Week of Praying for Justice - Day 2
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:
The Lord is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth. Rise up, Judge of the earth; pay back to the proud what they deserve. Psalm 94:1-2
There are other passages in Psalm 94 that may be helpful. V4-7 can help you lay out your specific accusation against injustice:
They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting. They crush your people, Lord; they oppress your inheritance. They slay the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless. They say, “The Lord does not see; the God of Jacob takes no notice.” Psalm 94:4-7
Also v16-19 can help you express frustration at the complacency in society and the anxiety that you feel:
Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers? Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:16-19
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)