(Tuesday, March 3)
The world seems to be in confusion. A new problem has emerged—the “coronavirus.” Governments are banning travel, closing down gathering places, warning people to take precautions, and admitting that this new disease will spread. When will it end? How many lives will it take? Will this become a “pandemic?”
When nature starts getting “out of control,” we begin to realize how powerless we are. Confronted with our powerless, we seek a greater power to help us. Sadly, many are naïve enough to consider the government or the medical community to be that “greater power.”
We know better. During such times as these our first line of action is prayer—even though I haven’t heard this mentioned either on TV or at Church. Part of the problem is we don’t know how to pray about this. Do we ask God to put an end to it? Do we ask God to protect us? Do we ask God to use this to leverage conversion of souls?
So we go directly to Jesus and ask him to teach us all over again how to pray (Matthew 6:7-15).
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans…Do not be like them. Your Father know what you need….This is how you are to pray: ‘Our Father who are in heaven, hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come…”
How often our prayer is a mental activity in which we try to figure out what God needs to do to solve our problems. Jesus reminds us that our loving Father already know our needs. He already knows the solution to problems that are much bigger than we are. In prayer we awaken to his presence, call him “Father” and give him praise and thanksgiving. Our first request is that his kingdom come and begins to make earth look like heaven. How his kingdom will come is beyond our understanding? How much a demolition phase is needed? We pray that his will be done even if it doesn’t make sense to us.
Then the practicals:
“Give us this day our daily bread, forgive us…as we forgive…lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
In one short sentence we put our personal issues before him. Our daily bread covers every need in spirit, soul, and body. We trust that he will take care of us today. Then we go deeper—forgive us our sins. Make us holy as God is holy. Give us the grace to forgive others of their offenses against us. And then we ask him to keep us on the right path, because it is so easy to wander off it. Finally we ask protection from the snares of the devil.
It seems our only part in this prayer is to forgive others, including ourselves, who have done anything against us. The rest of prayer can be summarize in one word: trust.
It is a challenge during upsetting times to convert worry to trust, and then let God’s peace reign over us. We know that God has a plan for the world, that he is at work daily establishing the reign of Jesus over all creation, and that nothing can stand in the way of his plan.
Through Isaiah (55:10-11) we read,
“My word…shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
The closer we are to the heart of God, the more we are part of his kingdom project on earth, and the more our future is secured.
“…from all his distress he saved him” (Ps
34:7).
