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This post was created in Payload CMS to verify that the Justice Year migration works from authoring through the public website.

This week we’re praying for justice, using guidance from the Psalms and Jesus’s parables. So far we learned about praying for our leaders to do justice, lamenting injustice, petitioning for protection, pouring out our anger, and praising God when justice is done, while not giving up praying for justice and avoiding self-righteousness.

Today we’ll learn how to use these Psalms in the original way they were intended - in community and with music.

First, a personal story:

I co-led a prayer meeting over Zoom where we gave to God our hopes for justice. We prayed for the war in Ethiopia and Ukraine, the police shooting of Patrick Lyoya in Grand Rapids Michigan, and the mass shooting of mostly Black shoppers at a Buffalo grocery store.

I’d been praying on my own, using the Psalms we looked at in day 1 through 6 of Prayer Week. However, I felt blocked.

During the prayer meeting I was asked to pray for protection using Psalm 71. I struggled at first, feeling blocked once again.

But then the dam broke, and my pain poured out. I was afraid, and frustrated, and confused, and tired. I hadn’t admitted it to myself, or my friends, or God until that moment. 

My face went wet with tears on that Zoom call. I was embarrassed, but it was exactly what I needed. Later some folks gave me feedback that it was what they needed too. 

I’ve prompted you to add these Psalms, these prayers for justice to your personal worship. On this last day I want to urge you to add it to your collective worship. Pray these Psalms with your family, with your circle of friends, your small groups at church and with the bigger congregation.

But how? Through Music.

My second recommendation is to find music, spiritual or secular that helps you to “pray for justice” with other people. I think singing with others brings us back to the original usage of the Psalms, and helps us to express hopes and pain that can’t be formed with simple words.

My go-to music recently has been “We Are” by Jon Batiste. In my review, I called it "The Modern Soundtrack for Justice".

The album won the Grammy for Album of the Year, and I think Batiste slipped a gospel album past everyone disguised as a folk-pop record.

On one song he hums:

On another song Batiste samples other voices:

The music of "We Are" has filled my house and car rides this year, as I worked out different emotions and experiences before God, alongside my family.

Here’s how some of Jon Batiste’s songs line up to the Psalms we learned:

• Petition: “Tell the Truth”
• Lament: “Sing”
• Protection: “Adulthood” 
• Praise: “Freedom”, “We Are”
• Anger: “Cry”

Thank you for praying with me this week. I’ll leave you with these words from the “We Are” album”

Amen.

This week we’re praying for justice, using guidance from four Psalms and two of Jesus’s parables. So far we learned about praying for our leaders to do justice, lamenting injustice, petitioning for protection, and praising God when justice is done.

We're following Jesus' instructions to not give up praying for justice, while avoiding self-righteousness.

Today we'll learn how to pour out our anger to God.

Advocating for your vulnerable neighbors will earn you enemies and persecution, even from people close to you. Psalm 109 can help guide your prayers as you ask for God to step in and vindicate you:

This Psalm was applied to Judas after he betrayed Jesus (compare Acts 1:20). You can use this as a template to express your anger about the "Judas" in your own life:

If you're truly being treated poorly but your hands are clean, then it's likely the person is also hurting others. Verse 16 includes an accusation you can repurpose for yourself:

The Psalm helps you express the ways you feel hurt by their opposition:

The Psalm can help you take vengeance out of your own heart and put it into God's hands, where it belongs:

Psalm 109 is a powerful expression of pain, but trust in God to take action. Balance it with Jesus's warning against self-righteousness that we learned in day 5, but pray it boldly when an enemy is causing you harm.

Tomorrow is our final day in this series, and we'll learn about using these prayers in a community that is seeking justice together.

This week we’re praying for justice, using guidance from four Psalms and two of Jesus’s parables. So far we learned about praying for our leaders to do justice, lamenting injustice, petitioning for protection, and praising God when justice is done.

Today we'll learn from Jesus how to pray with the right heart.

In Luke 18 Jesus teaches with two parables on prayer that teach a twin lesson on persistence and humility.

Parable A. Always Pray and Don’t Give Up

In Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells a parable to teach his disciples how to pray with hope. The parable is about a widow who is being oppressed and asks an unrighteous judge to hear her case. Because of her persistence the judge promises to give her justice. 

Jesus tells us that we should be as persistent as the widow, and our righteous God will hear us. Jesus ends his teaching with the warning that when he comes back, he wants to see that we are still faithful. As v1 says, “should always pray and not give up”.

Parable B. Avoid Self-Righteousness

In Luke 18:9-14 pairs his teaching about persistent prayer with a warning about self-righteous prayer. He tells another parable about two men who went to a temple to pray. One thanked God for not being like the sinners he sees around him. The other asked God for forgiveness for sinning.

Two of the types of sinners the first man prayed about oppressed others – “the robbers” and “tax collectors”. While the man who asked for forgiveness was perpetuating injustice himself – he was a tax collector for Rome, the colonial power.

As we pray through the Psalms asking for God’s justice, intervention, and protection we need to examine ourselves and ask for forgiveness in the ways we participate in oppression.

Tomorrow we'll learn about Psalms that will help you pour out anger toward your enemies who oppose your efforts at justice.

This week we're praying for justice, using guidance from four Psalms and two of Jesus's parables. So far we learned about praying for our leaders to do justice, lamenting injustice, and petitioning for protection.

Today we'll learn about praising God when we witness justice done.

Psalm 9 gives full praise to God when we see an injustice get corrected. The entire Psalm is awesome to pray through, especially with friends, however v1 is a good portion to commit to memory:

v7-10 guides you to praise God's character:

v15-18 can help you celebrate exactly how God has punished or rescued:

Tomorrow we'll look at guidance from Jesus on how to pray for justice without getting discouraged or becoming self-righteous.

This week we're praying for justice, using guidance from four Psalms and two of Jesus's parables. So far we learned about praying for our leaders to do justice, and lamenting injustice.

Today we'll ask God to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our most vulnerable neighbors.

Psalm 71 can be used to pray for protection for yourself or others who are suffering oppression.

The first two verses may be enough to guide the rest of your prayer:

V20 looks forward to Jesus’s resurrection, but can be used to pray for hope when all is hopeless:

Tomorrow we'll learn about giving God the praise when we see justice done.

This week we're praying for justice, using guidance from four Psalms and two of Jesus's parables. Yesterday we started with a prayer for our political leaders and those in power. Today we continue with learning how to lament when we see injustice.

(I recorded a short video about lament that you can watch here)

Lament Prayer Against Injustice

Psalm 94 is helpful if your civic or political leaders are actively doing injustice. It is a lament, a cry to God when you see the opposite of what you’ve been praying for in day 1.

You can pray the first verses of Psalm 94 to guide the rest of your prayer:

There are other passages in Psalm 94 that may be helpful. V4-7 can help you lay out your specific accusation against injustice:

Also v16-19 can help you express frustration at the complacency in society and the anxiety that you feel:

Tomorrow we will learn how to ask God to protect those who are vulnerable to injustice.

Previous Prayer Days

Day 1 - Pray for Political Leaders (note - there was a typo and I sent the wrong scripture yesterday. The correct passage is from Psalm 72. That has been updated)