Why Your Prayers Must Be Supported By Action

The Black church has always been a place for prayers and politics. It was at church that 40-year-old Fannie Lou Hamer learned Black people even had the right to vote. 

Hamer would become a civil rights icon, registering thousands of Black voters. Here’s how faith was the centerpiece of her fight.

Accountability: 

Hamer held white Christian ministers accountable, saying, “ You’re telling people to be patient. Well, in the Bible it says stand up and lead people out of Egypt.” 

Prayer: 

In 1963, Hamer was nearly beaten to death in a Mississippi jail. As she lay on the ground bleeding, she asked her cellmate Euvester Simpson to sing with her. 

The two sang “Walk With Me, Lord,” and this hymn gave Hamer the strength to pray to God. The very next day she was up and walking. Had prayer healed her?

Action: 

What was perhaps most profound about Hamer’s faith was her understanding that prayer only goes so far. She knew praying was useless if we weren't willing to take action. 

Hamer stated, “You can pray until you faint, but if you don’t get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.”

Our faith is political. Hamer knew faith without action is dead. 

We have a responsibility to turn our prayers into actions. God can only support our battle for liberation if we’re willing to fight for it.