Day 2: Prayers for Churches Serving Children
Praying for Churches and Ministries Who Serve Hungry Children
Did you know that many of the children within our community don’t have enough to eat? In 2009, 24.1% of households with children reported they did not have enough money for food within the last 12 months. While a School Breakfast Program and a National Lunch Program are available in a number of our schools, many children in Harris County do not participate because of the stigma associated with receiving free meals.
School breakfast is not only effective in reducing hunger among needy children, it is also effective in improving nutrition; preventing obesity; improving students’ attendance, attentiveness and achievement. With growing budget challenges facing our families and our schools, it is likely that more of our children will be affected.
When school is not in session – holidays, summer – hungry children have access to even fewer resources. Did you know that there are churches and ministries that are working to fill this gap?
Let’s Pray
Father, you are the Lord Most High. We praise and honor your name today. We give thanks for your power and presence in our lives and in our world. Today we acknowledge your great love and care for children (Mark 10:13-16). We believe that we honor you when we care for the needs of children. Today, we give thanks for who you are and for your action in our world on behalf of all children. It is the deep desire of our heart that one piece of evidence that Your Kingdom is coming more fully to the greater Houston area is that there would be no hungry children in our neighborhoods or communities.
None of us would want our own children to struggle in school because of a lack of food or proper nutrition. And yet we know this is true for many of the children in our community. Lord, forgive us when we have been apathetic or uninformed, and as we seek to solve this painful problem, we ask for your wisdom (James 1:5).
We pray today for our policy makers – for principals in the public schools, for administrators in the district offices, and for political leaders in city and state government who make decisions about feeding children. Help them to make the right choices for our children as they address this important issue. Give them wisdom and direction from heaven. We pray for children whose parents are unable to provide adequate food for them. We ask you to provide economic opportunity so that all the adults in a family can have employment.
Jesus, when your disciples told you that the crowd of 5,000 was hungry, you said, “You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16) Awaken your people across this city to be involved. Raise up advocates who can make a difference in the lives of children, families and schools. Raise up congregations who will take on one school in their community and insure that every child has enough food to eat (Matthew 9:38). Today we give you thanks for Blessings in a Backpack and their work in Houston’s Third Ward. Thank you for their courageous, innovative provision of food for our most vulnerable children.
Give us your heart of compassion for those who are hurting. Fill us with your wisdom, power and grace so that we, your people, can respond in tangible and practical ways. (Isaiah 11:2) All of this we ask in your name, the name of Jesus, and for the sake of the children of our city.
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