Praying through the Scripture for the covid-19 pandemic
Right now, the world is facing an unprecedented crisis as the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading around the world and forcing quarantines and shut downs on a mass scale. Times like these can make the world as we know it feel unstable. Yet, God calls us, His followers, to live in peace and be salt and light in all circumstances. Along with the extraordinary situation the world is facing comes an extraordinary time to grow our faith and shine His light. We, as Justice Collective, wanted to take a moment to look at how we can use the Bible to guide us in praying in a time like this. Below are a some verses and prayers.
1 Timothy 2:1-2: Intercede and give thanks for our leaders
This verse comes from Paul’s letter to Timothy about about how important it is to pray for those in authority, including government leaders:
“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.”
God, thank you for everyone that you have put in a place of leadership during this time. Thank you for all the people who are working so hard right now to keep peace, health, and stability. Thank you for the sacrifices they are making for the benefit of others. Bless their bodies, rest time, and families while they continue to work. Give those in authority over governments, churches, schools, transportation, militaries, hospitals, businesses, medical research, and families absurd amounts of strength and wisdom. May they and their decisions be filled with clarity, courage, hope, and creative strategies. Let solutions to impossible circumstances flow freely from heaven. May your follower’s lives be marked by peace, godliness and dignity.
Jeremiah 29:7: Pray for the peace of our cities
This verse comes from a letter the prophet Jeremiah wrote to Israelites who were living in exile after being forced to leave their homeland because of being conquered by Babylon:
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (NIV)
May our cities be places of peace and prosperity. Give us, your followers, opportunities to bring peace and prosperity to the neighborhoods, cities, states, and nations where we live. May we continue to see our communities grow in peace.
Psalm 72:1-4, 12-14: Pray for leaders to lead with justice and righteousness
This passage in Psalms contains a description of what an ideal leader for Israel would be like, including specfic action that they would take. At the same time, it’s a Messianic prophecy and gives us a description of what living under the leadership of Jesus is like. The passage starts with a prayer for God to give His own justice and righteousness to the king and his son, and then goes on to describe what leading with justice and righteousness would look like:
Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor! (ESV)
The passage goes on to describe the prosperity and expansiveness of this ruler’s kingdom. Then it goes on to say:
He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;
he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
He feels pity for the weak and the needy,
and he will rescue them.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious to him. (NLT)
Let our leaders’ hearts be tuned toward justice and righteousness in all circumstances. Give them your justice and righteousness as they are leading. May us and our leaders remember the poor and oppressed. Give us hearts that see their value. May we see those that have no helper right now so we can help. Let this be a time of extraordinary justice, where problems that were previously written off as unsolvable are solved overnight. May this be a time marked by deliverance, peace, righteousness, justice, and prosperity for all people.
Isaiah 58:6-8: Pray for hearts to be open to the needs of the poor and oppressed
In this passage in Isaiah, Israel had been complaining to God that they have been fulfilling their religious duties—seeking God daily and fasting—and God hasn’t been seeing it. So the prophet Isaiah calls them on their wrong motives. They were not fasting out of a genuine desire to show submission to God, but instead, they were trying to manipulate Him to gain His favor. God responds with the kind of fasting that He desires:
“Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Just a quick pause to highlight the next section, where it shows the profound effect that this type of fasting leads to:
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. (ESV)
Give us the strength to do a fast of justice, of bringing freedom to the oppressed and helping meet the practical needs of those around us. May our hearts stay tender to the needs of the oppressed, hungry, and our own families right now. We ask for a speedy healing of bodies, and for healing of all the brokenness that this crisis has exposed. May there be more shalom in the world at the end of this pandemic than at the beginning. Let your light radiate through us as we do this and your glory guard our cover.
John 17:21: Prayer for unity
This verse comes from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane for His disciples:
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
God, we echo Jesus’ own desire for your followers to be unified at all times and under every circumstance. May our church locally and globally remain unified. Give us strategies to stay connected, act collectively, and be salt and light. May our unity with You and each other only grow.
Next step: turn your prayer into action
Mother Theresa said, “Prayer in action is love. Love in action is service.” Praying is the starting point, but now turn that prayer into action. Look for opportunities, either organized or organic, to serve your city and those around you right now.