A Prayer for Women in 2017: Remember Your Daughters

Prayer written by Rachel Elizabeth Asproth and reprinted with permission.

God of Hagar, Tamar, and Mary Magdalene
Of Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel

God of Ruth, Esther, and Rahab
Of the Woman at the Well and the Woman They Would Have Stoned

God of the unseen, unwanted, and unheard

God of the silenced
Of those rendered invisible

God of those who wait
God of those who struggle
God of those who rise

God of the broken
Of the healing and the healed
Of the hopeful and the hopeless

God of the forgotten, who never forgets, we pray

Remember your daughters in 2017

Remember the women who wait—
the women who ache to hear the church call their names,
the women who press their skin against stained glass,
searching frantically for cracks
Remember the women who serve in the shadows,
the women who long to lead,
the hungry women, the thirsty women, the tired women,
the women with a revolutionary Word resting on their tongues

Remember the women who wait

God of Hagar,
remember those who wander the deserts of your church
Open the floodgates and bathe them in hope

May their waiting be over,
because their time has finally come
May the church call their names loudly
May painted glass crack and shatter

Remember the women who survive battles they never asked to fight—
the women with scars and bruises,
and the ones who bleed unseen from the heart,
the women who said no,
and the women who were too afraid to

Remember the women who are violated and hurt
trafficked, assaulted, raped, harassed, and demeaned
the women who walk through fire,
the warriors who rise from the ashes,
scarred but strong

Remember the women who feel broken,
afraid, and alone—
the ones who hold their breath in the night
Because of pain they can’t forget to remember

God of Tamar and Dinah,
God who sees sorrow we can’t name,
remember the women who walk out of the furnace alive
unconsumed by the flames

May your love salve their burns
May your church bind their wounds
May your people see justice done
May survivors be safe in your house

Remember the women who are tired—
the women who labor,
and labor
and labor
unseen in the background of history,
unseen in the church,
unseen by their families
unseen in their workplaces
unseen by their world

Remember the women on the fringes, God of the Woman Who Bled And Was Healed

Remember the women the world loves to forget,
the women who lead nations,
the women who plant churches,
the missionaries, the pastors, and the teachers

Remember the women who love beyond reason,
the women who build their homes brick by brick,
who care for their children and parents without recognition,
the women who carry jugs of water on their heads for miles
and give up their portions so others can eat

God of Naomi,
Remember the women who are tired,
the women who have lost much,
the women who weep and mourn,
who long for brighter days

Meet them in their sorrow,
when the road seems far too long,
and fill them again

Remember the women who are excluded—
dismissed by their own brothers and sisters

Remember, God of the unheard and unseen,
women of color—
betrayed and silenced,
and the women with ten dollars to their names
who ask for help and receive none,
and the women we try to erase
because they speak or dress differently

God of the Samaritan Woman,
remember the women who are excluded
Empower them as only you can

May your church listen better
May your people see justice done
May women of color,
women with disabilities,
women experiencing poverty,
and all women who have gone unheard
be safe in your house
May they be honored in your sanctuaries

Remember the women who fight—
the advocates and activists
the women who turn water into wine,
and then pour it out
Remember the marchers and the sitters
the women who could not and would not be moved

God of Deborah,
remember the women who lead revolutions,
the ones who give up everything
so that others might be free

Remember those who struggle ferociously against the tide
pushing onward,
onward,
onward,
exhausted but ever enduring

May you be the storm at their backs,
a furious wind that drives them through the waves
God of Jael, remember the women who fight.

God of the forgotten, who never forgets, we pray

Remember your daughters in 2017
Remember the women your world loves to forget
Remember the women your church overlooks
Remember the women your people try to erase

Remember your daughters in 2017

Amen