Why Don't YOU Do Something?

“Why don’t you do something?”  was the challenge that echoed within the innermost being of Jerry R. Kirk. “I love the children. I want to protect them. Why don’t YOU do something?”

In an interview with Dr. James Dobson of Family Talk, held during 2017, Jerry Kirk shared this story of how he got into the fight against pornography:

“A daughter, she was in her teens, of one of my dear friends in the congregation came to me and shared with me what had happened to her … she was abused …

“Matthew 18:14 says ‘so it is not the will of my Father that one of these little ones perish,’ and I learned the FBI statistic, that one of three little girls, and one out of every five boys would be molested …

“I went up the hill across the street from my home after learning those statistics. I said ‘Father, You tell me You love them. Why don’t You do something!’ and I said again, ‘You tell me You love them, why don’t You do something! And I said it five or six or seven times as I was walking up the hill, and finally I said: ‘Don’t tell me You love them; show me! I want to see it! … I don’t want words!’

“After I was cried out, He said: ‘Jerry, I love the children, I want to protect them. Why don’t YOU do something?’ (1)

According to a research summary made two decades ago, “[t]here are many estimates of the number of children who are the victims of sexual abuse …  A meta-analysis of 22 American-based studies, those done with national samples as well as local or regional representative samples, suggested that 30-40% of girls and 13% of boys experience sexual abuse during childhood.” (2)

“[T]he annual cost to incarcerate adults convicted of sex crimes against children in the United States approaches $5.4 billion,” states another study published during 2023. (3)  Although differences of opinion may exist on how to best combat the evils of child sexual abuse, it is generally agreed that “[w]e need laws and consequences that send the unmistakable message that the sexual abuse of children is immoral, illegal, and intolerable, and that adult perpetrators will be held criminally accountable.” (4)

As the founder of the Religious Alliance Against Pornography and other anti-pornography organizations, the late Jerry Kirk did what he could to protect children. As described by Dr. Dobson during the 2017 interview, in those early years in this battle, Jerry “went back and forth across this country, like a John the Baptist, crying in the wilderness,” about the harms of pornography.

But Jerry Kirk did not stop with just “crying in the wilderness.”  Although his fervor in the fight against pornography never waned, Jerry Kirk simultaneously developed a discipling tool known as the “Prayer Covenant,” a tool that has impacted many lives since the original publication in 2013 of the book, The Prayer Covenant, Following Jesus Together, authored by Jerry Kirk, with Stephen Eyre. The ministry of the Prayer Covenant continues under the leadership of Candy Marballi, author, with Stephen Eyre, of the book, Prayer Covenant For Children, with the stated purpose of “Making Disciples Among the Children and Youth of the Nations," an extremely effective tool that has impacted the lives of millions of children and youth worldwide. (5)

The original Prayer Covenant prayer consists of the following ten lines:

“Dear Father, thank you for your grace that has made me one of your dearly loved children.

“By you grace make knowing, loving and obeying you my highest priority.

“Empower me to love others the way you love me.

“Wash me clean from every sin.

“Enable me to praise you, O Lord, with all my heart.

“Jesus, be Lord of my life today in new ways, and change me any way you want!

“Fill me with your Holy Spirit. Make me an instrument of your grace, truth, forgiveness, righteousness and justice.

“Use me today for your glory, and to invite others to follow Jesus Christ as Lord.

“I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.” (6)

Following the example of Jerry Kirk, as we the people of faith continue moving forward in the battle against pornography, may we also do something else. May we do what Jerry did, and pray the Prayer Covenant each day for ourselves, our families, our friends, and for the children who God so dearly loves.

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(1) Family Talk; “Nurturing A Child's Prayer Life (Part 1)” episode on Family Talk broadcast originally aired July 10, 2017; Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qymdB7P7_Ms. Accessed April 1, 2026.

(2) Douglas, E., Finkelhor, D., (May 2005) “ Childhood Sexual Abuse Fact Sheet,” Crimes

Against Children Research Center (UNH), See: https://www.unh.edu/ccrc/sites/default/files/media/2022-03/childhood-sexual-abuse-fact-sheet_0.pdf; Accessed April 1, 2026.

(3) Letourneau, E., Roberts, R., Sun, Y. (March 23, 2023) “No Check We Won't Write: A Report on the High Cost of Sex Offender Incarceration,” Sage Publications, Inc., https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10790632221078305; Accessed April 1, 2026.

(4) Letourneau, E., (February 15, 2023.)“America Has Been Going About Stopping Child Sex Abuse The Wrong Way,” Time.com; https://time.com/6253908/america-child-sex-abuse-prevention/, Accessed April 1, 2026.

(5) Ministry Report, Prayer Covenant, https://theprayercovenant.org/ministry-report/. Accessed April 2, 2026.

(6) Kirk, J., Eyre, S., (2013) The Prayer Covenant, Following Jesus Together, theprayercovenant.org, Cincinnati, OH, p i.