Praying for Orphans this Lent

By Hannah Heath

“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.” Psalm 68:5

Lent is a time when we are reminded of our own weakness and need of a Savior. It is also an opportunity to pray more, to take the time to think of others, and to remember those who would otherwise be forgotten.

(Brayden: See the link in Hannah's prayer)

When confronted with the horrors humanity inflicts on the weakest among us--the orphaned, the widowed, the forgotten--a temptation of mine is to jerk away from the truth and hide within my own comfortable, predictable life. After all, I tell myself, what can I really do? In the grand scheme of things, there honestly is not much of a physical difference I can make on the whole world. Yet there is One who can, One who already has made all the difference.

Words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor, articulate my thoughts this Lent season: “God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.” (A Year With Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

As part of my Lenten devotions this year I am praying for children in orphanages, the children whom the world has abandoned, the children whose painful stories make me long to shrink away from the knowledge that such sorrow and neglect exists today. There are countless children around the world who need families, who need to hear the truth of Jesus Christ and live new lives of faith. You can see some of their faces here.

A simple prayer I say each day goes something like this:

Heavenly Father, you who knit us together in the womb and knew us before the world knew of us, please bless your child Brayden with comfort and peace this day. Lead a family to him so that he may be brought into your house and baptized into the body of Christ. Heal his body and soul, may he live a full life in you and when the day comes, welcome him into life everlasting.In your holy name we pray. Amen.

I invite you to pray alongside me as we implore the One who is Father to the fatherless to protect these children with his unfathomable love. 

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Hannah became a member of the LCMS during her junior year of high school while her father was attending Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft Wayne, IN.  She graduated from Concordia University Wisconsin with a master’s degree in occupational therapy, and enjoyed helping adults rehabilitate from injuries until this past year when she resigned to fulfill a new vocation as stay-at-home mom.  Her days are now spent supporting her husband in his calling as a pastor, hosting endless tea parties with her daughter, and planning a vegetable garden beyond her wildest dreams.  She sporadically blogs over at Heath and Home.