A Prayer for Troubled Times
Father in heaven, we draw near this morning to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, to take our place in the shadow of the Almighty, where roundabout and underneath are Your everlasting arms.
LORD, You are our refuge and our fortress, our God in whom we trust. For it is You who delivers us from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. Cover us all with Your pinions this morning. Let us find refuge beneath Your wings. And may Your faithfulness be to us a shield and a bulwark. Then we will not be afraid of the terror by night or the arrow that flies by day. Then we will not be afraid of the virus that stalks in the darkness or the destruction that lays waste at noon.
Remember Your promise to let no evil befall Your people, and let no plague come near our homes, our little ones, or our brethren in the church. Do not let us be tempted beyond our ability to cope, but with the temptation, grant the way of escape that we may be able to endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ Jesus.
And Father, as I think of my own life, do not deal with me according to my sins, nor reward me according to my iniquities. For even my righteousness is like a filthy rag, and I cannot bear to think about those times that I have drunk iniquity like water. For I am a man (or woman) of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips. Forgive me for the litany of unkind, bitter, and resentful words that have spewed from my lips. Forgive my foolish pride. Forgive my ingratitude and my envious, jealous, and lustful heart. Forgive my worldliness, Father. I have been deceived by the lust of the eyes, the lust of my carnal nature, and my instinct to boast. I have set my mind on the things of the flesh and not the things of the Spirit.
But ever blessed and eternal Father, surely Your lovingkindness towards me overshadows the heavens towering above this earth. Surely Your thoughts towards me are more in number than the sand on the seashore and the stars in the night’s sky. Have You not promised to remove from me my transgressions as far as the east is from the west? Have compassion on me, Lord. Deal with me like a father who knows well the frame of his children. Remember that I am but dust, and come redeem my life from the pit for Jesus’ sake.
Lord, this morning in particular, I would lift up before You my brothers and sisters in the church.
Remember, O Lord, the aged, the infirm, and the vulnerable. Have You not promised to satisfy Your people with a long life and to let them see Your salvation? Draw near to them, O God. When they call upon You, say to them, “Here I am!” When they need You to answer, do not delay. But grant that they might still bear fruit in their old age and be full of sap and very green. Follow them with your goodness and mercy all their days until they lie down in the house of God forever.
Grant your angels charge over our pregnant ladies this morning, O God. Keep them in all their ways. Remember Melissa Volz, Leah Ross, and Bekah Van Eerden and also those who might be very early on in their pregnancies. Watch over the young souls wriggling in their wombs. May the days of these wee ones be long and full of Christ.
Protect the doctors and nurses of our congregation, our Father. Remember Drs. Candy Smith, John Germeroth, Brian and Rachel Hagler, and Dave Olson. Strengthen and protect Suzanne Gregory and Ruth Marcum and the rest of our nurses and EMTs. In the days and weeks that lie ahead, when their flesh grows weary, be the strength of their heart and their portion forever. Cause them to mount up with wings like eagles, to run and not be weary, and to walk and not faint.
Remember those whose jobs are vulnerable, or whose business margins are thin and unforgiving. Help them to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication to present their requests to God with thanksgiving. And guard their hearts and their minds with Your supernatural peace, O God. Help them to remember that the God who feeds the sparrows and the ravens which cry to Him will not forget His children in their time of need. Open Your hand and satisfy their every good desire and the work of faith with power.
As we close our prayers to You this day, we give You thanks for the many mercies we have enjoyed thus far in life. We thank You for the measure of health and strength that You have given to each one of us. We bless You for sparing us from crippling illness and accidents during our formative years. When so many in our world are starving, live in war-torn lands, or live out their lives in tremendous pain, we thank You for sparing us from these things, for allowing us to live in America, a land of tremendous liberty and blessing. When we think of our country this morning, O God, we tremble when we remember Your justice. O God, in Your wrath, remember mercy and turn America around. Turn us back from the culture of death that trashes babies in the womb. Turn us back from loving pleasure more than we love God. Turn us back from the sexual liberation that we have embraced. For when a people can no longer say, “No!” to their darkest desires, this is not a sign of freedom, but it is, in fact, the worst form of bondage.
Grant President Trump, his advisors, and Congress great wisdom and discernment as they make decisions to alleviate this crisis. May they be unusually successful because You are the God who makes the sun rise on the evil and on the good, who sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Watch over our missionaries too, O God, many of whom are separated from their families back in America. Protect them wherever they are. Keep them from the virus and the virus from them. Grant them and us the courage to live for You, to shine as lights in a dark world, and may our light shine before the world, so that men may see our good works and glorify You in the day when Your Son returns.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen!