Invitation to Prayer: TOMORROW

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Prayers for the Unsung and Unseen Among Us

““So many do so much for me, Lord, and often when I’m not looking. Someone has built and maintained the roads I drive on, picked up my trash, opened and supported the hospital where I have been treated, established and taught in the schools I attended, produced the food I eat, made the clothing I wear, constructed the buildings in which I work and live.

They’re mostly unsung and unseen servants, Lord, and often go unthanked.
Bless them (and all the others I haven’t thought of too)!”

A Little Treasury of Prayers by Walter C. Sutton

A message from Chris Laufer, Coordinator, Faces of Children

Greetings, Faces of Children Intercessor,

I’ve harvested another little prayer from Walter Sutton’s A Little Treasury of Prayers that reminds me to pray for those whose work is often seen, yet taken for granted. I’m guilty of taking things like our highway system, water treatment facility, postal service, police and fire departments, and local hospital for granted. Our community is fortunate to have these wonderful systems and services available to us and I am grateful for those who worked hard to create them and for those who continue to work in or on them.

There is another element in this reminder to pray for the unsung and unseen, I think. And that is to also extend our prayers to the children of the unsung and unseen, to the children who are affected by these systems, and to the children who use these services. For example, we can pray for children whose parents work in physically demanding or dangerous jobs; for children who drink the water or travel the roads in our communities; for children who are hospital patients.

We can also use this reminder to extend our prayers to migrant children who pick produce for our tables; children who labor in garment factories to make our clothes; children who are enslaved in brick kilns (factories) making bricks for buildings. I suggest these ways to pray for children not because I want to take us on a guilt trip, but because our prayers are powerful tools in helping children in our local and global communities. We can give God thanks and praise for hearing and answering our prayers for children…for using our prayers to help children in crisis, in need, and at risk. Thank you for praying with hope for each one of them!

The Midland Faces of Children prayer group will meet this coming Wednesday, February 5, 2014, at 11:30 a.m. in Room 217 at First Presbyterian Church-Midland, as we lift in prayer the children of our hearts and communities. Please join us for prayer and, afterwards, for lunch ($5) and fellowship. I hope you will be able to join us.

The church is starting an 18-month-long renovation project and we won't have access to the Bride's Room during that time, so we will be meeting in Room 217. We’ll still have lunch available to us even after the move.

If you have prayer concerns or celebrations about children, those who care for them, those who have authority over them, or those who harm them (the really hard prayers to say sometimes), please send them to me at at claufer@facesofchildren.net, or give me a call.

Grace and peace,

Chris