Prayer in Time of Plague

Lord Jesus Christ, you travelled through towns and villages curing every disease. At your command, the sick were made well. O Lord, we need you to come to our aid now, in the midst of the coronavirus, that we may experience your love and healing power.

Protect us, our families and homes, our church and region, from this pestilence. Let the Angel of Death pass over our homes. We trust in your saving blood, your healing Word, and your Sovereign will. Heal all those who are sick. May they regain their health and strength.

Heal us from our carelessness, that we may be mindful of the most vulnerable among us. Good Lord, give us strength and courage in this time of uncertainty, sorrow, and opportunity. Show us when to go out, and when to stay in. Deliver us from fear, which hinders us from helping our neighbors. Show each of us how to serve our neighbors in this season, and give us courage to do so. Draw people to a saving knowledge of you.

Comfort and strengthen the families of those who are sick or have died. Defend them from illness and despair. Guide and protect doctors, nurses, researchers, and all who seek to heal and help, thereby putting themselves at risk. Guide the leaders of all nations. Give them foresight to act with wisdom and charity, for the well-being of the people they serve.

Help us to be aware of your presence, Lord, in our distress. Help us to trust in your purposes. Help us to pray with wisdom and power.

Grant us your peace.
Amen.

These are times that challenge us to be at peace.
I found this poem today and it soothed my heart. 

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

poet Wendell Berry

This global crisis provides an opportunity to ask questions like:

In what ways is my life impacting the world for good?

Am I living a life that is in line with Jesus’ calling for my life?