Pride Month, Sensualism, Same Sex Attraction and Gender Confusion
Sex is a wonderful blessing to be enjoyed within a marriage between one man and one woman. Sex outside of these God-given parameters will only do harm to the human soul.
If you agree with this premise, “Pride Month”, celebrated each June to “celebrate sexual diversity” and foster awareness of LGTBQ+ issues, is likely to grieve or concern you. The enormous upheaval in social and political norms around sexual morality over the last decades is astounding. We know that sex outside of God’s parameters harms the human soul, and the damage caused by sexual immorality should grieve us, not be celebrated.
The roots of pride month, and the way it resonates for so many in society, are far deeper and broader than same sex attraction and gender confusion. What are the drivers of this resonance?
“If it feels good, do it” is a classic cliché describing the worldview we will call “sensualism.” What I sense, what I experience – becomes who I am, my identity. Sensualism means, for our purposes, the worldview where, my feelings define my moral values, and often, my very identity. Even the catchphrase, “you be you”, is a symptom of this spirit of sensualism. It is worship of feelings, comfort and sex. These things are elevated so high that they become who I am. Put together, it is worship of self, and it is a form of pride. How appropriate, then, that one expression of sensualism is celebrated as “Pride Month.”
Of course, sensualism is not the only cause of same sex attraction, gender confusion or any sort of sexual addiction (though it is often a factor), but a society where sensualism is such a big deal provides fertile ground for anyone who experiences same sex attraction or gender confusion to believe that those feelings define who they are, and to have that belief widely accepted and sympathized with.
Sensualism, same sex attraction, gender confusion and sexual addiction are different, but this prayer guide treats them together during Pride Month because there is a common root in all.
We especially focus on sensualism because it seems to be the best description for the spiritual root of something deadly and pervasive in our society. This touches all of us.
What do we do about it?
The cultural landslide is seen in very public forums: news, entertainment, TV broadcasts and newspaper op-eds. For those of us disturbed by the change, our first instinct is that if we want to oppose this movement, we should use the same tools: social media, lobbying and other public forums. While these are powerful tools, if we fixate on them we might miss deeper elements of a great spiritual battle waging over our nation. Ephesians 6:12 reminds us that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” But “the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.” (2 Cor 10:4). Our primary weapon in this battle is prayer, which has divine power to demolish strongholds that set themselves up against the knowledge of God.
We are opposed by a powerful enemy who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The enemy knows what a precious gift of God our human gender and sexuality is, and knows that distortions of our gender and sexuality harm our bodies and souls.
Whenever your emotions react to celebrations of “sexual diversity” or immorality, please let it serve as a reminder that there are spiritual forces at work and your most powerful weapon against these forces is prayer. Hopefully, this prayer guide will give you some practical ideas on how to begin to pray.
Will prayer do any good?
In 1982, Open Doors, an organization founded by Brother Andrew to support persecuted Christians, called for a seven-year prayer campaign against the communist bloc. At that time, it would have seemed humanly impossible for the “iron curtain” to fall, but in 1989, seven years later, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet bloc was opened to the gospel.
Another seemingly impenetrable stronghold set up against the knowledge of God is Islam. In 1993 some Christians launched a concerted prayer movement for the Muslim world, especially during the fasting month of Ramadan, a time when many Muslims are seeking and spiritually hungry. Describing the effectiveness of this movement, Dr. David Garrison, a missions strategist and historian, states “We are in the midst of the greatest turning of Muslims to Christ in 14 centuries of Muslim-Christian interaction. More than 80% of all the Muslim movements to Christ in history have occurred in the past two to three decades, a time period that coincides with the modern prayer movement for Muslims.”
God loves to respond to the bold prayers of his saints. He can and has demolished strongholds, political, religious and ideological, that set themselves up against the knowledge of himself. He has moved against political and belief systems that appear completely closed off to any change so that those trapped in communism, Islam or other seemingly impenetrable “-isms” can know his good news. Who knows how God would respond to a concerted prayer movement against sensualism, but God may be waiting to act until his church recognizes that the political, cultural and even psychological elements of the battle are secondary and we must first fight on our knees in persistent prayer against the spiritual stronghold.
A Word About Those with Same-Sex Attraction or Gender Confusion
Many of the prayer points relate to LGTBQ+ activists or people who experience same sex attraction or gender confusion. These men and women are not embracing God’s intended design for His creation. However, before addressing this brokenness, we must prayerfully examine our own hearts to make sure we are responding in love and care and that we see how other forms of sensualism may have a deeper hold in our own hearts than we know. Many who experience same sex attraction or gender confusion are caught up in a current even as they are being used to empower it.
Format
Each day will have a scripture, a brief meditation and a suggested prayer. Often the prayers include suggestions on practical follow-ups or research that should be done to pray more knowledgeably and specifically.
Some of the scriptures that serve as a reference for each day are challenging scriptures. Let us not let a difficult scripture dissuade us from continuing in prayer. God loves us and is mighty to change our hearts and the hearts of those we pray for. If a scripture is hard or awkward, talk to God about it.
Many of us are not familiar with spiritual warfare. Press through the warfare and remain present to the Holy Spirit. As we pray and obey, the Holy Spirit will show us how to be more effective.