I have been wrestling with my thoughts, trying to figure out what to write about today and how to go about it. Do I come and tell you blatantly that I cannot believe that a woman has just been raped in a church in Nigeria or that a Black man has been intentionally-and this is the jarring part, killed by a cop on the streets of America in broad daylight, on camera, in 2020? Do I begin to list the senseless acts we’ve heard in the past week, Or do I not bring you these dampening stories because you’ve already heard them and like mine, your spirit has not been the same since? As I entered into my prayer time yesterday, I wanted to have an honest conversation with God. I was not demanding answers from God but I was hoping that I would get some. After praying and listening to worship music, I felt less burdened and I learnt something that I want to share with you: prayer is not about what answers or solutions you get from the act but about what the act does to you. 

I am not here to encourage you to pray because prayer will eradicate injustice in the blink of an eye, no. We, by God’s grace, are the ones that will do that and that is why in terms of long-term solutions, it is important that we are intentional about gaining knowledge and creating feasible solutions that will enable us leave the world better than we met it. Yet, if we are too exhausted to fight then, nothing will change. I may have said this in every blog post of 2020, but I’ll say it again: life is beyond us. I keep reiterating this statement because I want us to understand it. Life can be very beautiful but it can also be very demoralising, and everything that is happening in the world right now is emblematic of the latter fact. When the chaos becomes too heavy on our hearts, it saps our strength and as humans, our capacity to remain motivated dwindles. I saw a Black author break down in tears on CNN yesterday as he said that he doesn’t know what to tell his children. Dark situations can leave one feeling hopeless. Prayer is that light that pierces through the darkness; let that light in. Prayer is like an escape which enables you steal away from the chaos of the world, nourish yourself, and return reinvigorated and ready to fight.

You may find it hard to pray to God who sees all that is happening and is seemingly silent. I promise you that God is not asleep in all of this. I promise you that God is compassion and love itself. From the story of the tax collector to the story of the adulterous woman, there is biblical evidence that Christ spoke up for those that society was bent on marginalising and in the case of the latter, killing. It is not a coincidence that angels in human form were on guard to film and more importantly, circulate that video. As horrific as it was, one of George Floyd’s murderers has been charged today because we saw the video. It is not by happenstance that in Nigeria, in Canada, in the UK and in many countries around the world, injustice is coming to light in ways that are making it hard to ignore. Even when we do not see or understand it, we have to believe that God is working. While we carry out social media activism, donate, and other powerful deeds of solidarity, don’t forget to pray please. For watershed change, for justice and for your own strength to keep going no matter what life throws at you. 

QUOTES 

“Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night.”-George Herbert 

“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?” Corrie Ten Boom  

“I pray everyday that I am changed to know how to handle what’s going on, to stay open in my heart, my wisdom and find the deeper gratitude and joy in the midst of everything! Prayer is the bridge to bring more spirit from within to our human condition!”-Ariana Huffington 

Click this link for: Biblical Words of Comfort: 

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble.”- Psalm 46: 1 

“So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”-John 16:22

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