Timely Prayers for Global Concerns

According to the first goal of the CRCNA’s Our Journey ministry plan, “God calls the church to live a life grounded in Scripture, shaped by spiritual practices, and centered on intentional discernment. Prayer and other spiritual practices deepen our relationship with God, both individually and in community, and allow us to connect with God and each other. These practices also give God space to work within us.” 

But how should we pray when we are faced with catastrophic news at home and around the world? In a world of increased war and natural disasters, broken relationships, environmental degradation, poverty, injustice, suffering, and political turmoil, prayer is needed more than ever, but it can be daunting to know where to begin. 

Do Justice prayers respond to that need. Every week, a group of prayer writers provides a timely explanation of current events alongside prayer prompts. These Do Justice prompts help to kick-start prayers on wide-ranging topics such as the war in Ukraine, microplastics, and wildfires. 

“It’s been a blessing for me to be reminded of different justice topics based on the things our writers choose to highlight each week,” said prayer editor Victoria Veenstra. “Sometimes they’re on topics that I’ve already been praying about, and sometimes they’re on topics that I hadn’t been thinking about from a justice perspective.” 

Do Justice prayers have been released in their current format since 2019. This means there have been approximately 312 editions of prayers, or a minimum of 912 individual prayers over the past six years. 

“Do Justice prayers are a powerful way for churches and individuals to actively pray for the world today. Prayers of intercession transform our anxiety into the desire to seek God's care, leading, and provision in the face of daunting challenges,” said the CRCNA’s prayer shepherd, Jon Hoekema. 

But these weekly prayer prompts aren’t just posted on a website. Their impact extends far and wide, serving various contexts within and beyond the CRCNA. 

Sebastian Maldonado, who serves as a campus ministry leader at York University in North York, Ont., said that the prayers have been a part of the campus ministry there for many years. In the past they were incorporated into the closing prayer during weekly discussion times because they were timely, relevant, and presented in a way that was not intimidating to people exploring Christianity. 

And today, said Maldonado, he and the campus ministry team incorporate Do Justice prayers into a weekly email to students, observing that “it is a very good resource. . . . students seem to appreciate them.”

Congregations have also been using these prayers to bless their members and to help them consider big topics. Calvary Reformed Church in Cleveland, Ohio, for example, regularly shares Do Justice prayers on their Facebook page. They noted, in particular, “We really appreciate how you turn creation-care stories like this into lament and prayer. Thank you!” 

Rev. Curt Roelofs is a regular reader of Do Justice prayers. “Justice prayers come every Wednesday, usually with three or four very informative prayer items,” he said. “With Christ living in me, my compassion identifies with the sufferings of God's imagebearers in that specific area of God's kingdom.” 

He added, “A benefit these Justice prayers provide is breadth and depth to my Christ-centered and kingdom faith perspective.” 

The reach of Do Justice prayers even extends internationally, with a recent testament from a reader in Bangladesh. This individual shared, “Do Justice is a very good project. I regularly visit this project and read all the stories published here and get inspired, even get answers to some of my questions and challenges.”