Day 8 - Organized Crime
“For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” -Ecclesiastes 12:14
OVERVIEW
Upon
hearing the term organized crime, many may think of a distant period in
American history where bootleggers in Tennessee and Italian mob bosses
in Chicago controlled a sinister, underground world full of violence,
corruption and illegal activities. As interesting as it may seem to
those who only know organized crime by The Godfather series, the reality
is that organized crime exists and thrives in the United States today.
There are many organized crime groups operating in the United States, including Mexican cartels and European and Asian mafias.
AREAS TO CONSIDER
- Money laundering
The concealment of the origins of illegally obtained money, typically by means of transfers involving foreign banks or legitimate businesses. Examples of such businesses are small restaurants, real estate properties or strip malls. And while it may come as a surprise to some, U.S. banks have been complicit in the laundering of billions of dollars for drug cartels. (1)
- Bribery
Paying off local judges, bank officials, city council members, politicians and/or law enforcement in order for a blind eye to be turned to illegal operations.
- Crime-insurance fraud
Any act committed with the intent to fraudulently obtain some benefit or advantage to which they are not otherwise entitled. (2) An example would be making an insurance claim on a falsely reportedly ‘stolen’ vehicle with the purpose of making a financial profit.
- Financially supporting campaigns in order to gain influence with politicians. This will pay off in the future when organized crime leaders ask for certain favors from those politicians.
PERSONAL REPENTANCE
Father God, I ask that You would forgive
me if I, in any way, have been corrupt with my money in my personal
life. I also repent if I have been unaware of organized crime occurring
in my area. Open my eyes to see corruption in my own city that I may be a part of ending it.
CORPORATE REPENTANCE
Lord God, we stand in the gap for the
United States and repent for the evil of organized crime. Forgive us for
allowing this to exist and affect our nation on many levels, from the
political sphere to human trafficking to financial impropriety. We also
ask that you would forgive our nation for causing organized crime to
grow through unbridled appetites. Expose and eliminate all corruption in our nation due to organized crime!
PRAY
- Pray, first and foremost, for the hearts of
those involved with organized crime operations to be transformed by the
power of Christ. Pray they would heed the call of the Lord to salvation
and live lives of righteousness. (Ezekiel 36:26)
- Pray for all illegal organized crime
activity to be exposed and shut down in our nation, particularly that of
mafias, cartels and trafficking networks. (Ephesians 5:11)
- Pray for funds that are fueling these organizations to be cut off so that they can no longer operate. (Psalm 7:9)
- Pray for the strongholds of greed and mammon to be broken within these organizations, and declare that the wealth of the wicked is being released to the Body of Christ! (2 Corinthians 10:4)
ACT
- Become a watchman for your community by reporting suspicious activity.
- Develop a prayer team that will commit to interceding
daily or weekly against organized crime in your city, neighborhood or
community. Believe for God to expose it and then watch Him do it!
- If your heart is for the abolition of human trafficking, download the FREEDOM! mobile app, created by Orphan Secure, and report any activity that would signal the possibility of human trafficking wherever you are.
SOURCES
- Murphy, Dylan. “Money Laundering and the Drug Trade: The Role of the Banks.” Global Research. 13 May 2013. Web. 7 August 2014 http://www.globalresearch.ca/
moneylaunderingandthedrugtrade theroleofthebanks/5334205
- “Insurance Fraud.” Wikipedia. http://en.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurance_ fraud. 30 April 2014.
No comments:
Post a Comment