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For Children in Poverty

LentWelfare, Poverty and Family SupportWeek 13 · Day 3

Scripture References

Read First

Old Testament

Isaiah 58:6-11

6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?

7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? When you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?

8 Then your light will break out as the morning, and your healing will appear quickly; then your righteousness shall go before you, and the LORD’s glory will be your rear guard.

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9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer. You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away from amongst you the yoke, finger pointing, and speaking wickedly;

10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light will rise in darkness, and your obscurity will be as the noonday;

11 and the LORD will guide you continually, satisfy your soul in dry places, and make your bones strong. You will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters don’t fail.

New Testament

Matthew 19:13-15

13 Then little children were brought to him that he should lay his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them.

14 But Jesus said, “Allow the little children, and don’t forbid them to come to me; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to ones like these.”

15 He laid his hands on them, and departed from there.

Thought for the Day

Isaiah 58 refuses a thin spirituality. The fast God chooses is not a religious display but a loosening of bonds: to undo heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to share bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house. And then the promise: light breaking like dawn, healing springing up, guidance in parched places.

Jesus receives children with the same seriousness. In Matthew he does not treat them as inconvenient background. He lays hands on them and blesses them. The kingdom comes with a welcome that is not earned.

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Children in poverty are asked to grow up too quickly. They learn what it is to be overlooked; to have less room, less margin, less security. So we pray for provision and protection, but also for honour: that no child would be shamed for being hungry, and no family treated as a problem to be managed.

Lord, teach us the fast you choose. Open our homes, our time, our speech, our resources. Bless the children; guard their minds and bodies; give them laughter and friendship and the quiet confidence that they are seen. And make us, as your people, a shelter where little ones are cherished as kin.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Lord, have mercy on children living in poverty; provide food, safety, and stability
  • Strengthen parents and carers under strain; give help that is respectful and sustained
  • Give wisdom to schools, councils, charities, and churches supporting children; keep their work patient and effective
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  • Protect children from shame and exclusion; let them be welcomed, not marked out
  • Teach us generosity that costs; loosen our grip on comfort and open our hands to the hungry
  • Bless children with friends, mentors, and safe adults; and let your kingdom welcome be felt in real lives
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