Praying God's Word over all people within the court system
“You here to keep an eye on the judges?”
“Ummm, no.”
“Are you here because of the Supreme Court’s decision to . . . ?”
“Nope.”
“Are you here to call down fire from heaven and burn this place to the ground?”
{yikes!} “Oh, No! Absolutely. No.”
As I stroll my way through hallways and courtrooms, lost in prayer, asking for GOD’s magnificent glory, for His sweet favor to be poured out upon our judges and their courtrooms, questions like these continue to rattle me. One minute, perhaps even with eyes closed I am wandering and wondering what blessing GOD might choose to pour out upon this office or that department and suddenly an honest question comes – like an alarm clock ringing, and I am jarred awake from my dreamy space. Can I answer with thoughtful grace? Can I be trusted to relay with passion the desire of our hearts for our judges and their staff? I have muttered our ‘Mission Statement’ in those moments. “Our mission, as followers of Christ, is to pray GOD’s Word over our local judges and all people involved in the court system. We believe, therefore, we speak the Word of GOD into the lives of our judges and the service they perform.” I’m afraid in the moment it sounds like someone blindly reaching, swatting, banging on an alarm clock.
So, with prayer and coffee and an ‘edit’ button, I would like to try and do a better job of answering the question, “So, what is ‘Pray for the Courts'”?
We are a small group of Believers and followers of Jesus Christ who, because of circumstances in our own lives, have been made aware of the impossible job we, as a community are asking our court system to do. Our court system exists because of brokenness. In every courtroom there is brokenness; broken contracts, broken laws, broken marriages, broken bonds, broken agreements, broken understandings, broken handshakes, broken alliances, broken fellowships, broken negotiations, broken lives, broken hearts. We give our judges towering volumes of law. We wheel in barrels of overstuffed files. We then ask our judges to steep in this brokenness of strangers, day in and day out, rendering decisions that are always just. Always merciful. Always.
Allow me to speak as plainly as this: Shame on us as a community! Yes, shame on all of us within the community who never before thought to offer prayer support for the men and women who bear this burden for us. And worse! Not only have our courts been left to bear this weight alone, but we, the community they serve, have reserved the right to lambaste judges who have not handed over the decision we (in our absence) had envisioned. Oh, we are there alright! We may carry our signs for a time, shouting obscenities from the sidewalk or from social media until our emotion is spent. All the while, judges and their judicial staff, attorneys on all sides, court reporters and record clerks, mediators and translators, bailiffs and law enforcement come to work every day with their own human brokenness; aging parents, struggling kids, health issues, financial questions, marriages stretched to the brink . . . and they continue to do a job that eventually takes a toll on their health and their hearts. Would it make any difference if they knew that a Believer in the power of Almighty GOD was standing with them, asking GOD to favor, to bless, to strengthen, to steady?
There is a beautiful story recorded in Exodus 17. Moses had been leading the nation of Israel through the desert. The nation. Through the desert. Even though the nation had seen with their own eyes how GOD had used Moses to deliver them from slavery, GOD through Moses had given the nation food and water in the desert, Moses still received harsh criticism at times. In Exodus 17: 8, the nation of Israel came under attack by the people of Amalek. Moses sent Joshua to gather the army and fight. Moses, with the ‘staff of GOD’ in his hand, positioned himself at the top of the hill facing the battlefield. Moses remained there, with his hands raised as the army fought their attackers below him. As long as Moses maintained that position – hands raised – Israel prevailed. When Moses lowered his hands, the enemy began to gain ground. Fortunately, we do not see anyone berating Moses for needing to lower his wearying arms and hands. Rather we see two men come alongside Moses and drag a rock over to him on the top of that hill, so that Moses could sit down. These two men then stood on either side of Moses, for the duration of the battle and held his hands up. No one suggested Moses be replaced by someone younger, fitter . . . No one scratched out snarky slogans on signs to carry up and down the hill. Joshua continued to do the job he was given. The warriors with him continued to do the job they were given. Moses continued in the job he was given. And when he struggled to fulfill that job, Aaron and Hur took on the important job of hand holders. Doesn’t sound like much, but their offer of simple grace blessed the nation.
So, what is ‘Pray for the Courts’? We are Aaron and Hur wannabes. We are receivers of deliverance and grace who long to hold our judges; their names and their needs up before Almighty GOD, for Him to bless!