Pound the doors of heaven

A litany for worship inspired by Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4

by Ken Sehested

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not listen? Or cry to you, “Violence!” and you will not save?

We pound the doors of Heaven, shouting “Listen! Pay attention! Are you asleep!”

Why do you make me see wrong-doing and look at trouble? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise.

Pull the alarm! Sound the alert! Summon the Almighty!

So the law becomes slack and justice never prevails. The wicked surround the righteous, and justice is bartered to the highest bidder.

Are we forgotten? Cast aside? Scorned by those of boastful pride?

Then the Lord answered: Stop your whining! Pull yourself together. Your self-pity is embarrassing. Get yourself a billboard. Set a neon sign in the sky. So that even the most harried soul can see it clearly. And this is what it should say:

Don’t let your fears get behind the wheel. Live out of the memory of God’s provision; resist the madness of market forces.

Live by the sturdy Promise, not the ruptured profit. A New World is approaching. If is seems slow, keep on keeping-on.

Shiver no more, for God is not done!

©ken sehested @ prayerandpolitiks.org