God has a heart for the poor, the lowly, the crushed in spirit. Our cries to him for help are not ignored. With Adam and Eve’s choice to sin came broken relationships with God, along with corruption and war within our families and societies. Death, sickness and brokenness came to our bodies. Even the earth groaned with its natural disasters, drought, famine and floods.

But God did not leave us alone in our poverty and despair. God walks with us through our times of difficulty and need. He gives us strength in him to persevere. The Scriptures reveal that God is “a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat” (Isa. 25:4). As listeners hear Women of Hope programs all over the globe, they are being directed to the Lord who sees them and hears and acts on their behalf.

God sometimes provides for our needs directly when we ask him, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). But God often calls on his children to meet the needs of those around them. As TWR Women of Hope intercessors, we join our brothers and sisters around the world who cry out for the provision of life’s basic needs. God calls us to pray faithfully and take action, to “loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke … to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them” (Isa. 58:6-8).

Just as we pray for those in poverty, let us give of our money, time and abilities to help bring food, clean water, sanitation, education, health care, electricity, jobs, and the news of God’s love and salvation to those in need.

God has a heart for the poor. Pray that those in great need would have their eyes opened to see that the greatest need of all is God.

“TWR Women of Hope: Bringing hope in Jesus to women around the world and across generations”