Prayers for the Homeless

Every once in a while, I try to remember to pray for the homeless and needy. If I’m out and someone asks me for change, I often give something, if they are not obviously conning me.

An obvious con, for example, is the clean cut young man who stops me in our supermarket parking lot at least once a week, asking to clean my van’s windows. He always has a little boy with him, and a spray bottle for the window. The child’s coat is a bit too large, but is clean and obviously not in disrepair; the man is also clean and neat. They are definitely not sleeping in the streets. Every time I see them, the child says the same thing. He waits until the man makes his pitch, then he tugs on the man’s slacks and says, weakly, “Daddy, I’m so hungry.” The first time, I gave something. Once I saw this was a regular thing, I stopped.

But there are many others that I do help. I know what the Bible says about us feeding Him when we feed them. Each time I give something, I almost always tell them I’ll keep them in my prayers, and ask them to pray for me, too. Mutual prayer is a wonderful gift. I believe that God hears the prayers of these poor souls even more than my own prayers. The prayers of the suffering must be very loud in his ears. My prayers for them, then, should be just as loud and heartfelt.

Please, my father, watch over the poorest and least sheltered of your flock, always.