Prayer in the time of Covid.

Inspiration has been lukewarm during the past months. Sometime in January of 2021 though, the title 'Prayer in the time of Covid' fell into my soul like a heavy bag. A heavy sand filled bag. One that I knew I couldn't ignore. In October 2020 I had written the words of Psalm 119:133, 'Direct my steps by Your Word', on my blackboard. So I already knew that the the words I was looking for to encourage, guide and console when praying in this very intense time we are living in, would be found in the Bible. I just had to look for it.

As I navigated my way through wisdom penned so far back in time, I felt a very specific prayer developing. A prayer that would be made up of words dealing with faithfulness, truths, warnings, fear, pleading, requests, promises. A heavy bag. I started writing down the verses as I found them. A whole A4 page of them. 

Around me, I felt the Covid net being pulled tighter as friends and family battled the monster that had turned their lives upside down. Turned all of our lives upside down. People were literally fighting for their lives and for the first time, people we knew were being hospitalised, one after the other. Family, friends, friends of friends. Before I could unscramble the verses I had found to compose a meaningful prayer that I could pray when I couldn't think straight, I found myself in a hospital garden with friends, all of us begging the Lord to save the life of a father, a husband, a grandfather, a friend.

And then I realised the real truth of praying in the time of Covid. It is no different than any of the other prayers we should be praying. The same truths, the same promises and everything else that the Father teaches us about praying and communicating with Him, applies in a time of desperation.

So, as we prayed together and individually over days to come, I learnt to dig deep. I discovered again that bargaining with the Lord, feeling anger because suffering is so hard and seems so unfair, begging for another chance that might very well not be granted in the way that we expect - all of these are very real emotions. As humans, in times like these we negotiate and beg, we feel both anger and sadness in the midst of fear but mostly, the feeling of helplessness can threaten to overwhelm us like a powerful tsunami. It is at that point of utter helplessness, I discovered, that true prayer starts pouring forth from our hearts. I learnt that the simple words, 'let Your will be done Father', is the most powerful prayer we could ever pray.

As difficult as it is to accept or understand, asking for the Lord's will for our lives and the lives of those whom we love, seems both the most beautiful and the hardest truth to embrace. 

I'm learning that speaking to the Lord should be as normal as speaking to someone very close to you. So praying equals conversations with the Father. The language we use to speak to Him is gentle but powerful and is heartfelt, much more specific and much more sacred than any other language you will ever learn. It has to become a way of life if it is to be meaningful. It doesn't have to be complicated and when we don't have the right words, the wisest advice is to be found in the powerful words of Psalm 46:10 - 'Be still and know that I am God'.

Some of those included in our prayers have managed to ride the Covid storm and are busy recovering. Some are fragile and are locked away in homes for the frail, living on edge, separated from their loved ones. Every now and then, those tasked with caring for them are the very ones who inadvertently bring the virus to them. And then we get on the bargaining treadmill again with fear and anger propelling us ever forward.

Some didn't make it. Their wave crashed and very nearly drowned all of those riding with them. 

Still, we pray. 

It can't always rain, my mother always used to say. The sun has to shine again sometime. As hard as this journey is, I choose to believe those words I wrote down on my A4 piece of paper.

Prayer in the time of Covid, I discovered, is no different to the prayers we pray every day.

When we are struggling to stay afloat, with waves crashing all over us, the words of Isaiah 43:2 offers this consolation: 'When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.'

The words of Isaiah 43:5 furthermore state: 'Fear not, for I am with you...'  

James 5:16 teaches: 'The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.'

When it feels too hard to take one more step, this encouragement is found in James 5:11: 'Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord - that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.'

In January 2018 I discovered a verse that has since has become a firm foundation for my life. Luke 9:10: 'Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.'

Nobody goes to war without ammunition and with this promise alone, I feel as if I am equipped with all the artillery that I could possibly need. 

In conclusion, let's remind ourselves during this time, when anxiety threatens to smother us, of the reassuring words of Philippians 4:6 : 'Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God...'

Be open to the lessons that we are supposed to be learning during a time when nothing seems 'normal' any more. Don't miss what is behind the gentle nudges and the sometimes not-so-gentle shaking. 

That is what I am trying my best to do. 

And when I am truly at a loss as to what to pray, I will remember our Father's words, spoken in prayer as He fell on His face in the garden of Gethsemane before being crucified: "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39)

He prayed this prayer three times.

May we receive the grace to make this our plea as well.

'Let Your will be done o Lord.'

Amen