Courageous Prayers

July 23, 2025

Psalm 85:10 Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

Courageous Prayers

The words from this scripture struck me as daring. The person praying doesn’t just ask to receive steadfast love from God or to be a faithful follower – they are asking that their faithfulness might meet God’s love. They aren’t asking for righteousness or peace; they are asking for righteousness and peace that connect face-to-face in a kiss. It occurs to me that I usually think it’s either-or. If I am praying for justice, for righteousness, I assume the price will be conflict. This passage makes me wonder is if my prayers need to be more courageous.

What if the prayers we pray are for changed hearts and minds – people’s hearts embracing justice for all of God’s children together? What if we ask God to come into this world in a way that transforms it, changing it from a place of separation and me first, to a place where we are all in this together? What if we ask God to bring a new reality to heal all the brokenness that we see surrounding us? Could that lead to a place where righteousness and peace could kiss?

Trusting in God’s steadfast love, knowing that the answers to our prayers don’t necessarily look the way we expect them to look, may we find it in us to pray courageously today – for whatever hope looks like in our best imaginings.

Reflection Questions:

1) What do you imagine righteousness and peace kissing would be like in your corner of the world? Picture it, draw it, write a short poem about it.

2) Can you think of prayers that you want to pray, that would take courage?

3) Spend some quiet time today, letting yourself hope for a new reality that dwells in love, faithfulness, righteousness, and peace.

Prayer: Dear God, Please help me to trust in the power of your love enough to pray with courage and hope. In Jesus Name, Amen