Here is a question for everyone who has ever seen films like Invisible Children, sponsored an orphaned child, taken a trip to a foreign country, been moved by the slavery in our world—any host things that might have moved your heart in recent years:
How important is prayer in our pursuits of justice in our world?
The world of Christendom is finally undergoing what Jim Wallis of Sojourners has called a “revival of justice” (and finally catching up to other parts of the world like the Western Europe). We are finally waking up to the plight of billions around the world who live in extreme poverty and the millions enslaved, with AIDS, going hungry and dying—amen to that!
As people of faith in Christ, we are required and called on of the Lord:
“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice,
to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?”
(Micah 6:8)
There is so much injustice in the world today and frankly, good ideas to combat injustice are not enough. The wars we rage in the flesh are only the tip of the iceberg to what we cannot see in the spiritual realm around us. I have seen in my own life and experience, what it looks like if one embarks on justice without intimacy with Heaven—it’s one sided and frankly, all about us. However, when I go beyond myself, and like Abraham being willing to give up God’s gift of Isaac, we form a partnership where God Himself can take my good ideas and turn them into everlasting strategies of justice on the earth.
Ephesians 6:12 states, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
The reality is that we need divine help and prayer needs to be our first line of defense. Prayer puts us right on the frontlines of these battles. Prayer, simply put, puts us in direct communication with our King, Jesus. He is the one holding the “scepter of justice” (Hebrews 1:8), so we had better be interacting and talking with Him!
Case In Point
In the Book of Daniel (Daniel 10:2-4, 12-13), we read how Daniel was led into a 21 day season of fasting and prayer and when he was finished, an angel appeared to him stating that he (the angel, not Daniel) had in battle (detained) with the Prince of Persia, until Michael, the archangel, came to help him because of Daniel’s fasting and intercession.
We must understand that so much around us is rooted in the unseen realities of darkness and we are called to bring the light. Prayer, fasting, intercession and worship are all tools of the Kingdom of God that help us usher in righteousness and justice here on earth and we must understand these things are just as important, if not more important, than any strategy or plan we could create on our own.
“…Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.” ~ II Chronicles 20:15
Let us be encouraged that the battles we wage are His. We just need to be willing and give ourselves over to Him, in friendship and intimacy. And how does this start? With prayer and within our quiet moments with Him. Prayer needs to be our first act of protest to our call to “do justice” in our world. As we move on in this, we discover what justice and righteousness truly mean and how, as people of faith, the two are inseparable in our quest to bring about “the restoration of all things” (Acts 3:20-21) on the earth.
Read more on righteousness and justice…