A Century of Black History Month Observances, A Future of Global Solidarity: A Faith Commitment to Eradicate Hunger in the World

This prayer is part two of a series honoring Black History Month. View part one here.

These prayers are followed by a Black History Month featured column, “A Century of Black History, A Future of Global Solidarity.” View the resource here.

Isaiah 65:21-23 (NRSVUE) 

 They shall build houses and inhabit them; 

    they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. 

They shall not build and another inhabit; 

    they shall not plant and another eat, 

for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, 

    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 

They shall not labor in vain 

    or bear children for calamity, 

for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— 

    and their descendants as well. 

Isaiah 65:21-23 underscores God’s decisive action against poverty and hunger by creating new humanizing systems in which poverty, the cause of hunger, is eliminated. These verses call for the elimination of  systems of labor exploitation and unjust ownership, allowing the vulnerable to live in what they have built and to eat what they have planted. Without ensuring proper security and justice, discussion and planning around eliminating hunger are exercises in futility.  

The message of the prophet is not a call for handouts to ameliorate hunger but to confront and change evil systems. The first place to start in this transformation is the conversion of the total being: mental, intellectual, spiritual, and theological. 

PRAYER 

Dear God, make us instruments of your transforming, divine love in a world that daily creates a sea of poor and hungry people through systems that reflect our greed, selfishness, and hoarding of the earth’s resources for our friends and families. We confess that the programs we have planned to fight hunger fall short of dismantling the systems that perpetuate global poverty and hunger. O God, we do not seek to influence you, because the tools to change and transform our world are in our hands; may this prayer serve to transform us inside and out, to be co-workers with you. 

Transform us, inspire, and use us to change the world for the better. 

Amen. 

Rev. Dr. David Luka Mosoma served as a Convener of the G20 Interfaith Forum 2025, Former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa and Former Chairperson of the South African Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities.