Rev. Luz Omayra Gutiérrez and Rev. Ricartel Rivera
Pastors at Baptist Church of Metropolis, Puerto Rico
Let’s raise our voice and the walls will fall! These words resounded in our spirit in a Saturday morning service. Among the things they gave us was a cardboard megaphone that invited us to raise our voices in unison. And it is then when we raise our voice in prayer, from the depths of our spirits, something must happen. Faced with the social walls that we face in the 21st century, such as indifference, discrimination, racism, violence, poverty, marginalization, among many others, prayer accompanied by action causes a powerful transformation.
Regularly our prayers are focused on our needs; however when we go into the scriptures, the word exhorts us to look first at the kingdom of God and God’s justice and other things will follow. Thinking less about our needs and appropriating this word will give a different focus to our prayer life. It will allow us to be more aware of the needs of others and in turn will encourage us to act as the hands, feet and heart of God in someone’s life.
Since our beginnings, prayer has had a great impact on our lives, as we were taught that praying with faith causes great miracles. The first miracle occurs when we become part of God’s purpose. When praying, we must ask ourselves: How can we be a blessing to the people that God puts in our path? In Matthew 25:40, we read: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of my brothers, even the least, you did for me.” It is there where we begin to raise our voice and the walls fall. When people come in need, prayer brings peace, comfort and strength. Prayer transforms a moment of tears into one of joy and a moment of crisis into one of opportunity. It is in that moment of relationship with God that circumstances take a turn towards the arms of the Lord, to our place of refuge.