“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem”. (Luke 2:36-37)

Widows like Anna keep the fire of the altar burning. She did not depart from the altar. She kept on praying. God often uses them to prophesy His will over lives and to encourage and enlighten the people of God. Just like Anna did at Jesus’ birth.

Testimony of A Special Blessing From God

If the church would just understand. When I worked with the youth from different denominations, sometimes on Sunday evenings after church, we would go to the houses of the widows to minister to them. Many times, they had  no food. We would tell them “we’re just here to help you, to worship and share the Word with you”. The widows would be so grateful and start to cry.

One widow told us that when her husband died his church came over and promised to visit regularly. She never saw them again. If the church doesn’t do better in this specific ministry than who will? The Scriptures above describe how furious God is when we neglect or mistreat the widows and orphans. On the flip side, imagine how pleased He is when we take care of them.

We were young and didn’t realize the power of the words they would often speak over us. Today we see the fruit of their prayers and declarations over our lives. They’d say “Ah you’re coming here to take care of us. “You will never be alone. God, let all these young men never become widowers before their time”. She spoke this blessing over our life. Bless them as God commands and give them a chance to bless you back.

The powerful prayers of widows will give you favor from God and help to resolve some of the struggles churches experience.

God Is On Their Side!

One day, a widow put up a fence, but a neighbor removed the poles. She asked him, “Why are you doing this?” He angrily told her, “Who are you?” Neighbors told her to report this to the government authorities. The next day, she was leaving to go to the authorities. The man heard what she planned to do and intimidated her. He came over and said to her, “Where are you going? Get back in your house”. Her daughter wanted to fight the man, but the widow warned her that the man would beat her. She said If my husband was here, the man wouldn’t do this.”

The next day, the man came knocking on her door and called the widow to come out. He said, “ I’ve come to confess. I am so sorry. Starting today, I will be one of your best friends, I will not harm you ever again”.

Why did the man change his attitude? That night, all his cows died. He knew it was God that he was trying to fight. He knew God was coming to the rescue of the widow, being her husband. But because he was wise, he asked for forgiveness. The widow did not have water in her house. This man said, “You will take water from my house. Never worry about anything. If only the church would understand.

In the James 1:27 Family, we look forward to also having tent meetings in other cities throughout Kenya and the body of Christ worldwide. By faith, I see the widows praying in the tent meetings. We must allow the widows to do their spiritual jobs.

Something is changing. God said His church will be glorious. Something is missing today. We witness speaking in tongues, but I ask why aren’t the people being healed? They want to prophesy every Sunday, but the gifts of the Spirit are not experienced. Jesus said it’s better to give than receive. He gave everything He had and calls us to be servants too. Serve the widows and the orphans. They may seem like weak vessels, but what they carry is powerful. When we get these principles in order, the power of God will flow more than ever, and we will see what the world has been waiting for…the manifestation of the sons/daughters of God. (Romans 8:19)

That’s what I would like to share today. Let us embrace widows. Let us care for orphans. God loves them. God bless and thank you so much.