Saturday, April 25, 2009

Prayer warfare: Baby Faith

Clearly God is doing something amazing through this little girl with anencephaly, because Satan is pulling no punches.

Faith's mother, Myah, has had to close down her email and her FaceBook account because trolls from reddit.com have attacked her viciously.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 NAS


More on the issue of exactly who the enemy is, here.

Join me in prayer:

Heavenly Father, we stand in awe that so many wonders pour forth from your hand that we take them for granted. That two haploid cells should join and result in a new human being, made in your image, to love and to be loved, is a marvel too great to comprehend. Yet it is commonplace and everyday.

We confess that we fail to see the marvels of your handiwork as we ought. We lose sight of the wonders that surround us daily. We lose sight of the loving touch of your hand in everything around us.

Lord, we thank you for Myah and Faith. We thank you for the love you have made manifest in them. We thank you that we have learned of them, that we have been blessed by them. We thank you for the joy and peace and love that shines forth from them into our lives.

We ask protection for Myah and Faith from the attacks of the Father of Lies. We ask that you make your presence known to Myah in a very real way, that she will so bask in the radiance of your love that the attacks of the evil one can not reach her heart. We ask that you allow her to feel only the love and gratitude of those of us you have blessed with open eyes to see the wonder and joy you make manifest in them.

We ask that you re-open the doors of communication between us and Myah, that we may share fellowship with her, uplift her, and be uplifted by her.

We ask that you show us how to pray for those who are walking in such darkness that they can not see your hand at work in Myah and Faith. We ask that you give each of them an awakening, as you awakened each of us. We ask that the blessing you have given us -- of the ability to see your love and joy and blessing in Myah and Faith and in our own lives -- be bestowed upon them as well. Just as each of us has had that moment when we grasped, in our own feeble way, the reality of you and your love and the love of your Son, we beg of you that each person who has attacked or criticized Myah will have that moment as well, that they will be open to you, that they will become your instruments of peace and love and joy.

We ask, Father God, that the spirits that are at work in their lives be bound and frustrated, unable to use them to spread lies and hatred. We ask that your blessed Son cast out those spirits, in his holy Name, and send them to a place where they have no power to hurt or torment Myah, Faith, or anybody else.

We ask that the trolls repent, confess, and begin to walk in the light of your perfect love.

In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

17 comments:

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for justpickaname. He or she clearly is not filled with hate, but is open to truth and the possibility of love. Lord, we ask your blessing on justpickaname, that the seed of openness to truth will bloom into knowledge of you and your ways. We pray that justpickaname will be able to share in the love and joy that you make manifest in Faith and Myah.

In Jesus's name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for padfoot7. He or she is in such darkness that he or she can be flippant about the idea of Hell. We ask that you reach padfoot7 with your love and light, that he or she will awaken to the desire to spend eternity in your holy presence.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord we pray for CaptainMaxxpower and the other people who commented on padfoot7's post, that they may be brought to a saving knowledge of you and your precious Son.

In His name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for Spudders and andrewbs, that their eyes be opened to the joy and love that we see in Myah and Faith. We pray that your love become manifest in their lives, that they may come to a saving knowledge of your Son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for theminanthrope, nokahn, and Rudd-O. The light of compassion is lit in them, however dimly it may shine at the moment. Lord, we ask that you fan that light into a flame, that your consuming love may burn off all dross in their souls and allow them to shine forth radiantly. We ask that you bring to them the joy of a saving knowledge of you and your Son, Jesus, in whose name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for riles, and the others under the impression that it is massive medical intervention, and not merely your loving hand, that is keeping Faith alive. We see that the Father of Lies has gained a foothold of falsehood in their minds. We ask that you send your Son to conquer that foothold, and replace falsehood with truth. We ask that they see clearly, and that your love and power become clear to them, and that they may come to a saving knowledge of your Son. What you worked in The Raving Atheist, Lord, we ask that you work in them. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Lord, we pray for apparatchik. He or she is walking in darkness, filled with lies about you, who you are, and how you work in the lives of men and women. Lord, we ask that you make yourself known to apparatchik, that he or she come to a saving knowledge of you and your blessed son, in whose name we pray, amen.

Christina Dunigan said...

Heavenly Father, we pray for kormgar. He or she clearly has not been so far gone in darkness that he or she can not see your love in Myah and Faith. But he or she is unable to see you as the source of that love and indeed all love. Lord, we ask that you open kormgar's eyes to the reality of you behind all reality. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.

Kathy said...

I was able to find Myah's last name from a comment she made on an article about anencephaly back when she was pregnant and had just found out that Faith had anencephaly. It was actually a fluke that I found it (and I never thought of people reading my comments and using it to go find her and send her hate mail, so if any did, I apologize), but others probably used the same thing to find her on facebook. It's sad she had to shut down her account because of trolls; but perhaps she should do a search of her name and anencephaly and see if she can edit her comments to take out her last name, or change it to an alias.

Christina Dunigan said...

What gets me is the WHY? Why does Baby Faith present such a fearful threat that Satan -- and his pawns -- have to go into a bunker-buster attack?

Amy said...

but perhaps she should do a search of her name and anencephaly and see if she can edit her comments to take out her last name, or change it to an alias.Sadly, once this stuff is online it's hard to erase it permanently. One shouldn't have to think about hiding their identity when using the Internet, a very useful tool, for research and support because people will attack you for choosing to have a child with a disability.

Granny, Baby Faith is such a "threat" because she, and her mother, show both the redemptive power of live and love. She is also representative, albeit more dramatically, of the sacrifice and self-giving ALL parents who have children endure. Becoming a parent makes one cease to think about yourself (self-centeredness) and think about another. The sacrifices are great and small.

And, these days, Satan is doing by encouraging self-indulgence and selfishness. Hence the contraceptive and abortive culture in which we live. It's all about the "me" and taking the easiest route to self-satisfaction and instant gratification.

So when someone like Myah, who says no to all those things, and Baby Faith, who represents the selflessness of parenthood, and it brings out miserable people who can't stand the thought of themselves doing what Myah is doing and that makes them uncomfortable and awkward. So they attack.

Brittany said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
tinyarmada said...

I met baby Faith's father, his name is Dan Lirette and he is a open air preacher. He says he needs to speak to Myah and that he loves her & is sorry. He wants them to come together to preach the gospel with Baby Faith. Think how many souls they will win and baby faith will have a father - just like god wanted. Faith please call Dan, he deserves to see this beautiful little miracle!.

petersyms said...

It's amazing the level of commitment this woman is giving towards her child, but the sad truth is, like Baby K, this child will live a short life and die never speaking a word. Anencephaly is a pretty terrifying condition and 100% fatal condition. I know I wouldn't be able to handle a situation like this. Regardless of trolls or mockery, being able to embrace what precious few moments she and this child will have is impressive.

Kathy said...

It's true that anencephaly is 100% fatal... but all of life is! We should still embrace and celebrate life as the gift it is.

Anaïs Dilger said...

The trouble with Myah Walker is her complete disdain for most medical advice, basically claiming doctors have no idea what they're talking about, yet using any available modern medicine to keep Faith "alive" in the most rudimentary sense of the word.

Before someone starts praying for me, I just want to make clear that I do NOT wish ill on Myah and her child, but the poor woman is deluding herself into thinking that Faith has anything beyond a reptilian brain. She will not develop, ever.

It seems as though she has stopped listening to reason altogether, and so have her "supporters," who discard anything that is not praise of God's power. Even well-meaning comments on how perhaps Myah should place Faith on 24-hour hospital care are seen as demonic and evil.

No one seems to understand that this is, at its core, a very sad story, not a triumph over Satan, or whatever people are painting it to be. This woman deeply needs help, and will need much more to aid her in coping with her baby's eventual death.

Kathy said...

Melissa,

Have you looked at any of the research for anencephaly? I just quickly looked through Google Scholar, and saw that the bulk of the links with the term "anencephaly" had research dates from the 50s through the 70s, and was in regards to prenatal screening and abortion, as well as certain physical characteristics or concurrent problems of the anencephalic fetus/neonate; plus the research that showed that taking folic acid reduced the incidence of anencephaly and spina bifida. Most if not all of the papers written in the last 10 years have been arguing whether or not it is ethical to declare these living babies as legally dead, so they can be cut open and have their organs harvested. Do you know how many papers I saw that discussed brain function or anything like that? NONE (and I looked at some 150 titles, clicking on any links that looked as if they might possibly talk about anything like that).

If you know of any recent research (within the past, oh, 30 years or so, which is not really all that recent) actually objectively studying babies with anencephaly to see if what med students have learned about them is accurate, please feel free to link to them. There is a story in Ina May Gaskin's book "Spiritual Midwifery" about Baby Ira who was born at their hippie commune in the 1970s. They took him to the hospital, believing that the hospital would have the best treatment and care, and perhaps be fitted with some sort of helmet or headgear that would protect his fragile head. They went back a few days later, and found him emaciated, because the staff would not give him anything to eat or drink, letting him slowly starve/dehydrate to death, because that is what they were trained to do. The doctor referred to the baby as an "anencephalic monster", which was the term used in medical textbooks at that time, and perhaps may still be used. "Anencephalic monster" -- do you really think that doctors know or understand that much about anencephaly?? The term itself is so off-putting, so derogatory, so prejudicial as to shut down doctors from thinking such babies could be helped, or from even wanting to help them.

Here's another little fact for you to ponder, if you really think that medical literature from the 50s, 60s, and 70s can reliably discuss brain function (particularly when we have grown so much in this field of knowledge in the past 30 years)... It used to be believed -- and taught to med students who became doctors -- that newborns felt no pain -- that the part of the brain that was responsible for feeling pain was not developed sufficiently in the neonate for at least several days, weeks, or possibly even months after birth. Premature babies were particularly victimized by this erroneous mindset, because they often needed surgery to survive, but because doctors thought that they felt no pain, they did not even anesthetize them before performing invasive surgery on them -- they were given drugs that immobilized them, but not given pain meds. This happened up into the 80s, when the parents of one such premature baby discovered that *their* baby had been operated on without anesthesia, and brought it to the attention of the national media. Then, there was such an outcry from the public that doctors changed their practices -- and you know what? more babies survived, because when they were being operated on without anesthesia, they were so traumatized that it was actually overwhelming to them, and they were literally dying from the pain.

So, doctors were performing surgery on babies with brains, thinking they didn't feel pain, just because that's what they'd been taught -- yet you expect us to believe research that predates that idiocy?? I don't blame Myah for doubting the doctors, because I don't trust them myself!