leader of Celebrate Freedom support group, uh, that meets at Starpoint Church in Clifton Park, New York, on Wednesday nights. That's tonight. So if you're in the Capital District of New York and can get to Clifton Park, by 6:30 PM, we invite you to join our Christian Recovery and Discipleship Fellowship. We'll be there to support you in your walk as you try to distance yourself from your hurts, habits, and hang-ups, and we'll encourage you to walk by faith and, you know, live life with the Lord and asking for His help. But if you're not in the area or you can't get there tonight, um, there's good news. Um, the teachings that we do at Celebrate Freedom are being recorded. Um, not the ones at the group, uh, confidentiality is a thing and that we must maintain, and we do. Um, but the, the teachings, uh, that we do, uh, are now being put on a, on a YouTube series called Christian Recovery Celebrate Freedom with M.t. Clark. That's the name of the playlist. And, um, we just put out our, I believe, our 15th episode our 14th episode. I lost count. Um, I think it's our 14th episode. There might be 15 in the playlist because I added one of our blog posts basically with some prayers on, uh, resolving sexual sin, um, in there. Um, but, um, the other ones are all straight from the series on, on the teachings that I, I do. So it's me presenting them as your Christian life coach, but, uh, they're, they're out there and you can go to mtforchrist.com if you can't find them on YouTube. Um, we have a whole page dedicated to the YouTube playlist we have where you can find them, and you can find other teachings we've done in the past too that can encourage you in your faith and possibly help you to find or increase your freedom in Christ. Um, like courses like, uh, the Victory— Victor Over the Darkness, the Bondage Breaker, Freedom in Christ, and our very own Celebrate Freedom discipleship course. Uh, we've put all these things together because, um, well, that these teachings are things that inspired us, and so we try to share the good news of what what you can do when you put your faith in Christ and the freedom you can find there. And another way we, we try to, you know, do that is through live online, you know, interaction with believers. And I'm happy to say that we're, we're ready to launch the Grace Course next Tuesday night, uh, 6:30 PM online, uh, via Zoom, uh, where we'll be discussing the Grace Course Participant's Guide that's pictured here and, uh, all the videos that we, uh, watch. Basically, it's a video and book study put out by Steve Goss of Freedom in Grace Ministries, and we're facilitating a study group basically to go through that. And so it'll be 8 weeks long as we go through the 8 lessons of the Grace Course, and we hope that it'll be blessed by the Lord to help people to experience, um, God's grace. And last night I put out an email basically to everybody on my mailing list, um, that it's your last opportunity to register as registration will close this Sunday. March 30th. Um, so, but you know what, honestly, if you came late, I'd probably let you in anyway. I mean, you know, I'm not some bureaucrat. Um, you know, if you wanted in, you paid your registration fee, we'd let you in. But that's grace. Uh, you know, so, uh, but we would like you to be prepared, uh, for the course and not show up late. Um, but, um, you know If you show up late, oh well, you know, um, we would, we would welcome you with open arms and, uh, you know, uh, prayerfully encourage you to, you know, catch up with the Grace Course teachings. But you can go there, you can go to mtforchrist.com, our group coaching events page, to find that information and, um, to sign up today. All right, um, beyond that, uh, if you appreciate what we're trying to do here at, uh, the M.t. Clark Christ Community Freedom Ministry, my promoting freedom in Christ, promoting Christian recovery and discipleship, and you want to support us, we would love for you to support us financially by going to mtforchrist.com, our donations page, and giving what you can to help cover our ministry costs. Beyond that, you can always send me an email at mtforchrist247@gmail.com to give us feedback. We'd appreciate that too. Anyway, we always end each message by asking the same question twice, but in a different way, by asking, are you empty for Christ too? And you can see that's a play on words. Um, basically my initials, number 4, and Christ, it sounds like empty for Christ. And that was the whole thing. Um, when, when I was gaining my freedom in Christ, I realized I just wanted to empty myself of all the things the world taught me to learn from Jesus and to follow Jesus and to be filled with his Holy Spirit. And, you know, so we encourage a life of, you know, Spirit-filled living. And if you're, if you're there, we say great, keep on walking and talking with God. If you're not there, we encourage you to pray. Pray for the Lord to reveal himself to you. Pray to make Jesus your Lord and Savior. And pray for the strength and wisdom and love that you'll need to follow him. We encourage that prayer because we know prayer works, and that's why we pray every day, like right now. Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you for, you know, the Virgin Mary's faithfulness to say yes to you and in a major way to be the vehicle through which the Messiah came. That you came, your plan, your kingdom came to earth, and Jesus came to earth, and we thank you for the good things you do through all the body of Christ when they say yes to you, Lord. We're saying yes, but we're also asking for help. We need your help just to, you know, make it through the day sometimes and to do the good things that you would have us do. So we're just praying for you to go before us today, open our eyes to the things you want us to see, and lead us in the way we should go. Because all we want to do is your will, and, uh, we don't know what that is all the time, and we need your help. So we're asking also, we're asking for you to help anyone who's reading, listening, or watching this message today, Lord, that you come alongside them and their prayer requests and their walk of faith. Um, they need your help, and we're asking you for you to help them. Um, Lord, we thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.