REFLECT: 7 Days of Prayer
God's word in Micah 6:8 tells us, "He has shown you. O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” You’re invited to join in communal prayer beginning January 8 leading up to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on January 15. Sign up to receive daily prayer prompts that will lead us to reflect on the themes of peace, justice, and reconciliation and perhaps prompt ideas as to how the congregation of West Side can address these issues. Author Buth Haley Barton wrote about the prayer life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with these words:
Dr. King’s choice to orient himself towards God in the midst of the resistance his action stirred up became a pivotal moment in his life as a leader. It solidified his calling, transformed his fear into a deep sense of calm, and gave him the strength to go on. Were it not for his full engagement in the fight for justice and his grounded-ness if the life of prayer, he might never have had the kind of encounter with God that transformed him in the deepest level of his being.
Those who knew him best described Dr. King as an apostle of love and action. He believed that every genuine expression of love grows out of consistent and total surrender to God and that every action we take in the world must be motivated by love—the most durable power in the world. At the heart of his message was the conviction that love is the creative force exemplified in the life of Christ; it is the most potent instrument available in the human quest for peace and security. He believed that the ability to love our enemies was an absolute necessity for our survival.
King’s soul was nourished and strengthened by a powerful rhythm: his intimate connection with God (prayer) propelled him to courageous and unreserved engagement with the brokenness of the world (action). And action in the world always drove him back to prayer and radical surrender to God.
The entire blog post can be found HERE.
Dr. King’s choice to orient himself towards God in the midst of the resistance his action stirred up became a pivotal moment in his life as a leader. It solidified his calling, transformed his fear into a deep sense of calm, and gave him the strength to go on. Were it not for his full engagement in the fight for justice and his grounded-ness if the life of prayer, he might never have had the kind of encounter with God that transformed him in the deepest level of his being.
Those who knew him best described Dr. King as an apostle of love and action. He believed that every genuine expression of love grows out of consistent and total surrender to God and that every action we take in the world must be motivated by love—the most durable power in the world. At the heart of his message was the conviction that love is the creative force exemplified in the life of Christ; it is the most potent instrument available in the human quest for peace and security. He believed that the ability to love our enemies was an absolute necessity for our survival.
King’s soul was nourished and strengthened by a powerful rhythm: his intimate connection with God (prayer) propelled him to courageous and unreserved engagement with the brokenness of the world (action). And action in the world always drove him back to prayer and radical surrender to God.
The entire blog post can be found HERE.