Theme

As we pray this week, we are persevering in praying for others by praying for truth, justice, peace, mercy, and provision in our country

Scriptures

Psalm 67: May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—

so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity

    and guide the nations of the earth.

May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.

The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.

May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Isaiah 61:8-11: “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.

Their descendants will be known among the nations 

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation 

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, 

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.

Notice

Notice how in the Psalm, God’s provision to all peoples of the Earth mirrors Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:44-45: But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. The same God who brings salvation and makes covenants with his people is the same God that provides rain and harvest, and is the same God who demands justice and equity to be done in his creation.. 

Pray

Lord, when I behold you and your righteousness and greatness, it makes me want to act in righteousness and justice. Help me to care for others as you have cared for me, help me to not take the easy path, but to walk the just path. And Lord, uphold our leaders. Pour your Spirit out that they may reject falsehood, injustice, and division. May they seek the good of those you have given them charge over, and may peace, mercy, justice, and truth rule in this land.

Practice

This week, when you hear, read, or see something that brings you anger, frustration, or anxiety about our world, respond instead with prayer for grace, mercy, truth, and justice to reign, and for you to be an instrument of that in your life.