PRAYER AS PROTEST: THE LIFE OF PRAYER IN THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

Abstract All through history, prayer has been understood and used as a personal and spiritual act, directed toward divine communication and personal renewal. However, prayer has also served as a type of protest - a daring declaration against injustice and a plea for societal rebirth. This paper understudies the life of prayer as a means of seeking justice, taking cues from biblical examples such as Hannah’s prayer of distress and the lamentations of David, alongside historical instances like the Civil Rights Movement’s prayer vigils in the United States. Prayer, in these contexts, serves as a spiritual discipline and an outward (public) act of defiance which criticizes unjust systems, empowers marginalized communities, and sustains the hope of people in the face of oppression. Using theological frameworks from liberation theology and contemporary African Christian thought, this study takes the life of prayer to mean both a life of private devotion and a life of public courageous, communal, and transformative activity. This study further asserts that in a world wrecked by inequality, a grounded theology of prayer is required to stand up against injustice, quell evil, support the dignity of humans, and propel a society to becoming more in tune with divine righteousness. Through this work which situates prayer as protest, believers are beckoned upon to participate actively in pursuing justice and in ensuring the fulfilment of God’s work of reconciliation and redemption. Keywords: Prayer, Protest, Justice, Liberation Theology, Christian Spirituality