Feb. 16, 2021
A daily prayer during this COVID-19 crisis
During these difficult days, members of the New England Conference Board of Ordained Ministry are sharing a daily prayer based on the Revised Common Lectionary for the week. You are welcome to use these in worship or in your own devotions.
Today’s prayer
The period of Lent: walking with Jesus in the wilderness and to the cross.
Genesis 9: 8-17, Mark 1:9-15
In chapter 9 of Genesis God the creator becomes God the protector. He makes the covenant to not destroy His world again. The rainbow is the symbol of that covenant and God’s shift to a protector God. He wants to assure us that He will honor this covenant. As we move into the period of Lent, we embrace the thought that Jesus came as the rainbow personified. He was the sign that God is present; from his baptism throughout his ministry, Jesus held that role of God with us.
Even in the mist of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can be sure that God is with us. On a vacation in Maui my late husband and I saw a rainbow that went completely across the horizon, as far as we could see in both directions across the ocean. I often recall that rainbow during these last few months and know that God is my protector.
Today’s prayer is based on a daily devotion from Max Lucado’s “Grace for the Moment” and the assurance that Jesus, the rainbow, is with us especially during this pandemic.
Jesus, we know you feel the limp of the crippled; we pray that you will carry them to make their walks smoother. Jesus, we know you feel the hurt of the diseased; we pray that you will heal those suffering from COVID-19 directly or its side effects. Jesus, we know you feel the loneliness of those that have been isolated for their safety and health; we pray that the warmth of your spirit will be their companion. Jesus, we know that you feel the embarrassment of the sinful; we pray that we can be the rainbow that brings them into your kingdom. In His name we pray. Amen.
By Dr. Dorothy J. Phillips, Lay Leader, Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church, Natick, MA