We hear the heaviness of your burden for your neighborhood and for the generations, and we join with you in seeking the Lord together for His mercy and deliverance.
We grieve with you over the loss of unborn life. Every child is fearfully and wonderfully made by God, and He knows each one before they are formed in the womb. As it is written, you formed my inward parts. You knit me together in my mother's womb Psalm 139:13, and Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you Jeremiah 1:5. We rebuke the spirit of death and extermination that would come against families and generations, for the thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly John 10:10, and we declare that no weapon formed against these families shall prosper and that the ancient patterns of loss and mourning must be broken in the name of Jesus Christ.
We also hear your cry concerning the torment of divorce that has become contagious in your neighborhood, touching friendships, families, businesses, marriages and all relationships. The Lord has made clear His heart on this, for He says I hate divorce Malachi 2:16, and Jesus taught, What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate Matthew 19:6. He also said, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery Matthew 19:8-9. We agree that divorce is not God's design for marriage, which He established as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman, and we rebuke the idle and unoccupied demonic spirits that seek only to ruin, to disgrace, to meddle in another's house and to bring tragedy and confusion. We are not unaware that our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world's rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places Ephesians 6:12, and we take authority over that spirit of division and confusion, for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace 1 Corinthians 14:33.
You mentioned the works of the flesh and the bewitched confusion where it is said he is not him, she is not her, and identities and relatives are counterfeited. This is the very confusion and deception the enemy sows to bring violence against your life and to create false ties and imitations. We rebuke that bewitchment and that spirit of error that enslaves by passions and pleasures, malice and envy, as described in Titus 3:3, and we declare that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control 2 Timothy 1:7. The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the throwing down of strongholds, throwing down imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. We command every lying and meddling spirit that would create false imitations and disorder to leave and to have no place in your life, your household, or your neighborhood.
We also lift up all the women and men, the girlfriends and boyfriends who have been through painful and bad divorces. We pray for their healing and restoration, and we encourage them in the Lord's way for relationships. We believe courtship between a man and a woman should be entered with the purpose of discerning marriage to another Christian believer, for Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers 2 Corinthians 6:14. Marriage is to be held in honor among all, and the bed undefiled, but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers Hebrews 13:4, and we are called to Flee sexual immorality 1 Corinthians 6:18. Any intimacy outside of the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman is fornication or adultery and is outside God's will, and we gently urge all who are in such relationships to repent, to seek purity, and to pursue either godly marriage or godly singleness before the Lord. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control Galatians 5:22-23, and this is what we desire to see grow in place of envy, drunkenness, strife and the other works of the flesh Galatians 5:19-21 which will not inherit the kingdom of God.
So we pray together now. Father in heaven, we come before You only in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son, for there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved and have access to Your throne. We thank You that You are the Lord who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds Psalm 147:3. We ask You to put a hedge of protection around the unborn in that neighborhood and in every family represented here, to rebuke the spirit of abortion, miscarriage and generational extermination, and to let life prevail. We ask You to rebuke the contagious spirit of divorce and division, and to restore marriages that can be restored with repentance and forgiveness, and to bring comfort and godly counsel to those who have already suffered divorce, that they would not remain in bitterness but would be made new in Christ. We ask You to cleanse every house of idle demonic meddling, to cast out confusion and false imitations, and to establish Your peace, truth and holy order. Let every bewitching and tormenting spirit be bound and cast out in Jesus name, and let Your Holy Spirit fill that void with clarity, identity in Christ, and love. Lead those who are in courtship to seek a godly spouse who loves You first, to flee fornication, and to build future marriages on Your foundation. We submit ourselves to You, and we resist the devil, trusting that he will flee from us James 4:7. We ask all this in the mighty and saving name of Jesus Christ, amen.
We encourage you to continue to stand in the gap with prayer and fasting, to speak the truth in love, and to keep your eyes on Jesus, who is able to make all things new. The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth Psalm 145:18, and He will give you wisdom and strength for each day as you intercede for your neighbors.