I encourage you first to read the lines below as you would read a poem. Then, when you have finished, if these words have quickened your spirit -- Read them again, but this time aloud as a prayer!
Stretch My Vision
For the orphaned, abandoned, and fatherless who have been:
neglected instead of loved,
hurt instead of protected,
crushed instead of encouraged, and
cursed instead of blessed
For these children Lord:
I desire redemption and salvation,
I want them to know Your life and light and love,
I want them to have the hope of the resurrected life not despair,
I want them to walk in Your power instead of in helplessness
For these children Lord:
I call upon Your blessings and Your favor to fall upon them,
I want them to hear of Jesus, trust Jesus with their life, and receive His grace,
I will be filled with joy when they receive healing, help, and hope,
I seek to see them delivered into a life of freedom and grace
For Your glory my Heavenly Father:
Open my heart up to be filled with an increased measure of Your Grace,
No longer allow me to turn my eyes away from these children but instead let me see Your pain in their gaze,
No more will I react out of guilt but allow my giving to flow out of loving compassion,
Guide me in planting seeds of faith, seeds of hope, and seeds of love into their hearts and lives
By Your Grace and Mercy:
Stir within my heart Jesus' love for children who have been discarded by the world,
Spring forth from my mouth the words of affirmation You, Heavenly Father, have for children who have been discarded by the world,
Shake lose the chains from my hands that have kept me from comforting the children who have been discarded by the world, and
Stretch my vision to see back to the cross when Jesus was discarded by the world
