Live JustlySample

Justice and Prayer 

Prayer is at the core of the kingdom task of seeking justice. Prayer allows us to share our heart with God, but also to hear God’s heart. He instructs us through prayer, and we become concerned with the things He is concerned with. Prayer underpins everything we do.

As Christians, we can often see prayer not as an action itself but as a predecessor to “real” action. We open meetings with prayer; we pray to kick off big events, but what about prayer as action? No doubt these prayers change us, convict us, give us wisdom for more and better action, sustain us in the overwhelming struggle—but prayer has the power to change our leaders, those in power, and ultimately the world. As we pray and encounter God, we can’t help but be spurred to action. In other words, the more we pray about an issue, the more we realize what we can do. Prayer is empowering!

When we hear news of modern slavery around the world, see people wandering our streets due in part to systems they can’t overcome, read about families stricken by poverty and unable to send their children to school or even feed them nutritious food, we feel the need to get involved somehow. 

When it comes to the call to pursue justice, we should react similarly to Nehemiah: through passionate prayer and inspired action. After Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall, he encountered great opposition from those directly against him, and even threats of violence. But once again, Nehemiah called the people to God’s mission of justice and right living; once again, he sought counsel from God in prayer and God sustained him in his struggle. Nehemiah knew that his work was not his own to accomplish but was God’s design for His people—this gave him a sense of resting in God’s power, not his own. 

Bringing justice to the world isn’t going to be accomplished by us, but by God. 

“Prayer makes your heart bigger, until it is capable of containing the gift of God Himself. Prayer begets faith, faith begets love, and love begets service on behalf of the poor.”  - Mother Teresa 

Prayer:

Lord, give me the dedication of Nehemiah to see justice done even in the face of adversity. Draw me close to you, and your heart, and your concerns. Give me sensitive ears and eyes, to hear and see injustice, and the courage to respond.