A Prayer for the Imprisoned

(Adapted from Douglas Kaine McKelvey’s liturgy)
October 11, 2025

O God,
You once set us free from the bondage of sin and deceit;
now we ask You again—
release the hearts of our brothers and sisters,
and breathe into them the breath of new life.

For they now dwell in a place where despair festers,
bearing the twisted labels imposed by earthly power—
they are seen as enemies of authority,
not as bearers of Your image;
as threats to stability,
not as persons of dignity.

Christ, turn their hearts toward this truth:
knowing how You see them—
with eyes full of compassion, kindness, and mercy.
You make their souls rejoice; You declare them precious;
You sing over them with delight!

Lord, may Your vast love
rewrite the way they experience this suffering.
Let them see that—even now—
You are at work in them, through them, and around them.
Lift their gaze beyond these narrow cells,
the cold bars, and the harsh interrogations—
to behold the heavenly reality above them.
May they see things through the lenses of eternity.

If the word “sinner” means “one condemned,”
then, Lord, we pray our brothers may embrace that name—
not as the brand burned by regimes
in mockery and prejudice,
but as a deeper, holier calling You have given:
to become ever more attuned and obedient
to the convicting voice of Your Spirit,
their hearts being daily conformed to Christ;
willingly filling up in their own bodies
what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ.

“I urge you, therefore, I who am a prisoner for the Lord,
to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
— Ephesians 4:1

And so, Christ, let them be Your prisoners—
a people forever convicted by Your Spirit,
yet forever forgiven by Your sacrifice;
forever renewed by Your mercy,
and forever set free by Your love—
set free to live the new life that is found in You.

Though the decision they have made for the gospel
bring severe consequences in this world,
those consequences no longer hold power
over their eternal destiny;
nor can they crush the joy set before them.
For when they lift their eyes toward the Judge of eternity,
may they find He has become their Redeemer and Advocate—
the One who bore their sentence Himself,
that they might receive undeserved pardon and peace.

So,
how are they different from us who remain outside the walls?
Are we truly freer than they?
Are we more favored, spared from prisons?
Are they, behind bars, separated or distant from Your love?
No—never.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword?”
— Romans 8:35

If God is for us, who can be against us?
Lord, may all Your children grow more deeply convinced
of the immensity of Your love—
that we might become more forgiving, more gracious, more compassionate,
and even now, pray for those who persecute our brothers.

Lord, work even now in those places of captivity—
in interrogation rooms, in prison cells.
For Your kingdom is not confined by walls,
and Your Spirit moves unhindered.
Your power transforms lives, gives hope, and entrusts purpose—
even there.
If the gospel is true,
then it is just as true and powerful in a prison cell
as it is before the altar.

They are Your children.
You have called them—here and now—
to do the good works You prepared for them to do,
to bear Your love, kindness, mercy, and light
even in this place of darkness.

“For the creation was subjected to frustration,
not by its own choice but by the will of the one who subjected it,
in hope that the creation itself will be liberated
from its bondage to decay
and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
— Romans 8:20–21

Spirit of God, fill those prisons—
fill them with life, joy, hope, and mission.
Lord, through our brothers and within them,
multiply Your grace;
cover them with Your mercy.
Free their hearts to love—
even to love their enemies.

Whether in triumph or weakness,
receive them as they are,
but do not leave them as they are.
Make them more like Christ—
day by day, shaping their hearts
to resemble the heart of Jesus.

So that, behind those iron bars,
through all their days and nights,
they may learn and bear witness to this truth for our age:
what it means to live and walk
in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Amen.

Original source: www.everymomentholy.com