God of all Hope, here this prayer of your handmaid:
In the name of Him who left His home, His throne and came to us
born as a poor insignificant infant, born of a woman making a difficult
journey,
Hear my prayer for Cara as she travels…
God of Esther, to whom you imparted courage and in a foreign
land, and she pled for and saw spared by Your hand the lives of her
people, it is to You I make my petition.
God of Ruth, who claimed you as her God and journeyed to a new
and strange place, leaving her family and that which was familiar to her
and you greatly honored her faith and courage by allowing her to be in
the very lineage of that Holy Infant given for the remission of our
sins. It is to you I come bowed down low.
God of Mary who first made the long, difficult journey while
nearly ready to deliver her son, your only Son and again, who with a
child in arms, fled into Egypt to preserve her baby’s life, God who
blessed all women, all people, through her obedience to you; it is to
you I cry.
God of women who make difficult journeys, of women who speak and
act in times of danger with words of faith and assurance in You, it is
to You I ask for protection over, on, in and all about Cara as she
travels.
You, the very creator of women, you see and understand the
particular challenges of traveling as a woman.
You know the rhythms of our bodies, as Mary so pregnant carried
your very Son, you know that sometimes it is hard, unpleasant and even
painful to travel as a woman. I pray that Cara would know you as her
Great Physician, healing, sustaining and protecting her health on this
trip.
You know the particular vulnerabilities of a woman traveling in
a foreign land. You know that women are not always valued, protected,
honored as you created them to be. So it is to you, Defender of the
Weak, that I pray for your never-sleeping eyes to watch over Cara,
shielding her from physical harm and sustaining her body in health for
your worship and service.
You know her emotions, her tender heart that sorrows at
suffering and feels sometimes overwhelmed at the magnitude of evil she
sees. Father to the orphan, cause her to see that You are weeping along
side of her, that You feel the pain of the beggar, of the widow, of
those treated with unjust and harsh hands. Sorrow with her, Father, and
help her to see the only hope of the rich or poor alike is in Your
gospel.
You, O God, are her creator, the designer of her life from
before time began. Cause her on this journey to begin to catch an even
deeper glimpse into her created beauty. Cause her to begin to understand
her calling to worship and serve You. Cause her to begin to see her life
and her gifts through Your eyes. Cause her to catch a glimpse of the
strong, beautiful, significant woman You created Cara to be now and in
the years to come.
You, O God, know the deep joy she brings to the heart of her
earthly father. How he delights at her smile, at the very mention of her
name. Father, I ask that Cara bring even more deeply to Your heart that
rich joy and even more than she can now imagine, cause her life to bring
You honor.
She is your daughter who travels, O, Father.
Watch over her on this difficult journey as You have watched
over the holy women of old. Protect her on this journey as you were a
shield to them. Bless her on this journey as You blessed them. And by
Your Spirit, cause her to live her life in such a way that not only is
she blessed for her faith in You but that like Esther, Ruth and Mary,
women who found themselves in strange and foreign places-that all people
would be blessed through her faith in you.
It is into Your strong and mighty hands of grace that I commend
Cara and her journey to You.
Amen.