Justine Bieber and Things We Need To Change

Have you heard of Justine Bieber's song?
Here are the lyrics of that song.

"Pray" (Justine Bieber)

Oh oh oh...

And I pray.

I just cant sleep tonight

Knowing that things aint right

Its in the papers

Its on the tv

Its everywhere that i go 

Children are crying

Soldiers are dying

Some people dont have a home

But i know there's sunshine behind that rain

I know there's good times beyond that pain

Hey! Can you tell me how I can make a change?

I close my eyes and I can see a better day 

I close my eyes, and Pray.

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and Pray.

I lose my appetite

Knowing kids starve tonight

And when I sit up

Cause my dinner is laid on my plate.

I got a vision to make a difference and its starting today.

Cause i know there's sunshine behind that rain

I now there's good times beyond that pain

Heaven tell me I can make a change!

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes, and Pray.

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and...

Pray for the broken hearted

I pray for the life not started

I pray for all the ones not breathing

I pray for all the souls that need it

I pray...

Can you give them one day?

I just can't sleep tonight

Can someone tell me how to make a change?

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes, and Pray.

I close my eyes and I can see a better day

I close my eyes and I pray.

I pray. I close my eyes and pray.

A lot of people around the world cry out for change - for just about any reason. 
They sing about it, shout about it, cry out for it - at times in the privacy of their own hearts, at times, they make sure they get heard. 


Trending now in Tweeter, #ThingsWeNeedToChange 

• "slanderous attitude"
• "diapers"
• "people who cheer up and get over themselves"
• "to stop giving opinion on other people's lives if you're being asked for it."
• "stereotypes"
• "the way students view school. I love school."
• "education as we know it"
• "to actually start changing things rather than just tweeting about it"
• "bullying, no one deserves to be bullied"
• "our perception of reality and the way we trust people blatantly"
• "the way we treat women. we should treat them with the most respect in the world."
• "the justice..."
• "people not praying enough"
• "bedtime"

Knowing what needs change is a good first step!

However, good intentions is not everything.

To get to it, we must be willing to go through it.
There is a price to pay for meaningful change.
Be it personal, relational, social change.

Are we willing to go for it beyond wishful thinking?

What steps have you proactively taken?

If we can just work on one necessary aspect of change in our lives each day,

that would be 365 aspects in a given year!

How much difference do you think will that be, if each of us work on it?

On second thought, how much significant change can we really achieve on our own?

Can we really do so much to direct the course of history for the better? 
How many do you think have made attempts towards that end? 
How many did succeed? 


Do we all want the same kind of change? 
Or will our different intentions and aspirations just pull us apart from different sides? 
Looking back through world history, how many great men have risen and succeeded in changing some things, only for it to be changed by others who come after them?

Don't you think we all need a common center, a vantage point, a true north - for common effort towards change to be meaningful? Without this, wouldn't we all just go through a vicious cycle of changing and being changed? What could that common center be?

In the song, there's a crying out to heaven...

Asking for guidance, better yet, a miracle of change.

But then again, will this be the ultimate solution - an act of prayer?
How many around the world do actually "close their eyes and pray"?
Too many to count for sure.
How much of these are actually prayers for change?
Perhaps it's predominantly about it.


Have you ever wondered to whom or what these prayers are offered to?
Does this mean they all get heard, regardless of the object of those prayers?


When people pray, it is a manifestation that they are not fully in control.
They acknowledge a greater power beyond the natural - the supernatural.
How many supernaturals are really out there somewhere?
To whom or what should we really close our eyes to in prayer, 
for genuine change to really be experienced?
Are we left clueless on this?
Or are we left to ourselves and achieve change through our own efforts?


Readers of this post also enjoy:
Praying to Change Your Life
Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina
Praying To Change The World: Volume Two
Night Vision: Praying Through Change