I had a very regular set of paladin/cleric/warpriest skills in mind for my character's divine abilities:
Kaedan is a rookie right now when it comes to divine powers, so his only real spells at the moment are divine mass for his hammer (which takes a lot of focus for him to cast) and other short prayers to boost his morale. Outside of combat, he can currently use divine powers to heal minor wounds. Later on, he'd learn to use these same abilities in combat, and to greater effect. The divine section in the compendium said something about being able to boost the regeneration of the paladin or the paladin's allies, so that's what I had in mind. Very later still, he'd learn protective prayers that would boost his defences against certain elements or sorceries. A prayer to shield him from fire, for example. These wouldn't make him immune to the target element, but they'd make him sturdier and help him fill the role I had in mind. If I need to add any more spells to his arsenal, I'll consult with you guys first. 

If most of this doesn't work for you guys, I can settle for divine mass and regenerative (healing) abilities, and whatever else I'm allowed to have. 

I can also put my character's origins near the border of the desert of desperation you mentioned. Any hot place will do, actually. Is all of this good?