Who does God define as a widow?
The Hebrew word for widow is amlanah. It means; a woman who is left without a provider for any reason; the state of loneliness, abandonment or helplessness. The New Testament Greek word is cheras and it refers to a woman that has lost her husband in any way, whether through death, desertion, divorce, war or imprisonment. In Isaiah 54:4 God describes a woman who has been forsaken by her husband as a widow. Her husband is alive but God considers her a widow. "For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore". Jeremiah describes Jerusalem's people as a widow-deprived of home and inheritance, weary, defenseless, without peace or joy, lacking daily necessities, heartsick and abandoned. It is the mandate from God that we (the church) focus a large part of our ministry on caring for the widows and orphans in our community.
Paul clearly reminds us of our responsibility in 1Corinthians 12:21-26. "Those parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable". John gives the best example of our calling. He says: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1John 3:18). Those who are weaker (the hurting, distressed, abandoned, lonely, etc.) are to be treated with special honor, and when they suffer, the body of believers suffers. When a weak member of the body is in crisis, we are instructed to restore that person to be whole again in Christ.
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
Zachariah 7:9-10 NIV (Emphasis added)
In a very real sense, our provision for the widows and the orphans is a reflection of God's glory.
Taking care of widows is not a shameful thing for the widow nor an act of mere generosity by those who would endeavor to obey the command, it is a direct application of the gospel as we do what our Father has done. You and I were dead in sin, totally alone, unable to believe and devoid of all righteousness. We were completely lost, completely separated from God, and without any means of making up the distance. But God in his gracious love reached down from heaven and literally stepped into our world. For the sake of his glory he left his riches behind and embraced his own poverty so that he could provide for us all of the riches of heaven. How then could we do any less?
The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. 1Timothy 5:5 NIV
For us to fail in providing for a widow indeed is a denial of our faith because it is a denial in practice of the very core truths of our faith. Let us decide today to make it a practice and a priority to provide as needed for God's precious women and children in need. Widows today may need extra help paying bills that may have been left to them from the deceased. Government aid is not always enough. Many widows today lose their homes because of taxes they cannot pay. Every widow whom God has placed in our lives must know about her true redeemer, Jesus Christ, who purchases us from sin with his blood on the cross. It is our duty to be a witness of Him, as was Boaz.
"He (the Lord your God) defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow..."
Deuteronomy 10:18 NIV
"Believe, when you are most unhappy, that there is something for you
to do in the world. So long as you can sweeten another's pain,
life is not in vain."
- Helen Keller
The Power of the Widow
For your Maker is your Husband--the Lord of hosts is His name--and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.
- Isaiah 54:5 (amp)
As is the case for the modern day women of Rawanda and elsewhere in the world, we believe there is a new awakening in the body of Christ. He is calling us forth for a last day's harvest. Widows are very important in the strategies of these last days. Widows can change this country with their might and their wisdom. Widows are the armor bearers for God's great army. It is going to be through the intercessionary prayers of widows that the forces of evil will be defeated and the hearts of many will be changed.
Just as in the power of "THE WIDOW'S MITE".
"And He (Jesus) looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
Luke 21: 1-4 NKJV
I call all widows to RISE UP in the name of Jesus Christ and
". . .remember no more the reproach (sorrow) of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD Almighty is his name, the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth." (Isaiah 54:4-5 NIV)
-Sean Stevens, Executive Director of Mary's Comfort Ministries.
"The Widows Prayer of Empowerment"
Used by permission of the Widows Ministry Center, Sevierville, TN
"Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your Word! It is alive and full of power!
It is active, operative, energizing and effective! It goes to the deepest part of
my nature! (Heb 4:12 amp) It does not return to You void, but will accomplish
that which you please and purpose. (Isa 55:11 amp)
When I pray according to your Word, my tongue becomes "like a pen of a ready writer",
writing on the tablet of my heart (Ps45:1) Lord, you actively watch over your Word to
preform it (Jer 1:12 amp) You have given your angels special charge over me to keep me
in all my ways (Ps 91:11) I thank you Lord, that your angels harken to the voice of
your Word on my lips (Ps 103:20,21) to do your pleasure!
Father, according to your Word, I cry out in travail and break into singing for new birth!
As a widow (or a desolate one) I abound in spiritual children!
My territory is enlarged as I spread abroad to the right hand and to the left to possess the nations (Isa 54:1,3 amp)
I thank you Lord, that you establish the borders, boundaries (or territory)
of the widow and you keep them secure.
(Pro 15:25) Thank you for the harvest of souls reserved for the widow. (Ruth 2, Deut 24:19)
Your Word says that you certainly hear the cry of the widow (Ex22:22-24)
I do not fear, neither am I confounded or depressed. I forget the shame of my youth
and I remember no more the reproach of my widowhood;
for you Oh Lord, are my Maker and my Husband! (Isa 54:5,6)
I thank you that you provide for me and bless all the works of the hands of those who feed me
and make sure that I am satisfied. (Deut 14:29) You defend the cause of the widow and
call others to plead my case! (Deut 10:18,Ps 68:4,5 Isa 1:17)
You sustain the widow! (Sustain means to heal, fortify and bolster.)
Thank you for that strength in my life!
Thank you that you send people around me that "make the widow’s heart sing" (Job 29:13)
You have declared that pure religion (or worship) that you accept includes caring for or visiting the widow in her distress.
Thank you that you place that kind of value on my life! (James 1:27)
You have commanded the church to honor the widow. This includes to prize, revere and to respect. (1Tim5:3)
Lord I am humbled by your love. I thank you for the spiritual leaders you
have placed over me, and that as I submit to them, they keep watch over my soul and guard
my spiritual welfare. (Heb 13:17 amp) I praise you that I have a call and a purpose!
That your thoughts and plans are for my welfare and peace, and not for evil;
but to give me a hope in my final outcome.
I praise you Lord, that when I called upon you, you heard me;
and when I searched for you with all of my heart, I found you (Jer 29:11-13)
Thank you that nothing can separate me from your Love! (Rm 8:35)
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Pray daily and see what God does!
Love, CarolMarie.
"A widow with MIGHT!"
www.widowsministry.org
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