God's Justice By Peter Stanley

Published: July 20th, 2009

There’s been a rumbling for some time & now its here; the third part of ‘Prayer-Mission-Justice,’ the threefold call of 24-7 Prayer. We’re feeling God’s call to rise to this and are just now working out what it will mean. The opportunities are immense and very exciting, but before we dove into a flurry of activity and prayer we had to learn just what ‘justice’ meant. You see, the justice that we talk about is not the justice God talks about and that shapes everything we do from hereon in.

Most cultures today see justice as a legal protection of someone’s rights. They see a defensive legal weapon to correct wrongs & to ensure we all have our own separate rights. Justice acts as a barrier between each of us to ensure the supremacy of the rights of the individual. This kind of justice is cold & uncaring; it is based on law & punishment.

Would it surprise you to know that God’s definition of justice is entirely different? The most common word he uses in the bible for justice is the Hebrew word Tzedek (or Zedekah). This has a far broader meaning, combining justice with righteousness in one single word & our translations regularly group justice with righteousness and also with mercy & grace. Jesus puts them together too in his very first public speech, the Sermon on the Mount. So we see that justice and mercy are not opposites but are bonded together in the same word. The ‘justice’ that we know, the mere legal right of the law, must, therefore be tempered by compassion. The word God uses can also be given greater meaning by seeing that his view of community is not one of individuals holding out for their own rights, but one where people share with their neighbours. When a cloak was taken as security for a loan, Tzedek justice required it to be given back at night for protection.

The beauty of Tezedek justice is that it is totally impartial; it treats the rich the same as the poor & it brings people together in community. And that is where
24-7 Prayer sees where it has its role. The threefold call of Prayer, Mission & Justice form a natural flow. The flow starts with Prayer where we commune with God & receive his heart & his direction for life. This infilling shapes the Boiler Rooms we live in & the communities we are part of. And the life that we live in community becomes mission to those around us, as salt & light. The life we live through Prayer & Mission is characterised by justice, righteousness, compassion & mercy and that affects those around us. For some communities it will be hospitality to the local homeless, to others it will be fighting human trafficking, to others it will be caring for those with HIV/Aids or simply joining and supporting a caring organisation.

24-7 Prayer’s threefold call of Prayer, Mission & Justice are not separate, but form a flow from God through us and out into our world. There are many exciting ideas coming to us at the moment, some new and some we have been practicing for years. We have been helping communities with social enterprise, using fruit drying machines in Africa. We have cared for prostitutes and drunks in Spain and Mexico. We have helped those in need through Living Generously, we have helped the homeless in the UK and we are now engaging in anti-human trafficking awareness and action in the US & Europe.

There is so much on our doorsteps that requires our practical justice, righteousness, mercy & compassion. And we are also seeing great opportunities for prayer’s involvement as well. We are looking to link up prayer groups with local justice organisations, perhaps anti-trafficking groups who need protection and direction when out on dangerous raids. And prayer groups with a heart for the same area of justice can be linked worldwide to cover their own local needs and also those on other continents. Centres of expertise will form to help similar groups in other countries.

So, it is easy to see how the compassionate, merciful, righteous justice that God imparts to us in 24-7 prayer rooms will colour and shape our Boiler Rooms and communities where we live, spilling out into local practical action and further still into worldwide prayer networks. This is an exciting time for us as we seek to discover what God wants to download to each of our communities under the banner of ‘Just 24-7.’ Watch this space for developments and join us in praying we fully catch God’s heart for mankind in his Tzedek justice.      

Pete Stanley is a keen member of the 24-7 Prayer Justice Team and loves to get behind good causes to offer strategy advice. He has been involved with anti-human trafficking agencies in various countries, including establishing Stop The Traffik, and now works as an adviser to front line agencies and governments involved in fighting human trafficking. He also leads a charity mentoring troubled and ex-offender youth.

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