Wednesday, February 4, 2026 

The jubilee mandate helps us to imagine what a community living life in all its fullness could look like when living justly, loving compassion and walking humbly.
—Cheryl Haw and Caitlin Collins, Jubilee, God’s Answer to Poverty

Author Kelley Nikondeha describes how Jesus encouraged his disciples to practice jubilee actions in their daily lives: 

Under the Galilean sun Jesus taught his disciples to pray about their most tangible concerns—bread for today, no debts for tomorrow, and the end of violence forevermore. [1] The structure of the prayer itself followed an ancient rubric regarding the worries of the poor. Even under Rome’s heavy hand, the hope of the have-nots was for ample food for their families and debt relief on the horizon. The matters that pressed upon the population most were central to Jesus.…

The prayer Jesus offered his disciples ushered them into the economic work of debt remission in real time. They did not need to wait for this empire, or a subsequent one, to proclaim justice in order for their debts to fall away. As they began to pray this revolutionary prayer day after day, their worldview could shift toward a jubilee-centered reality. And as their sight line changed, so could their own practice. Debt forgiveness in this landscape would begin with the disciples releasing their neighbors from debts owed to them, and vice versa. Releasing one another from debts would begin breaking the cycle of indebtedness that plagued them all.

Maybe a disciple’s prayer for debts to be forgiven would be first answered when a neighbor cancels the debt owed him. Maybe the first surge of economic freedom would happen at a microlevel, among neighbors refusing to accept debt as necessary. Neighborliness meant, among other things, not ensnaring your neighbor into debt….

When Jesus said jubilee begins today, it was not an unrealistic ideal. He intended it to begin with his disciples. Breaking the wheel would start with those with the least structural power as they reached for tools from other nations, and other times. Jesus empowered his followers to enact jubilee now—no need to wait for a king’s proclamation or the sound of the shofar.

Nikondeha points to the good news when we engage in jubilee practices ourselves:

The Lord’s Prayer, with its tangible economic language and intent, has also been called the Jubilee Prayer…. Imagine if all of us who know this prayer by heart took the challenge embedded in it seriously? It would start a groundswell of jubilary motion and economic reform…. This revolutionary prayer is a place to begin, now, wherever you are, whoever you are, in the larger movement of jubilee. 

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From Don Love. Pray Through It. ministries

Testimony of the Month

We all have words we use to help us to downplay our situation. For me, I convince myself that I am not “worried,” but “concerned.” That way, I can continue to view myself as far from the sin of anxiousness or from failing to trust God in times of fear. Once, as I was praying through my fears, I saw my “concerns” as a stone. This stone was so much more than I could handle & I could feel myself struggling to maintain all of the juggling, shifting, weight-bearing, sleep-interrupting weight that I was trying my best to manage.​ And so I prayed:”Lord, what is this stone?’His answer: Future weight.“What am I believing about this?” That If You keep holding it, You are affecting it. That you are actually doing something to solve it.“Lord, is this true?”No. All your worry is just making today heavier. ​This all happened in such a simple exchange but began to unravel my strategies. What could I give the Lord that I had absolutely no control over?  Events or outcomes to happen in the future, mostly to be made by others (which I have NO control over). It was eye-opening just to realize I was trying to control things I have no control over. That is freeing to release to the Lord. It was not meant to be my weight.There was a lie there too in my life strategy I could break up with – wresting with fear is NOT doing something about it or affecting it. It was probably doing the opposite – making me anxious, irritable, controlling of others, & wasting my energy on future problem-solving instead of resting before the Lord.  And the last statement just felt so true. Holding my fear was just making my today heavier. I could then see & feel the foolishness of my thinking & release the lies, strategies, & future concerns to the Lord. The stone was a good visual for me. When I start to feel the weight of that stone, I am reminded not to “…be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:34)I was not actually helping myself as I thought I was. But the relief felt in entrusting Him with these things did help me to deal better with what I could control & make decisions with more peace. And that is more effective.

Tip of the Month 

To uncover any lies or strategies about fear or worry in your life (or with others), work through something like this conversation with the Lord. Write down what you are sensing so you can reflect on it & act upon it. “Lord, what is my fear or worry like in my life? Where is this coming from? Or when did it start? What am I believing about this? Is this true? What is the truth? Can I give You my fear/worry, lie, & strategy to handle it now? What would You give me in exchange to deal with my fear/worry? How do I share this with You instead of carrying it on my own?”

Personal Jubilee Practice: Nikondeha says Jubilee “begins with the disciples” in small, neighborhood-level acts of release. Where in your life right now might you be called to practice “micro-level” freedom—releasing someone from a debt (literal or metaphorical), or being released yourself?

The Weight of Tomorrow: Don Love describes his worries as a “future weight” stone that made “today heavier.” What are you carrying that belongs to tomorrow? What would it look like to release that stone and live in today’s sufficiency—your “daily bread”?

From Prayer to Practice: The Lord’s Prayer asks for daily bread and debt forgiveness. How does praying this “revolutionary prayer” day by day actually begin to change not just our worldview, but our practice toward our neighbors?

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