5 Things to Pray for During the Coronavirus Pandemic
As our world faces this Coronavirus crisis the most important thing we can do is pray to the God of the universe. It never ceases to amaze me that the God who created us loves us and calls us His children if we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. He is a good Father and He wants to hear from us! I want to encourage you to spend daily time in prayer regarding this pandemic. It’s easy to be curious about the latest news regarding the pandemic and it’s natural to be concerned and even worried about some of the predictions so called “experts” are telling us. In the midst of all of this, I want to remind you that Philippians 4:6-7 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
I want to share with you five ways that we can pray for our nation and our world during this time:
1 – Pray for healing for everyone around the world who has COVID-19. According to www.worldometers.info/coronavirusthe current number of active cases (as of the afternoon of March 19, 2020) around the world is about 140,770. 95% of these cases are mild, and about 5% (just over 7,000 worldwide) of these cases are considered serious or critical. Pray especially for those who are in serious or critical condition and for the elderly who have this virus. God has created our bodies with the amazing ability to identify, monitor, and fight viruses taking actions to eliminate them and even remember viruses and how to fight them. Pray for physical healing for the people who are infected with this virus.
2 – Pray for protection for those who do not have COVID-19. This virus seems to be very contagious. Pray for people who are not sick to not get this virus. Again, pray especially for those who are elderly and for those who have preexisting conditions that compromise their health. Our government has given us a lot of guidelines to follow that we would all be wise to obey in order to minimalize the spread of this virus. I believe it is selfish not to do our best to listen to these guidelines. Here’s a link to the guidelines https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/03.16.20_coronavirus-guidance_8.5x11_315PM.pdf
3- Pray for comfort for those who have lost loved ones. Behind every number representing death tolls around the world is a person who is no longer alive and behind each of these people is a family that is mourning the loss of their loved one. Pray for comfort for these people. Pray also for comfort for families that have loved ones who are in serious condition.
4 – Pray for our health care workers. Many people are on the frontlines providing care and support for those who are fighting this virus. Pray for peace, strength, and comfort, and protection for all health care workers around the world. I recently read that Samaritan’s Purse (under the leadership of Franklin Graham) has sent a team to Italy to help with the crisis situation there. Pray for these volunteers too!
5 – Pray for our Government. Our government is working hard to take actions to combat this virus and to try to contain the spread of this virus. We need to pray for our government as well as the governments of other countries that they would have wisdom and work well together with integrity, accuracy, and efficiency.
Please join me in lifting these requests up to heaven to a God who wants to hear from us. I also want to encourage you to pray for the church as a whole and locally during this time to serve God faithfully throughout these challenging times. Remember, because of Jesus we can have hope. I think that people who are in a panic right now need hope. Only Jesus can give true hope and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding.