“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.”

The posters shout at me when I walk by The Lyric Theatre on West 43rd Street in New York City.

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And I pray against witchcraft and sorcery. I double down on this prayer as Halloween nears.

I also reflect upon the capricious relationship America has with her young.

On one hand, we seem to despise them, aborting more than a million last year alone.

And so many treat children badly. In the United States, more than half a million children are abused. One in every four girls and one in every 13 boys are sexually abused.

These statistics do not even take into consideration the full impact of today’s overly sexualized culture on children. As a counselor, I often worked with young people who suffered vicarious trauma from being exposed to others’ sexual behavior.

On the other hand, some people seem to idolize children, as many couples spend thousands on fertility treatments. In NYC’s Upper East Side, you can drop several thousand dollars on children’s clothing and toys. Current estimates are that it can cost an average of $300,000 to raise a child.

It is particularly poignant to me that a child murdered in one womb may have been greatly desired in another womb.

“The Demonic Child”

Why is the creepy kid such a trope in our culture? From Rosemary’s Baby (1968) to Wednesday (2022), the theme of damaged or damaging children remains an entertainment staple.

Professional pundits, professors, or psychologists might yammer on about how pictures of these children reflect our social anxiety about “the loss of innocence.”

It’s not such a leap from demonizing children in literature and film to dismembering and removing the unwanted from one’s womb.

It’s not such a leap to deny the dignity of God’s image to a “clump of cells.”

But there is also a spiritual root to our national ambivalence about children.

A Demonic Turning Point

The tumultuous 1960s marked a turning point in America’s attitude toward children. So many damaging outcomes flowed from the social, legal, political, and moral “revolutions.”

Among these are two Supreme Court rulings that struck down school-sponsored prayer and Bible readings. The noted activist, atheist, and communist Madalyn Murray O’Hair filed one of these cases.

Unless they attended a parochial school, children were not taught or exposed to Judeo-Christian values in class. Many became completely unchurched, lacking any education about the God who loves them.

Meanwhile, the traditional family took a beating. According to one university study, divorce rates (per 1,000 married women) hovered at 4.1% in 1900, climbed slightly in the roaring ‘20s, rose to 9.2% in 1960, shot up to 22.6% in the 1980s, and settled at 14.6% in 2022.

Some part of the post-1960s surge can be linked to the so-called “sexual revolution.” Easy contraception, the early feminist movement, and growing liberal attitudes toward sexual expression dealt blows to the biblical concept of treasuring and stewarding one’s sexuality.

While there were many factors at work, the sexual revolution laid significant groundwork for today’s conflation of identity with sexual expression.

The chaos of the ‘60s included political unrest as the country struggled with the deep roots of racism. Some righteous protests were co-opted — in part — by violent actors, creating an impression of a country out of control.

A Demonic Root

The troubled ‘60s fed demonic desires to upend and destroy Judeo-Christian culture in America.

A major focus of evil has been to lead people into a focus on themselves.

This “idolatry of self” undergirds many of the most heinous crimes against children.

It literally powers the abortion business.

It funds sexual licentiousness, which fuels sex trafficking, including that of children.

Tempting humans to focus on themselves stems from satan’s original playbook. In Gen. 3, we see the serpent separating Eve from the Lord. Evil led Eve to sin and to draw Adam with her. Sin created a rift between man and God that could only be healed — ultimately — by Christ’s death on the Cross.

Rising Revival

But God loves the children. And He is not willing that one perish.

Is it any wonder that we are seeing a revival break out among the youth of this nation?

These, remember, are the youth who easily could have been murdered in the womb. These are the young ones who have been led astray by teachers and institutions seeking to confuse them about their identities.

These are the ones who have seen politics, education, family, medicine, environment, media, and social media fail them.

These are the ones who — in seeking meaning — are finding themselves in church — a place their parents may never have taken them. These are the ones who are buying Bibles.

And these are the ones who have been in revival for the past several years.

These are the ones for whom you and I pray.

Another Turning Point

Satan tried to choke off the revival by silencing Charlie Kirk — a leading voice for Jesus and biblical values.

But in God’s divine wisdom, the enemy’s plan was turned on its head. Millions upon millions have heard the gospel at Mr. Kirk’s memorial service, and his videos and those of his widow, Erika, reach millions more.

Many evangelical leaders believe the Lord is turning to the good what the enemy meant for evil.

No Time for Complacency

As the book of Revelation vividly demonstrates, the enemy will not stop trying to destroy the people God loves.

The media continues to push sexual perversion and false identities on children.  Abortion pills continue to destroy those made in God’s image.

We need to contend for the faith — for our children and our youth.

Our Part

Prayer

Pray for parents — not pundits — to influence their children.

Pray for pastors — not professors — to become healthy guides for the youth.

Pray for prodigals to come home, decreeing Luke 15:11-32 over those who have strayed and over those who stayed but became embittered.

Prepare

IFA CEO David Kubal’s book Impacting Generations: How Ordinary People Can Influence the Future of Nations sets forth biblical principles that can change the world for Christ.

About this book, evangelist and youth leader Lou Engle wrote:

This book is an urgent, biblical call for intercessors, leaders, and believers everywhere to gain understanding, rise up, fast, and pray, confront diabolically inspired ideologies that destroy families and nations, possess the gates of enemies, and take their places on the stage of history.

You may even bless a youth group with copies, along with study guides.

Lord, we renounce the stereotype of the demonic child — especially in this season. We renounce the anarchy of our world that has heightened disaffection with the next generation. We repent of our sins and we come praying for parents and pastors to walk arm in arm with our youth, showing them the way they should go and teaching them to observe all things You have commanded us. In Jesus’ Name.

How are you praying for and preparing the next generation?

New York City–based Joyce Swingle is an intercessor and a contributing writer for IFA. With her husband, Rich, who is also a contributing writer for IFA, Joyce shares the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world through theater, speaking, writing, and film. Prior to going into full-time ministry, Joyce worked for close to 20 major magazines and now works in pastoral ministry and Christian counseling. www.RichDrama.com. Photo Credit: NATHAN MULLET on Unsplash.