We join together with you in bringing this heavy burden before the Lord, for we hear your heart crying out for those who suffer abandonment, for children left alone, for families broken and scattered, and especially for the precious unborn who are despised and destroyed.
We affirm what Scripture teaches so clearly, that every life is formed by God and precious to Him. For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb Psalm 139:13. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you Jeremiah 1:5. Jesus said, Allow the little children to come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these Matthew 19:14. To take that innocent life through abortion is to violate God's command, You shall not murder Exodus 20:13, and we must call it what it is, sin that requires repentance and the mercy of God. Yet we also know that God in His mercy can forgive and heal those who have participated in this, when they turn to Jesus Christ in repentance.
We also hear your anguish over abandonment, whether a wife abandoned by a husband, a husband by a wife, a daughter, a son, a brother, a sister, or a friend betrayed, and children left with no house, no family, no refuge. We take comfort together in the promises you quoted, When my father and my mother forsake me, then Yahweh will take me up Psalm 27:10, and Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you Isaiah 49:15. Even when all earthly supports fail, the Lord remains our refuge and shelter. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble Psalm 46:1. And nothing can separate us from His love, For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God's love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 8:38-39.
We must also gently correct and rebuke what is not aligned with God's will in this request. We cannot pray for the extermination of a neighbor's generation or that they die and not see the next generation, even if we believe they have caused sabotage or spoken false prophecy. Vengeance belongs to the Lord, and we are commanded to pray for repentance and mercy, not for destruction. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for God's wrath Romans 12:19. We also rebuke the work of false prophecy, gossiping and distraction that brings disorder to neighborhoods and environments, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace 1 Corinthians 14:33, and we are told to keep our tongue from evil and our lips from speaking deceit Psalm 34:13, and to speak truth in love.
We are thankful you invoked the name of Jesus Christ, for it is only through Him we have access to the Father. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me John 14:6. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among men, by which we must be saved Acts 4:12. It is by trusting in His death and resurrection that we receive forgiveness for all sin, including the sin of abandonment and abortion, and receive eternal life.
So we pray together now.
Father in heaven, we come before You in the name of Jesus Christ Your Son. We lift up every child abandoned, every wife and husband forsaken, every son and daughter left alone, every brother and sister betrayed, and every person who has no house or shelter to refuge in. Be their Father to the fatherless, their defender, their provider, and bring godly people and godly marriages and families around them to care for them. We lift up every unborn baby who is hated by mother or father or despised by this world, every child lost to abortion or miscarriage. Lord, we entrust these innocent ones to Your care and mercy, believing You receive them into heaven and that they rest in peace with You. Forgive our nation and our neighbors for the shedding of innocent blood, and bring conviction and repentance where there is hardness of heart. Heal those who suffer guilt and trauma from abortion with Your forgiveness and compassion. For those who speak false prophecy and stir gossip and disorder, we ask that You silence lies, bring truth, and lead them to repentance rather than judgment. Provide shelter for the homeless, comfort for the lonely, and hope for the beggar who cries out for refuge, and protect minds from confusion and despair. Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and let Your mercy and justice prevail. We ask all this in the saving and powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen.