In the last week, I’ve been led to pray for rape victims and the perpetrators. I watched a very heart warming movie and I think God let me watch it just to stir me to stand in the gap for rape victims.

In praying for them, I’ve seen three prayer points constantly emerge in my spirit;

• Prayer for healing, on the part of the victim and also of the villain
• Prayer for them not to judge God through the lens of that experience
• Prayer for freedom, from the memories of the past

I was focused mainly on the victims, I didn’t want to pray for the rapists at all, cause I felt all they needed was forgiveness and that was between them and God, but God said He needed them to be covered even more, most of them have been hurt and that is why they hurt others, most of them are reliving the experiences and actions of people closest to them and most of them also have been possessed with a spirit that allows them think that it is okay.

Neither of the aforementioned justifies the atrocity that rape is but it helped me see better the heart of God.

It is easy for us to sympathise with the victims and devise ways to punish the perpetrators, but both of them in the sight of God are in need of saving. They’ve both been broken my their actions and inaction’s and need people covering them as we cover the victims.

For most rape victims, it might take them a while to heal to begin to accommodate praying for the rapists, but for us believers who have been called to intercession, God wants us to cover as much the rapists as we do their victims.

Rape is such a vile vice that’s becoming more rampant in our society today and while there are several factors around it, a predominant one is the release of a sexually immoral spirit that pushes people to obsession and lust and these people are in need of deliverance which prayer is capable of doing.

On that note, to all rape victims out there;

Hard as it seems, your healing is your responsibility, the occurrence(s) does not define you and God could easily take that memory of yours and make it a message to the world around you. Stop judging yourself, forgive yourself, hard as it is, forgive the rapist too. I know its hard to process where God was when it happened, but God wants you know He loves you and it was never in His plan or desire that this happen to you, no matter what anyone says. You need to heal and shift.

To the rape perpetrators;

She does not have to be a stranger before it is considered rape, she does not need to be the girl you picked at the bar or club before it is declared rape. As long as it is without consent, it is rape. Don’t make excuses for your actions, don’t wait until you’re fully overcome by this evil before you acknowledge you need help, don’t wait to add to the percentage of victims before you stop.

You might not know it, but you’re also in need of healing and God is here for you, to deliver and to heal you. In the eyes of God, you’re not a rapist. You’re one with a potential to be His child, so please let it go. Drop it now and surrender. I stay praying for you.

Dear reader;

We don’t have to only pray concerning things that directly affect or impact us, we don’t have to wait till our neighbour is a victim before we begin to pray for them, we don’t even need to watch a movie about something first before we can pray concerning it. There are so many prayer points around us daily and if we’ll be selfless enough to just step away from ourselves and extend our prayers to the world around us, it’ll be awesome.

By matter of principle, prayers need to go up from the children of God for God to act, without that constant communication, little or nothing will be achieved.

Let’s stay praying. For others, and then for ourselves.