A Prayer for the Ones Sent Away

God who hears, you heard a boy crying under a bush in the desert of Beersheba, and you called to his mother from heaven. Hear us today. Some of us feel sent away, outside the blessing, holding an empty water skin and unable to watch what happens next.

Open our eyes to the well. It is often nearer than we think, and we cannot see it for weeping. Tell us not to be afraid, and say it in the voice we will recognize.

For those of us who are Sarah in this story, forgive our hardness toward the people who complicate our lives. We have sent people away and not looked back. Bring them water where we did not.

Thank you that you were with Ishmael as he grew. Be with the children who are growing up in wildernesses we did not choose for them. Be with ours. Keep every promise you have made, the ones to Isaac and the ones to Ishmael, and teach us to trust you with both. Through Jesus Christ. Amen.