Intercessory Prayer as Social Justice tool

Few things annoy me more than prayer vigils. Prayer vigils to end violence in the streets; prayer vigils to end the war in Iraq; prayer vigils to end capital punishment...You get the idea. I've never understood the purpose of hiding yourself away in order to pray to a higher power to stop something when in reality you could be out protesting, writing letters to congress, or working with local non-profits to deal with issues. I've always looked at it as an ivory tower kind of action, city of a hill sort of thing. We are better than these people who perpetrate the actions we hate, so all of us good people are going to gather and share our concerns about you people who are not as good as us. And of course by "share our concerns" I mean pray to a divinity and make requests. I wanted to use the word supplication to explain what happens at prayer vigils, but I don't think that the definition matches the reality in my mind. Supplications require one to beg for something earnestly, or humbly. And I will be honest and say that I feel that few prayer vigils are full of humble people.

Well for those of you who have firm belief in the power of prayer will be glad to hear that some of my concerns regarding prayer vigil type meetings were allayed last night. That is not to say that I myself am going to run out, stand in a circle in the dark with candle in my hand and start praying to end war and global poverty. What it does mean is that I am beginning to gather a vague understanding of why some people feel prayer vigils are important. Equally I am beginning to see the value in intercessory prayer as a tool for social change among groups that worship together.

Last night I listened to Dr. Ruth Meyers speak on intercessory prayer, and its relationship to liturgy. I wasn't really sure what to make of it at first - given my proclivity to shun prayer as a means for change in the world. However as I listened what I found most engrossing was her analysis of "what are we doing when we pray?" I was intrigued by the idea that as a faith community shares their concerns over political, social, and economic matters the community forms an understanding of what their issues are as a single body. The example she gave was a small town who had a teachers strike. As the strike continued the community was concerned about the well being of their children's education. So they had a prayer vigil. Within a day of this prayer vigil the community formed a fund to pay for interim teachers to instruct their children until the strike came to an end. While this example is - for me - littered with ethical issues I am struck by the fact that out of a prayer vigil which deals with the intangible language of the divine came such a certain tangible result.
It had never occurred to me to think about intercessory prayer as a vehicle for social action. The act of speaking your concerns out loud in the context of a faith community that you may or may not share values with can move you, and perhaps others, to act on your words. I had never thought about the power of words in this context - when two or three are gathered with the same thoughts about a need for social justice they can convince and encourage each other to act on it.

While I still am not sure that I want to go jump into a prayer circle, I am glad that I am starting to understand how prayer can influence people to act on the good they feel is needed in the world. So to intercessory prayer I say "Go you huskies!"