Fifty Days of Prayer for the National Election 2012 – Day 34

Day 34 October 21th
Focus: The “War on Women” Issue
Background:
There has been much discussion this campaign season about the “war on women.”   This charge comes from feminist theory which is as varied and vast as the women who promote it. Feminism covers a myriad of areas from sexuality to philosophy, from the politics of the home to politics of the world. The overarching principle is that for too long women have been submitted to a social system that recognizes only men as the power holders. This year, one of the demands of feminists has been reproductive rights: the right to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make free and informed reproductive choices. Feminists believe contraceptives and/or abortion will free women from the perceived burden of mothering children they do not want; that control of reproduction is necessary for full economic independence from men. Many feminists also have fought to change perceptions of female sexual behavior.
The Administration through the Health Care Law has mandated that employers provide free birth control coverage in their health insurance policies. [The Catholic Church’s position on contraception was formally explained by Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae in 1968. Artificial contraception is considered intrinsically evil but methods of natural family planning are morally permissible in some circumstances, as they do not usurp the natural way of conception.] Catholic bishops consider this new mandate a violation of religious liberty.
We pray that women who follow Christ will choose another path than feminism; we pray that Christian women will give the world a model of the inner beauty of the “virtuous woman” who holds esteem in God’s sight.
Almighty God,
On the authority of Your Word, we declare and decree that all women can become new creations in Christ Jesus. We pray that the women of our nation will not embrace the lie and values of the feminist movement. You have a much better way to bring freedom to the lives of Your daughters. You call all women to be capable, intelligent, and virtuous. You say that a woman committed to You is far more precious than jewels and her value is far above rubies or pearls.  If she is married, the heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely, so that he has no lack of honest gain or need of dishonest spoil. Her husband is known in the city’s gates, when he sits among the elders of the land.
The virtuous woman comforts, encourages, and does only good as long as there is life within her. She seeks out wool and flax and works with willing hands [to develop it]. She is like the merchant ship loaded with foodstuffs; she brings her household food from a far country. She rises while it is yet night and gets [spiritual] food for her household and assigns her maids their tasks.  She considers a new field before she buys or accepts it [expanding prudently and not courting neglect of her present duties by assuming other duties]; with her savings of time and strength, she plants fruitful vines in her vineyard. She cries, “My vineyard, which is mine with all its radiant joy, is before me!”  (SS 8: 12)
The virtuous woman girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for the tasks You have given her] and makes her arms strong and firm. She tastes and sees that her gain from work [with and for You] is good; her lamp does not go out, but it burns on continually through the night of trouble, privation, or sorrow, warning away fear, doubt, and distrust.  She lays her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].  She does not fear the snow, for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet.
Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]! She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction]. She looks well to how things go in her household, and the bread of idleness (gossip, discontent, and self-pity) she will not eat.
Her children [including her spiritual children] rise up and call her blessed; and her husband boasts of and praises her. Charm and grace are deceptive, and beauty is vain [because it is not lasting]; but a woman who reverently and worshipfully fears the Lord, she shall be praised! Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates [of the city]!  May the virtuous woman be our model and not the women promoted by this age.  (Prov. 31 TAB) 
Father, the Book of Proverbs blesses the virtuous woman with, “Many daughters have done… nobly and well… but you excel them all.” What a glowing description recorded of this woman in private life, this “capable, intelligent, and virtuous woman.” It implies that she had done more than Miriam, the one who led a nation’s women in praise to God (Exod. 15:20, 21); more than Deborah, the patriotic military advisor (Judg. 4:4-10); Ruth, the woman of constancy (Ruth 1:16); Hannah, the ideal mother (I Sam. 1:20; 2:19); the Shunammite, the hospitable woman (II Kings 4:8-10); and Huldah, the woman who revealed God’s secret message to national leaders (II Kings 22:14). The woman of Proverbs had done even more than Queen Esther, the woman who risked sacrificing her life for her people (Esth. 4:16).  The virtuous woman “excelled them all” in her spiritual and practical devotion to You, which permeated every area and relationship of her life. All seven of the Christian virtues are evident in her life. They are colored threads in a beautiful tapestry.  She made every effort to respond to Your promises. She supplemented her faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  (2 Peter 1: 5-7)
Her secret, which is open to every women of America, is the Holy Spirit’s climax to the story. The “reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord,” which is “the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom” (Prov. 9:10), is put forth as the true foundation for a life which is valued by You as “far above rubies or pearls.” (Prov. 31:10).  Thank You for the examples of virtuous women we can find in Your Word.
We pray for Your daughters (Your handmaidens). You have poured out Your Spirit upon them, and they shall prophesy. They seek Your Kingdom and Your righteousness. They will not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. O Father, that the women of America may ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in Your Holy Place. May they come with clean hands and pure hearts, refusing to lift up their souls to idols or swear by what is false, that they may receive blessing and vindication from You, their God and their Savior. Truly, You are good to those who are pure in heart. In Jesus’ Name we pray for all the women of America. We pray they will not settle for the lies of Satan which are meant to ensnare.  We pray that Your daughters will seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness and all these things will be added.  (Matt. 6: 33)   God, we have come to do what You want. Your law is in our hearts.  (Ps. 40: 8)   Amen.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion…Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”
“We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!”  (John Adams, 2nd President of US)
We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain and establish this constitution. (Preamble to the Constitution of North Dakota)