Prayer for A "Search and Reveal" Operation

Psalm 10:17-18 NASB

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

In recent years, I have been made aware of the horrors of the human trafficking industries around the world.  Not being of a legal- or law-enforcement sort-of profession, I sometimes feel powerless to do anything to help those victims and to stop the perpetrators that make the victims.  One day, feeling especially powerless, I started to pray that God would "search and reveal" those perpetrators and that he would move on behalf of the victims, and I kept this up for some time.  I was highly encouraged, then, to read not too many days later of one of the largest busts of sex traffickers in history to take place in the Philippines, assisted by local law enforcement.  Having stayed in some of the heavier areas for these activities in the Philippines, this answer to prayer was very real to me.  

So what does a powerless non-legal, non-law enforcement person do if they want to do something?  Prayer is a good start.  From my experience, prayer for situations like this are effective when:

1) You pray the will/heart of God - God desires mercy for the oppressed and justice for the oppressors, for this is Love- 1 John 4:16 says "God is love".  And there's a whole lot of verses that talk about God having a heart for those oppressed.

2) You pray the Word of God- Hebrews 4:12 says the word is "alive and active".  I don't know if I could fully dissect the notion now (perhaps this will be a future topic), but not only is there power in speaking the words of the Bible, but God likes it when we remind Him of His character and His promises as stated in the Bible.

3) You have a heart that's right before God- James 5:16 says (NKJV), "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The Old Testament has examples of how people who were unworthy to come into God's presence (such as touching the ark or entering the Holy of Holies) and what happened (they died).  But those who came into God's presence ceremonially clean could experience God's presence.  With the New Covenant under Jesus, we are ceremonially clean by the blood.  But we still need to surrender current transgressions to God and claim that blood-covering just like the ceremony before entering God's presence.  A life-style of righteousness will get God's attention, as can be seen in many of the stories of heroes in the Bible.

4) You are persistent- Galatians 6:9 talks about not growing weary while doing good, as harvests come after a time a toil first.  James 5:16 mentions the "fervent" prayer of a righteous man.  And I always think of the hilarious story Jesus told of the "Persistent Widow" in Luke 18:1-8 which was Jesus's example to "show [his disciples] that they should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).  After this widow harasses a wicked judge for her justice, he eventually gets so fed up that he grants it.  Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8:

"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly...."

I praise God for quick justice in the Philippines.  Imagine what more can happen if tens, hundreds, and even thousands cry out to God on behalf of the oppressed?