Evangelical Christian leaders gathered to pray and call on Americans to repent for the sin of abortion at the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
One leader, Lisa Washington, with the pro-life ministry Love Life, spoke about how God forgave and healed her after her own abortion and prayed that others also would turn to Him, according to the Christian Post.
“I do also repent for the killing of 64 million innocent children,” Washington prayed. “Lord, we call them ‘a choice,’ but you, through the prophet Ezekiel, said: ‘They are your children.’ Lord, forgive us.
“Father, we want the pleasure of sexual intimacy, but we don’t want the responsibility,” she continued. “We say forgive us. You made it clear, Lord, that we are always to choose life, but yet we choose death, Lord. Forgive us.”
Washington is the New York City director of Love Life, a pro-life ministry that began in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has spread across the country with a mission to create a culture of life where pregnant mothers will run to churches for help, not abortion facilities.
Speaking alongside other evangelical leaders Wednesday, Washington prayed for God to forgive the church for not doing enough to protect unborn babies from abortion or support women in need.
“Please, Lord, forgive your church. Lord, forgive our silence,” she prayed. “Lord, forgive our apathy. God, forgive our inaction, when your word clearly commands us, Lord, to rescue those that are appointed for the slaughter, to save those that are staggering to their death, God. Cause us to rise. Mobilize your church, Lord.”
She also thanked God that her own mother chose life for her, even though she did not do the same for her own unborn child.
“Thank you for keeping my mother from being able, Lord, to abort me,” Washington said. “I come before you, Lord, this morning, and I just want to publicly thank you for forgiving me of my own sin of abortion. I thank you Lord for your healing. I thank you for your deliverance.”
The event took place at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. ahead of the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, according to the report. Other speakers included Anne Graham Lotz, Carter Conlon, Andrew Brunson and Jonathan Cahn.
By Micaiah Bilger