Bible passage:
Luke 18: 1-8 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Revelation 20: 4, 6, 11-15 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Isaiah 33:22 For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us
We read about four characters today: The persistent widow, the unjust judge, the priests of God who will be raised to reign with those who are given authority to judge, and the Judge of all ages sitting on the great white throne.
May our prayers of intercession be for those like the poor widows who are waiting for justice; for the unjust judges to be convicted of sin; for our Christian brothers and sisters to know the position to which God is going to raise us - and thus show interest in the affairs of justice, submit ourselves to be transformed to God's likeness in this; and finally to remember that this world is awaiting a great white throne judgment - and with Godly fear to warn those around us that they are answerable to God - the lawgiver, the judge, and our king.
Prayer points:
Pray for God's blessing and guidance on the three Departments under the ministry of law and justice: the Legislative Department, the Department of Legal Affairs, and the Department of Justice.
Pray for God's wisdom in drafting legislations, bills, and ordinances, and that they will be in accordance with God's will for the prosperity of everyone in our nation - especially the poor, oppressed, and religious minorities. Pray that the election laws and electoral reforms ensure fairness and integrity.
Pray for good governance, timely legal reforms, Godly conflict management principles in legal systems, and excellence in legal education.
Pray that justice will be given in the huge number of pending cases in courts (about 5 crores in 2022). Pray for proper legal aid for the poor, and for the rich and influential to not get away with injustice. Pray for truth and justice to be established through courts.
Pray by name - that the Ministers, the Chief Justices involved would set a good example and work culture in their departments.
If you can, try memorizing Isaiah 33:22.
Names:
Minister of Law & Justice:: Shri Kiren Rijiju Minister of State: Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel
Chief Justice of India: Dr. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud
Chief Justices of High Courts
Allahabad* Pritinker Diwaker
Andhra Pradesh Prashant Kumar Mishra
Bombay* Sanjay V. Gangapurwala
Calcutta Prakash Shrivastava
Chhattisgarh Arup Kumar Goswami
Delhi Satish Chandra Sharma
Gauhati Sandeep Mehta
Gujarat* Ashish Jitendra Desai
Himachal Pradesh* Smt. Sabina
J & K And Ladakh Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh
Jharkhand Sanjaya Kumar Mishra
Karnataka Prasanna B. Varale
Kerala S. Mani Kumar
Madhya Pradesh Ravi Vijaykumar Malimath
Madras* T. Raja
Manipur* M.V. Muralidaran
Meghalaya Sanjib Banerjee
Orissa Dr.S.Muralidhar
Patna* Chakradhari Sharan Singh
Punjab & Haryana Ravi Shanker Jha
Rajasthan* Manindra Mohan Shrivastava
Sikkim Biswanath Somadder
Telangana Ujjal Bhuyan
Tripura* Todupunuri Amarnath Goud
Uttarakhand Vipin Sanghi
* Acting Chief Justice
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