Prayer points for foster care in the state of Colorado!
● Pray that children in your community would know they are loved by God and understand that He desires to be in relationship with them.
● Pray that children in foster care would experience a feeling of belonging in a foster family, a church community, or a group of friends within your community.
● Pray that God would lead them as they work through hurt they have experienced in their past and in their present.
Biological Families
● Pray that biological parents in your state would have the strength they need to face their circumstances and that they always keep the best interests of their children in mind.
● Pray for the relationship between bio parents, foster parents, and the foster care system; that bio parents feel heard and that others are able to extend compassion.
● Pray that churches and communities in your community learn how to support bio families and how to equip bio parents to prepare for reunification with their children.
Churches
● Pray that your church will choose a specific way to care for children in foster care based on the strengths of those within your congregation.
● Pray that other churches in your community will seek out Biblical wisdom about children who need families and how to best care for them.
● Pray that churches in your area will come together to care for children in foster care in order to create movement within your community.
Foster Parents
● Pray for endurance and for strength for foster parents in your community as they invite children into their families.
● Pray that your community would rise up and stand by these parents while encouraging and supporting their needs.
● Pray for peace and understanding in every relationship -- with the foster children, with their biological children, with the birth families of the foster children, with social workers, and with their community.
Adoptive Parents
● Pray that potential adoptive parents in your community listen to the Lord's direction as they pursue adoption of a particular child.
● Pray that adoptive parents would seek Biblical wisdom and the advice of other adoptive parents as they walk with their children through healing.
● Pray that communities and churches in your area would come around adoptive parents in support and encouragement.
Child Welfare Professionals
● Pray for the safety and emotional well being of social workers in your community as they come face to face with difficult decisions.
● Pray that churches in your community would commit to care for and to support child welfare professionals.
● Pray that social workers and administrators would fight discouragement and burnout by continuously seeking and finding joy, hope, and peace in Christ.
Organizational and Church Ministry Leaders
● Pray that the fruit of their hard work would serve as an inspiration to others in your community.
● Pray that they are able to balance ministry life and family life by making the time for their family.
● Pray that they would lead groups within your community to care for children in foster care with humility.
Counselors and Therapists
● Pray that counselors and therapists win your community would work hard to discover what is best to help children in foster care, foster parents, social workers, birth families, and other individuals involved in foster care.
● Pray that they would make time to care for their own physical and emotional well-being.
● Pray that they would listen to God's Word and His promises as they help others walk through their hardship.
Teachers
● Pray that teachers in local schools n your community would be aware of the unique needs children in foster care may have and that teachers would have the tools and knowledge needed to respond to these needs.
● Pray that teachers and foster, adoptive, or birth parents would all make the effort to work together so that children can excel in school.
● Pray that teachers at your local schools are able to experience rest and renewal outside of the classroom so that they have the capacity to fully engage with students.
Lawyers and Judges
● Pray that they would have the eyes to see the specific needs of children in foster care in your community.
● Pray that they would take an active role in initiating repair of what is broken in families and in the foster care system.
● Pray that they would seek out biblical wisdom when defending children.
Law Enforcement
● Pray for the law enforcement officers in your community would be well equipped to engage in their roles as protectors of the weak, including children who experience abuse or neglect
● Pray for the safety and emotional well-being of law enforcement officers as they come face to face with difficult decisions and experiences on a weekly basis in your community.
● Pray that officers in your community would have wisdom and empathy as they interact with children who come from hard places.
Kinship Caregivers
● Pray that your church and your state would support kinship caregivers in your community well, whether they are informal, formal, or voluntary.
● Pray that their relationships with the children they take in will flourish and provide them with security and hope.
● Pray that these extended family members would have access to the emotional, spiritual, financial, and other resources to provide a safe home for children from their family.
Researchers and Policy Analysts
● Pray for researchers and policy analysts to understand how the data they are finding connects to policies and practices that can lead to transformation.
● Pray for accuracy, patience, and pursuit of the truth in their research, writing, publications, presentations, and advice.
● Pray that their research and their policies would bring positive changes to the foster care system in your community and fulfill God's plans for children and families to flourish.
Journalists
● Pray that local journalists would report in such a way that those in foster care, their foster parents and their biological parents will not feel that their stories have been violated but that truth and justice have prevailed.
● Pray that journalists uncover lies, secrets and opportunities for change while revealing the truth.
● Pray that journalists in your community would use their platform to bring justice within the foster system and help find families for kids.
Classmates
● Pray for the kids in foster care in your local schools that they would find friends and encounter compassionate teachers who will help them through tough transitions.
● Pray that your local teachers would gain the wisdom and knowledge necessary to help students respond well to children in foster care.
● Pray that classmates will have the courage to report evidence of suspected abuse or neglect.
Adults Who Have Abused or Neglected Children
● Pray that they will confess, repent, and seek healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness while coming to terms with the consequences of their actions.
● Pray for those who have had abuse in their own pasts and pray that abusers would encounter grace and compassion within the body of Christ.
● Pray that cycles of abuse will be broken when abusers reach out for help to the churches in your community to find healing.
Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs)
● Pray that God would raise up groups of people within your community to become CASA volunteers so that every child has someone to speak up for them in court.
● Pray that CASA volunteers would be well equipped to support children in foster care and have the knowledge needed to speak up for the children.
● Pray that CASA volunteers would build meaningful and lasting relationships that would communicate love and worth to children in foster care.
Elected Officials
● Pray that the President, legislators, governors, mayors, and other elected officials in your community will use their power and influence to protect the weak and vulnerable.
● Pray that elected leaders would be open to partnership with your local churches to significantly impact kids in foster care.
● Pray that local elected leaders would actively fight corruption, human trafficking, abuse, neglect, homelessness, poverty, hunger, oppression, and discrimination.
Respite Care Providers
● Pray that just as they provide rest and relief to foster and adoptive families, that they will also experience rest and relief in their own lives.
● Pray that a large number of individuals and churches would actively seek to provide respite care for foster and adoptive families in your community.
● Pray that their example of sacrifice and service would serve as an example to others that anyone can be involved in foster care in some capacity.
Foster Care Advocates
● Pray that God would raise up a team of advocates in every church in your community who are passionate about speaking up for children in foster care.
● Pray that individuals who currently advocate in your community would feel connected to the children they are advocating for and that they would be encouraged to do all they can to speak up for them.
● Pray that advocates would build lasting relationships with churches and groups in your community in order to inspire others to advocate.
Siblings
● Pray that siblings are able to remain together while in foster care in safe and encouraging environments within your community.
● Pray that more families in your state will feel led and prepared to adopt sibling groups.
● Pray for the children of foster parents in your community, that they would respond to the needs of the kids that come in and out of their home with compassion and understanding.
Healthcare Professionals
● Pray that health care professionals at local hospitals would have the time and resources needed to holistically care for children in foster care.
● Pray that God will reveal to doctors and nurses the specific needs of children in Foster Care and that they will make wise decisions as they plan out care.
● Pray that God would raise up more doctors and nurses in your area who are passionate about using their gifts and professional skills to bring healing and hope to children in foster care.
Mentors and Mentees
● Pray that God would provide a mentor for every child in foster care in your county.
● Pray that uncertainty, barriers, inexperience, and differences between mentors and mentees will not impede meaningful conversation and fruitful relationships.
● Pray that mentors will be confident in their ability to communicate worth and love to their mentees because of confidence we have in Christ.
Youth Aging Out of Foster Care
● Pray that every youth who ages out of the foster care system in your community would have the resources necessary to survive and to thrive as an adult living on their own.
● Pray that youth would have a support system of adults in your community who will guide them through the process of aging out.
● Pray that God would reveal ways for the people and churches in your community to tangibly support children who age out of the foster care system.