Meagan Mankin
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