Called To Serve The Children Series

the church

1. Pray that God would raise up people in many churches throughout our city and state to launch ministries for orphans and waiting children, and that many of these ministries would, as part of their mission, become engaged with the child welfare system.

a. John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

* God is calling his church to care for the children, especially those who are in need. Can you think of a greater need than a child who has be abused, neglected or even molested or worse and then taken from his parents and is either living with a new family that is foreign to him or living in a shelter. These children need someone to go to them, to love them, teach them and show them what kind of unconditional love God has for us. They need a man to teach them what a father is like and what a husband is really like when God is the center of the home. They need a woman to be a mother to them and show them what a wife and a mother looks like when she loves God over everything else.

2. Pray that more and more church leaders would respond to the needs in foster care and would actively engage in the child welfare system.

a. Too many people are turning their backs on these kids. Will you do the same? Or will you be the one who makes a difference in their lives.

3. Pray that believers all over the state would be consumed with compassion for the children in foster care, and would make themselves available for how God wants to use them.

a. Mark 6:34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, And he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

* We need to pray for our friends and family and church members so that the Lord would touch their hearts and that they would have compassion for the children that need our help.

4. Pray that believers in our state would be unified in Christ and that our unity around this issue would draw others to Him.

a. 1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

* There is no limit to what we can do together, if we agree with one another (unity of mind) and band together (brotherly love) we can bring life and hope to these little one in need!

5. Ask God what He would have us do in the future in relation to the foster care system and the children and families it serves.

a. James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction,

going further

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened

to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who

knocks it will be opened.”

—Matthew 7:7-8 NASB

Children come into the United States foster care system for various reasons, including neglect, abuse, abandonment, and substance abuse by their primary caretakers. Historically the church has cared for children such as these out of obedience to God’s repeated mandate to care for the marginalized. However, many Christians today are simply unsure of what they can do to make a difference. Perhaps the best place to start is on our knees, crying out to a Holy God on behalf of these children, their birth families, their foster families, and their social workers.

Begin by praying through these and other Scriptures God brings to mind:

Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth…

—Psalm 105:4-5 NASB

Remember God’s wonders and praise Him for the things that He has already done: the children you know who have been returned safely to their homes, the children you know who have been adopted, the faithful social workers He has provided, the believers He has gathered to intercede for and love these children as their own, the growing movement among churches to act on behalf of the children in foster care.

When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

—Acts 1:13-14 NASB