I don’t just wanna pray. I wanna DO something!
I’ve heard such sentiments before. The meaning is obvious. The sentiment is misguided at best and wrong regardless of its supposedly good intentions.
Prayer is doing something. Prayer is admitting the truth - we are helpless without our sovereign God. Prayer is calling upon the one who can do far more immeasurably beyond all we ask or imagine.
But I want justice. I want change!
Fine. Would you like to hear a story of a woman who accomplished social justice (preservation of basic human rights) through prayer and fasting? And would you like to participate in a similar way? Then buckle up.
Meet Hadassah. You may not know that name because most of her closest friends and acquaintances don’t know it, either. She’s full of surprises like that. She’s a very prominent public figure who has seemingly concealed part of her identity, her ethnic heritage. There’s also a very good chance she slept her way to the top.
But now she’s in a tight spot, with her life and that of her people hanging in the balance. A tyrant has convinced the king to legalize genocide of a certain people group. Hadassah’s people group. But the king doesn’t realize it’s Hadassah’s people group, even though he’s married to her.[1]
But Hadassah’s older cousin seems to know it all - her real name, her ethnicity, and the enormous stakes. He even seems to know that God will deliver, somehow, through someone. In fact, he thinks the most likely candidate to work change is Hadassah, given her relationship with the king, despite her questionable choices thus far. Of course, kings have gatekeepers, even to help keep their wives at bay. And if Hadassah violates those rules, it could actually result in death, if the king is in a bad mood.
But her cousin persuades Hadassah to take a chance. And she asks her cousin to instruct God’s people to fast and pray, hoping for a good outcome, knowing the possibility of a bad outcome. She concludes, “If I perish, I perish.”
With that line, maybe you’ve figured it out. Hadassah is Esther! She approached the king and lived. She saved her people[2], through her gentle, subtle advocacy (speaking truth to power), and it all started with fasting and prayer.
But is anything like that possible for us today? You might be surprised.
For a few weeks, I’ve been pondering an email asking me to fast and pray on the first Friday of the month to end abortion in Colorado.[3] Why would I not do this? I can’t think of a good reason. It’s an effort started by a Catholic Diocese, and I’m not Catholic, and I wouldn’t agree with key portions of their official doctrine. But they’re not asking for money, agreement with their doctrine, or anything else besides prayer and fasting once a month. Should I really have to think that hard about being a cobelligerent in prayer? I don’t think so. In fact, I’ll even share their link:
https://www.diocs.org/Offices/Respect-Life-Apostolate/First-Friday-Fast-and-Pray
I’m sure this raises more questions:
Matt, are you just humble bragging or doing this for attention? I hope not. I hope I’m doing it for a good cause. I may miss some first Fridays, but saying this out loud might increase the odds that I follow through. You have permission to ask me when you see me, because that might help me remember, too. Plus, to the extent that I’m proclaiming my own righteousness, well, just keep reading. I have no delusions that my righteousness is spotless.
Are you really going to fast? As best as I can on the first Fridays of the month. I think it’s unlikely I make it through dinner, and I don’t plan to give up coffee in the morning. I’ve tried to fast before, and that’s about as good as I can do.
Why fast? Fasting is giving up one thing to focus on a better thing. Satisfying your hunger is good. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness is better. Giving up food to focus on God and His all-satisfying presence is good. It is good to let each hunger pang remind me that I want the good end that I’m praying for even more than I desperately want food.
Will this do any good? I don’t know if it will change Colorado’s very liberal abortion laws, but it might teach me to seek the Lord in prayer better. Further, I can think of few topics more worthy of such drastic action. I was pleasantly surprised when the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade. The Pro-Life movement has suffered more than a few defeats on the state level since then in Colorado and elsewhere. So why not pray for something big? God is not intimidated by a big ask.
Shouldn’t we focus on saving lives in other ways like adoption? I would be more than happy with both. Our church does a lot to support Life Network, which is not merely a crisis pregnancy center but also a holistic, charitable organization that teaches parenting classes and gives away a lot of like-new baby clothes and toys. That said, we also support food banks, groups that aid trafficking victims, and Gospel Homes for Women, who aid victims of domestic violence. I’m proud to support all those groups, and I’m super proud of the many families in our church now and in the past who have been active in foster care and adoption. We all have to make choices about how much time and energy we have to support each cause, but I’ve been proud to see our church do as much as it can to support as many as we can who need tangible help. I believe God has allowed His people to model the following verses admirably but not perfectly:
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (Galatians 6:9-10 ESV)
So … let’s do something. And let’s stop doing something else. Let us fast (stop eating) and pray on the first Friday of the month to end abortion in our state. And let’s see what God chooses to do with that.
-Pastor Matt, 08-15-25
[1] This is not a model marriage in Scripture, to say least. Sometimes Scripture describes rather than prescribes.
[2] God saved them, but he used Esther’s actions.
[3] To be more clear, it’s calling people to pray for the closure of all abortions clinics in Colorado and for all abortion to end in our state. They admit the latter is harder to measure than the first.