The Heart of Adoption: Father to the Fatherless

I'm a big believer in prayer. 

I believe in it's power:

James 5:16 (NIV)
16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

 and I believe God desires our prayers:

1 Timothy 2:8 (NIV)

8I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

I also believe we're to pray with a heart like God's:

1 John 5:13-15 (NIV) 

13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

 I've often prayed that God would give me a heart like his when thinking of our future children, and when thinking of the children in the world who need loving parents.  These verses came to mind, and I wanted to share them:

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)
8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute. 

9 Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."


Psalm 68:5-6 (NIV)
5 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.

6 God sets the lonely in families, [a]
he leads forth the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.


Psalm 10: 14, 17-18
14 But you, O God, do see trouble and grief;
you consider it to take it in hand.
The victim commits himself to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.

17 You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
in order that man, who is of the earth, may terrify no more.

Clearly God has a heart for orphans - we are told to stand up for those who can't defend themselves, and God says that he Himself is a "father to the fatherless."  The more I pray, and the more I read the Bible, the more committed I become to adoption, and the more thankful I am that this is where God is leading us!

*Click here to read all the post in The Heart of Adoption series!