Day 6: What If She Turned to You?

{{first_name|Friend}},

Today, I want you to pray for a woman you may never meet.

She just found out she’s pregnant. She’s scared, she doesn’t know what comes next, and before she has even had time to process what is happening, the voices around her may already be telling her what she should do.

Maybe it’s a boyfriend saying, “We’re not ready.” Maybe it’s a husband worried about finances, a parent telling her, “You can’t have a baby right now,” or a friend trying to convince her that abortion will make everything easier. With so many voices speaking into one of the most vulnerable moments of her life, I can’t help but wonder:

Is anyone listening to her?

Fear has a way of making us believe there is only one way out. There can be fear of losing a relationship, disappointing family, not having enough money, raising a child alone, or watching the future you had planned suddenly change.

For a woman facing an unexpected pregnancy, those fears can become even heavier when they are reinforced by the people she loves and trusts most. Sometimes what is described as a “choice” may not feel like much of a choice at all when she is afraid of what she might lose if she says no.

That is the woman I want us to pray for on Day 6.

Pray for the woman sitting in her car wondering what to do. Pray for the woman whose boyfriend has told her he will leave. Pray for the young woman terrified to tell her parents, the mother wondering how she could possibly afford another child, and the woman hearing every reason why she can’t when what she desperately needs is someone willing to remind her that she does not have to face this alone.

Sometimes I wonder how different her circumstances might feel if just one person stepped forward and said, “I’m here. We will figure this out together.”

What if someone helped her find housing? What if someone helped with medical care, diapers, transportation, childcare, or groceries? What if someone simply sat beside her long enough to listen to what she wants and what she is afraid of?

What if, instead of another person telling her what she has to do, she encountered someone willing to walk with her?

Friend, that is the kind of community I want us to be.

Life-affirming organizations throughout the Southwest exist because our prayers should move us toward loving and serving our neighbor. We want women and families to know that there are people prepared to walk alongside them, not only during a pregnancy, but in the months and years that follow.

Because choosing life shouldn’t mean choosing abandonment.

And even before we ever know her name, we can begin praying for her.

Today, pray that God quiets the voices of fear surrounding her and gives her the courage to recognize her own voice. Pray that coercion is brought into the light and that she encounters trustworthy people who respect her freedom and are willing to support her. Pray that God places the right person in her path at exactly the right moment.

And perhaps most importantly, pray that when someone needs to be that person, we are willing to answer the call.

Lord, strengthen every woman facing pressure from those around her. Break the power of fear and coercion, and send her trustworthy people who will protect her freedom and support both her and her child. Amen.

As we continue these 40 days, I invite you to do more than read this prayer. Come pray it with us.

Give one hour at the vigil for the woman who may be facing this decision today. You may never know her name or hear her story, but God already knows both.

SIGN UP FOR ONE HOUR OF PRAYER

Gratefully in Christ,

Jessica Sifuentes
President & CEO
Southwest Coalition, Inc.

📅 Friday, October 2
🕕 Movie begins at 6:00 PM
📍 Location: 1330 Gardner Ave., Las Cruces, NM