Update: Links to Special Report are corrected.

Every year the Super Bowl rolls around, concerns are raised anew about a spike in human trafficking as tens of thousands of people flood into its host city for the event. Victim groups call it the “ugly underbelly” of one of the greatest sports shows on earth.

While a major event like the Super Bowl helps draw attention to a sudden spike in human trafficking, it is an ongoing and growing problem in the United States. It deserves our attention and much strategic prayer to the One who hates injustice and is on the side of the oppressed.

Despite slavery being abolished in 1865 and declared illegal in most of the world, there are twice as many enslaved people today as there were when slavery was legal. According to the International Justice Mission, that amounts to 40.3 million people in slavery worldwide.

The Satanic Roots of Slavery

Why is it that the number of people in slavery has more than doubled despite stringent worldwide laws? As with many practices that have been outlawed but still thrive, slavery has spiritual roots.

It is a symptom of what Jesus predicted the human mindset would be in the Last Days:

“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.” (Matthew 24:12 ESV)

Increasing lawlessness and lovelessness result in the devaluation of human life. As a result, human traffickers see their victims as nothing more than property to be sold or bought. Their freedom, rights, feelings, mental, and emotional well-being do not count. That attitude is symptomatic of love grown cold. And the willful disdain for laws prohibiting slavery is evidence of abounding lawlessness.

That, of course, is rooted in sin. Man’s sinful nature desires only one thing: to be our own god instead of living in obedience to the God who created us. That desire is why some tread on fellow human beings, reduce their value to that of mere property and use their vulnerability for our profit.

And sin, as we know, has satanic roots. Not only did he inject the human race with it in the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-5), but he also uses it to subject the human race to spiritual slavery – bondage to himself. His aim, is to kill and destroy (John 10:10), and the most effective way to do that is to let people destroy each other by any means possible.

Human trafficking is one of those means. As long as greed and lust for wealth so we can elevate ourselves above others reigns in human hearts, people will exploit the vulnerable for profit.

God’s Heart for Victims of Slavery

The first recorded victim of human trafficking was Joseph, who was sold into slavery to an Egyptian official by his brothers. Not long after, the descendants of Jacob’s twelve sons, who would go on to become the twelve tribes of Israel, were enslaved in Egypt by a Pharaoh who feared their growing numbers.

But even though slavery has existed since antiquity, God’s heart is broken over human beings treading on each other and reducing their value to property that can be sold or owned. After all, He is a God of justice who is on the side of the oppressed and the vulnerable and will hold oppressors accountable, including human traffickers.

This is excerpted from IFA’s newest Special Report Prayer Guide, The Dark World of Human Trafficking, that includes dozens of Bible verses and prayer points and additional information. Click HERE to download.

How are you praying about human trafficking?

Remco Brommet is a pastor, spiritual-growth teacher, and prayer leader with over 40 years of experience in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the U.S. He was born and raised in the Netherlands and pastored his first church in Amsterdam. He moved to the U.S. in 1986. He and his wife, Jennifer, live north of Atlanta. When not writing books, he blogs at www.deeperlifeblog.com and assists his wife as a content developer and prayer coordinator for True Identity Ministries. Jennifer and Remco are passionate about bringing people into a deeper relationship with Christ. Photo credit: Unsplash.