How to Pray for Sex Trafficking

At Hope Church, we are constantly looking for opportunities to advance God’s kingdom and invade darkness in our world and city. Hope Church’s local mission focus is sex trafficking and we desperately want to see this evil ended in Houston, America, and the World.

As a priority, we are above all committed to praying for the end of sex trafficking in our city and world. At Hope, we firmly believe prayer should be offensively-minded and through prayer we are filled and empowered by the Spirit of God.  As our pastor, Peter Swann, has been known to say, “we tend to pray as if we're dealing with a bb gun not realizing that it’s an intercontinental ballistic missile.” We desperately want to be a bold praying people.

One key point when praying for the issue of sex trafficking is understanding that the victims are more than just the women who have been enslaved.  A local justice organization in Houston, Elijah Rising, put together the following prayer guide (along with accompanying bible verses) to help shape our prayers as we pray for this muti-faceted and deeply complex issue. Join us in praying and attacking darkness.

PRAY FOR THE VICTIMS

READ  Psalm 138:7, Isaiah 40:29, Luke 19:10

PRAY FOR STRENGTH, COURAGE AND SALVATION

READ Psalm 82:4, Psalm 103:6, Psalm 146:7

PRAY FOR PROTECTION, FREEDOM AND JUSTICE

READ Psalm 40:1-2, Jeremiah 30:17, Jeremiah 31:17

PRAY FOR HOPE AND HEALING

PRAY FOR THE TRAFFICKERS

READ Isaiah 55:7, Romans 5:6-8, 2 Timothy 2:25

PRAY FOR CONVICTION,  REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

READ Psalm 7:9, Psalm 37:17, Psalm 37:20

PRAY FOR CRIMINAL NETWORKS TO BE DISMANTLED

READ  Isaiah 16:4, Jeremiah 22:3, Amos 5:15a

PRAY FOR OPPRESSORS TO BE ARRESTED AND PROSECUTED

PRAY FOR GOVERNMENTS

READ Deuteronomy 16:19, Amos 5:12, Zechariah 8:16

PRAY FOR CORRUPTION TO CEASE

READ Proverbs 8:15, Proverbs 29:4, Nehemiah 9:13

PRAY FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF JUST LEGISLATION

READ READ 1 Kings 3:12, Proverbs 3:21, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

PRAY FOR DISCERNMENT IN FORMING ALLIANCES

PRAY FOR THE CHURCH IN HOUSTON

READ Isaiah 60:1-2, Matthew 5:13-14, Matthew 16:18

PRAY FOR THE CHURCH TO PREVAIL

READ Psalm 94:16, Proverbs 31:8, Matthew 9:37-38

PRAY FOR ADVOCATES AND LABORERS TO EMERGE

READ Psalm 133, John 17:23,  Romans 15:5

PRAY FOR THE CHURCH TO UNITE AGAINST INJUSTICE

PRAY AGAINST ROOT CAUSES

READ Proverbs 14:21, Isaiah 58:7, Isaiah 61:1

PRAY TO BREAK POVERTY

READ Joel 3:3-6, Luke 12:15, 1 Timothy 6:10a

PRAY TO BREAK THE EXPLOITATION OF GREED

READ Genesis 1:27, Psalm 45:9, Galatians 3:28

PRAY FOR THE END OF PREJUDICE, RACISM AND SEXISM

PRAY FOR INCREASED GLOBAL AWARENESS

READ Mark 4:22, Luke 12:2, Ephesians 5:13

PRAY FOR THE REALITY OF TRAFFICKING TO BE UNVEILED

READ Psalm 25:4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 55:9

PRAY FOR STRATEGIES TO RAISE AWARENESS

READ Isaiah 58:6-7, James 1:22, James 2:16-17

PRAY FOR PEOPLE TO BE STIRRED TO ACTION