An estimated 1,000 people, mostly women, gathered in Richmond, Virginia on Monday to silently protest a state legislature bill that would require women to receive a sonogram before they get an abortion. The bill caused a national media frenzy when even Saturday Night Live got involved making fun of the legislation in one of their segments this past weekend.

Opposition and ridicule against anti-abortion legislation are certainly nothing new, but the manner in which the pro-abortion protest was carried out brought Bound4LIFE silent sieges to mind. There was even a woman present at Monday’s protest who covered her lips with gray tape and wrote the word “CHOICE” over it. In both cases, the silence of these processions attracted media attention, but they could not be for more different reasons even if they are treated similarly in the media.

This lead me to analyze what sets the silence of Bound4LIFE’s Silent Sieges, as well as the prayers of many believers, apart from the silence of pro-abortion protesters. I hope that it may serve as an encouraging reminder about the power of prayer rooted in our faith in Jesus.

Silent prayer is not a protest

When I began participating in Silent Sieges in front of the Supreme Court and abortion centers, one of the main things I realized immediately was that I was not participating in a protest, but rather silent prayer meeting unlike any other I had experienced before. As the Bound4LIFE website states, a Silent Siege is where we silently stand in the gap on behalf of our nation and build up a wall of prayer based on the Word of God, including Ezequiel 4:2-3:

“Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it… Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it.”

For the past few months, my prayer group and I have been holding Silent Sieges in front of an abortion facility in Northern Virginia. We believe that the legislation that was recently passed is an answer to thousands of prayers that have been sent out by believers who continue to stand in the gap for our state.

Our silence is loud

On their Facebook site, the pro-abortion protesters gave the reason for their silence on Monday’s gathering:

“We think silence in the face of this struggle and their unconstitutional rules presents the strongest response to their assault on women. Please come out and stand up for our rights and for the rights of all women in VA to choose the best reproductive route for themselves.”

While the silence at Monday’s pro-abortion protest was just that—silence—we know that our prayers are anything but. While we are outwardly silent, our prayers are spiritual clamors that are loud in the eyes of God and His people. The red LIFE tape we put over our mouths speaks volumes for those who cannot ever speak. They are the “silent cries of the preborn who have no voice to defend themselves.”

It gives God the power

The pro-abortion Virginia protest organizers also stated on their Facebook page that people were used to “signs, yelling, chanting etc. It is not new. They are not used to silently being stared at and having to look us in the eye. It gives us the power.” Perhaps this is the greatest difference between the power behind the prayerful silence and the rest. By making a stand to pray against abortion, we are appealing to God and not to man, to the Creator and not His creation. We give God the power. In the Bound4LIFE prayer, we plead for His blood over our sins and the sins of our nation.

I pray that many more people will rise up to give God the ultimate power by holding Silent Sieges, obtaining LIFE bands, and supporting the Bound4LIFE movement, which envisions to end abortion and bring revival to America through the prayer and action.