WEEK 3
DAY 17- MEET THE NEEDS OF THOSE IN CIVIL UNREST
Scripture- Psalm 32:7, 34:4, 107:6; Isaiah 43:18-19; 1 John 4:4
The world around us is filled with constant pain—from overseas conflicts where the mighty attack the weak to our own backyard filled with violence against the innocent and children. How do we approach God amid this injustice and unrest?
It is good and right to weep with those who weep and to mourn with those who mourn. It is being like Christ who had compassion and wept with Mary and Martha over Lazarus though He knew Lazarus would rise by His hand. It is good to cry out to God and grieve the pain and destruction in our world.
God has also called us to be a people of prayerful petition, asking Him to protect children, those who are being wronged, and our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering. We claim the promise of Psalm 32:7: “You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Further, we should give thanks that even while evil is at work, God is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4) and is doing a new thing. He is making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isa. 43:18-19). We claim these truths and pray that God will overcome evil with good. We pray that He will send His people to bring peace, restoration, and justice to the places in our world thirsty for the hope only Christ can bring.
REFLECTION PRAYER
Take a current event in our world and pray over the situation with God; grieve with Him over the injustice of it. Pray for God’s protection of those facing trials by name or group.
Ask Him to make a way in the wilderness, to make streams in the wasteland.
Ask Him to bring the love, hope, and peace of Jesus Christ to the people walking through this hard reality of life, that the name of Jesus would be lifted up for all to see. Thank you for walking beside them in prayer today.
By Ben Douglas