Prayer for Widows

Lord of lords, King of kings, great and mighty and awesome God.

Move us with Your heart. Teach us to love and pray with Your compassion.

Jesus you love the widows so much; Your Word says that you execute justice for them, protect them, uphold them and severely punish anyone who would cheat them.

Forgive us when we develop blind spots for widows and thoughtlessly treat them as if they are invisible or leave them feeling irrelevant or stupid. Convict them when we sting them with our impatience. How stupid and wicked and ungrateful we are.

This angers You and Your word calls us into account. 

• You put an entire book in the Old Testament about widows – Ruth and Naomi.
• You sent a prophet to a gentile people to help the widow of Zarephath.
• You showed Yourself in your fresh incarnate state to the 84-year-old widow Anna.
• You taught us about persistence in prayer through the parable of the widow and the unjust Judge.
• And while rich and important people were parading around in flowing robes and receiving greetings of honor and dropping gifts into the collection box (oh, Lord, how often are we doing the same thing?), Your heart was taken by a poor widow who quietly dropped in two coins, all that she had.
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Give us Your heart and capacity not to be swayed by appearances but to seek, honor, defend and uphold those who have sought You all their lives.

We pray for our older, godly widows and thank you for the legacy they have left – having been faithful to their spouses, well respected for the good they have done, bringing up children well, being kind to strangers, humbly serving and helping those in trouble.  May we honor them, keep them company, make room for them, see that they have family to care for them. May we listen to them! They have so much wisdom, so much to share.

And for the younger widows, our heart cries out to You. Whether You have prepared another spouse or a lifetime of singleness, we look to You to mend their broken hearts, answer their painful questions, navigate them through the unexpectedness of an altered future; help them to raise their children, to be both mother and father, to take on double duty and learn to do things they never thought they would. Thank You that You have promised to be their protector and to keep the wolf away, to send provision and help and counsel.

And, Lord, for those abandoned by a spouse, we pause and ask a special prayer that they will find that in You they are loved, strong, beautiful, and very, very valuable. Remove their shame, lift their heads, and bring them a two-fold recompense.

Lord, we stand on Your promise that through Jesus You will comfort all who mourn, provide for those who grieve, bestow on them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of despair that they may one day be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of Your splendor.

In Jesus’ name, we pray for our widows.