Recently, Governor Stitt joined with other religious leaders to pray for our nation concerning the Coronavirus and the impact it is having on our lives. In scripture, there are several times we read about when one or more people gathered together to pray for a serious event in their time. (Acts 4:24-31; Acts 27:21-26 just to name a few.)
There are also many prayers offered up in the Psalms, and many of those become our kind of model in prayer. There are prayers for joy, prayers for giving thanks, prayers for deliverance, and prayers offered in anger or confusion. The key is realizing that prayer is communication to God. Like any relationship communication is an important ingredient to a healthy or happy relationship. In our human relationships we realize that just talking about it doesn’t always instantly solve it, but by communicating our fears and things we’re disgusted with, it helps resolve our feelings in more godly ways.
One prayer I’ll summarize is from Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:16-20, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, O Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, O Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. So, they have destroyed them. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, was devastating the land by killing, capturing, and destroying towns as he swept through the land. Many nations fell to his sword, but Hezekiah knew that his only true help was in God almighty.
I hope it doesn’t take much to imagine this prayer being offered up to God because of the evil coronavirus that is sweeping over our globe. Fear has gripped most of us, and the uncertainty and anxiety of our future can easily cripple us. However, this is what faith is about. Faith isn’t having access to a magic genie who can instantly solve our problems, any more than communicating a fear or problem with our spouse doesn’t instantly take away our problems. Rather, it is believing that God is the creator and that He truly loves His creation, even when they are going through hardship.
Peter’s reminder to the early Christians was that even if the hardship isn’t instantly removed – stay faithful. 1 Peter 5:9-11, “But resist [the devil, and be] firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
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