Beyond a Football Game

It wasn’t until a couple of days before I left for Phoenix that I realized I was arriving in that city just in time for the Super Bowl. But it didn’t take more than a few steps off the airplane to notice that I had unwittingly entered into the craziness of hundreds of thousands of people descending on Phoenix for a few days of revelry and football fun.

I was there for the National Prayer Committee meetings—and of course we drew only about 70 people from around the nation for our event! But these are my favorite meetings of the year because I love being with spiritually mature prayer leaders who know how to come together in unity (regardless of denominational backgrounds) and seek God for revival and spiritual awakening.

As the city filled with people oblivious to their desperate need for God, we realized that the timing and location of our meetings were not a coincidence. We received reports from local prayer leaders of how the Church of Phoenix had already been praying for months in preparation for the Super Bowl, especially regarding the suspected increase in sex trafficking that often occurs around a major sporting event.

Now, I realize that many people believe this is a myth. I’ve read the articles. They believe the number of women and children who are transported to a city in anticipation of an increased call for their services is way over exaggerated. Maybe. Maybe not. But I do know that the sex trafficking of any individual is pure evil—and I have no reason to believe that thousands of men descending upon a city for a sporting event would not be prime candidates for this dark underworld of abusing women and children. 

Call to Action

What I love about prayer leaders is that when evil raises its ugly head, they are quick to respond! Stop and pray now. Rearrange schedules. Stop and pray again. Pile into cars and drive down to the Super Bowl stadium to prayerwalk. Pray around the hotels. Pray for God to work on behalf of those who are being forced into slavery against their will. Pray for perpetrators to be caught and victims to be set free. Pray for the love of Jesus Christ to cover all sin.

For prayer leaders, it’s what they live to do—to intercede on behalf others. I remember praying specifically in my group, as we stood in near the stadium, that the police would set a trap—a snare—for catching the perpetrators and rescuing the enslaved. None of us realized at the time that a national sting operation was underway. Of course, I had no insider information—just the prompting of the Holy Spirit in how to pray!

Here are some of the results of the prayers of many people and the determination of government and law enforcement to attack this issue:

• A national coalition conducted a sting operation through the cooperation of 27 agencies in 15 states, culminating with the Super Bowl.
• According to the Los Angeles Times, nearly 600 “johns” were arrested and 68 victims were rescued.
• More than 70 percent of those arrested were caught responding to online advertisements.
• 23 people were arrested on suspicion of sex trafficking.

I’m encouraged by these direct answers to prayer. We need to wake up as the Church and intensify our prayers regarding these kinds of atrocities. As we pray, we support government and law officials in doing their part to push against the tide of evil.

I pray that the Spirit will always prompt me to open my eyes to the dark side of this world—even if I’m eating chips, enjoying Super Bowl commercials, and wondering why in the world they didn’t run the ball!