I’ve just come home from a missions trip to Panama City.  We hosted a conference for girls and saw over 1500 girls attend. 

And the last few days, I’ve been asking God what I should specifically be praying over these precious girls.  And the Holy Spirit has been bringing back to my heart the lyrics from a song my sweet friend Stephanie sang during the opener of the conference.  It says this:

You’ve got every right to a beautiful life.

And that is what I have been praying over these sweet girls.  That they would KNOW that they DESERVE an abundant, joyful and peace-filled life.  Their circumstances scream to them that this kind of existence will never be a reality.  The first night the altar call was for those who were facing some kind of physical or sexual abuse.  I would guess about 75% of the girls came forward.  One of the mothers collapsed in my arms trembling with fear as she explained the constant violence she faces in her home.  My heart broke for her… and it broke even more as I looked into the faces of her 3 daughters standing next to her with blank stares on their faces.

They don’t know that they have every right to a beautiful life.

They don’t know it because they don’t see it modeled by their sweet mother who probably didn’t see it modeled for her.  They don’t know it because there are NO laws that protect them from this kind of violence.  And they don’t know it because they have never seen any evidence to the contrary.

But we came to tell them.

To tell them not only that there is a God who loves them and wants to save their souls… but that there is a God who created them with a purpose.  That they are endowed BY THEIR CREATOR with certain rights.  A right to be safe.  A right to be valued.  And a right to live the abundant life that God ordained for them as he was knitting them together in their mother’s womb.

And so, that is what I am praying for these girls who are so far away from my embrace today.  That the Holy Spirit would breath deep into their souls a sense of entitlement.  That something within them would stand up and know beyond the shadow of a doubt that they were made for more than what their lives reflect to them right now. 

And I pray that this knowledge would cause a courage to rise in them that cannot be quenched.  That they would find strength within themselves that they never knew existed.  And even if their circumstances remain unstable and unfathomably difficult, that God would preserve something in their hearts in a way that only He can do.  That they would grow into women who somehow, someway survive and find the healing and restoration only possible in our great and mighty God.

I want them to know it with everything in their being.

They have EVERY right to a beautiful life.

Ephesians 3:14-17
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.