A prayer on behalf of my beloved sisters

Last December I wrote out a special prayer for the women in my life. While preparing for a ladies' night I'm hosting tomorrow, I read through this prayer and found that my mind was continually drawn to the adoptive moms with whom I've prayed, cried, and waited over the past year and a half. Most of you were strangers when we began this adoption journey, but now you are family. This is my prayer for you tonight...

A Prayer on Behalf of My Beloved Sister

Maker of heaven and earth, I am so grateful for the spiritual sisters You have brought into my life to encourage, comfort, challenge, and inspire me in my walk with You. Even those who are little more than strangers to me are nevertheless knit to my heart by the bond of Your Holy Spirit. Thank you for this beautiful gift of fellowship and love.

My prayer this night is for my precious sister in Christ. Thank you for the unique way You have created her to reflect Your glory. Your fingerprints are all over her, just as they mark the masterpiece of Creation. You have made her for a purpose which will not be thwarted, and I praise You for Your faithfulness in equipping her for the journey ahead, wherever it might lead.

Father, I know that on this journey she will encounter peaks and valleys, and that in both of these You have a plan for her good. Lord, when she descends into the valleys, when life is painful and she can’t see Your hand at work, grant her faith to trust Your Word. Help her to remember that Your work is often concealed until a proper time, and that our human eyes and minds cannot understand Your ways. Enable her to see these times of drought and confusion as opportunities to exercise her faith in action. When the path ahead is cloaked in shadow, when You feel distant or even unreal, give her strength to push aside deceptive emotions and walk by faith rather than sight.

When she is frightened by the unknown, tormented by the quicksand of “what-ifs,” give her the clarity and strength of mind to choose her focus. Help her to take her thoughts captive and fix her gaze on Your changeless character. Fortify her with the truth of who You are—the all-powerful God who creates unimaginable beauty from the void of nothingness; the ever-faithful God who brings life from the barren womb; the abundantly loving God who stooped down to live and die for those who could never deserve such sacrifice. You are timeless, purposeful, and in absolute control of all things. The future is as the past to You, and “what-ifs” have no place in light of Your sovereignty. I pray that this truth would penetrate my sister's mind and heart until she is anxious for nothing and able to walk confidently in Your peace.

Father, when her spirit is heavy with guilt and shame, engage her mind to recall the sufficiency of Your grace in Christ. Remind her that her debt of sin has been paid for all time, and now that You have gathered her into Your embrace, she can never to be snatched away, even by her own failures. When she does sin, grant her the humility to repent and the courage to seek forgiveness of those she has wronged. And bless her obedience with the joy of restoration and closer fellowship with You.

Father, when my sister is sick and struggling to find the energy for her daily responsibilities, supply her stamina to get through the day, and wisdom to know her limits. Grant her rest of body when needed, and rest of soul even in the midst of physical labor.

When her family is ill, please bless her with a special measure of compassion and patience. Equip her with Your gentle touch and tender heart, that Your love might overflow to those in her care. And when her patience is at a breaking point, help her to pause and seek Your face, to find the strength to withhold responses that come so naturally, so that Your grace might be demonstrated in her conduct.

When she battles feelings of insignificance, call to her mind Your pleasure in using the humblest servant to accomplish the greatest purpose. Remind her of Sarah the barren, Moses the reluctant, Gideon the coward, David the adulterer, Mary the handmaiden, and Paul the persecutor. You are a God who delights in using the weak things of the world to shame the strong, and it is in our weakness that Your strength is demonstrated most clearly. Remind my sweet sister that in spite of her weaknesses, she is monumentally important to You—no less than a daughter of the King of Kings. She is an instrument of Your love in a lost and hurting world. Please give her words of hope to speak to the weary and a touch of comfort for the broken. Show her how powerfully You can use a simple smile, a gentle hug, or even a tamed tongue when it is offered in Your name.

Above all, Lord, make her foundation strong. May whatever You are doing in her life cause her faith to be more deeply rooted in Your Word, her sight to be more firmly fixed on Jesus, and her footsteps to be more eagerly following in His. Create in her a spirit of praise, helping her to see Your blessing in those things that are so often overlooked—the steady changing of seasons; the comfort of a warm home on a winter’s day; the luxury of consuming clean water and unspoiled food. Make her a mouthpiece of Your praise, proclaiming Your goodness with a contagious joy that unwaveringly points others to Jesus Christ.

It is in his name and because of his perfect love that I offer this prayer on behalf of my sister. May You bless her with your power and presence both now and forevermore.

Amen.