A daily prayer during this COVID-19 crisis on April 8, 2020
April 8, 2020
A daily prayer during this COVID-19 crisis
During these difficult days, Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar and the members of the Extended Cabinet 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
Loving Creator of all that is, We fall on our knees before you in the middle of this Holy Week with the plea of Palm Sunday still resonating in our very beings: Hosanna! Save, please! Oh, how we implore you, Saving God, to hear our petition this day! Kneeling before you, our minds wander to years past when we waved palms and repeated the cry for salvation. We remember the ways in which we moved through Passion Week with ceremonies that guided us to solemnly remember the path of Christ to Calvary. We did so with confidence that the week would culminate in a joyous celebration of the resurrection of Jesus signaling victory over suffering and death. This year, O God, as we turn mid-week to the days ahead, how differently we approach the Day of Resurrection. Your people are in the grip of fear because of the pandemic which is sweeping across this world. The daily predictions from health experts and governments fill us with dread: the rising statistics of people contracting the deadly COVID-19, the scarcity of equipment and medical personnel to fight the disease, the climbing death tolls, and the worrisome ignorance about keeping safe in an unsafe environment. O Giver of Peace,
In these days of crisis, may we be reminded of these words of a hymn: Unsettled world, where people long to find their way, to feel secure, from lives of turbulence and rush we come, to seek your peace, our God, your word to hear, our faith to live... ... with trust in you.
Father and Mother of us all, We, your children, put our trust in you. We rejoice in your amazing powers. May our faith stay strong with confidence in your saving grace even as constant words of doom fill our days and make it hard to remain hopeful. And so it is, O Holy One, that in today’s unsettled world and in our distress, we are moved to plead for your mercy with these timeless words: Hurry, God, to deliver me; hurry, Lord, to help me! ... Hurry to me, God! You are my helper and my deliverer. Oh, Lord, don’t delay. Just as the ancient world needed the hope embodied in the resurrection of Christ, we need you now! Amen and amen! By Rene Wilbur, New England Conference Lay Leader Based on Psalm 70:1 and 5, CEB; and excerpts from the hymn, Unsettled World, FWS 2183; Words: David Sparks; Music: Hal H. Hopson