EMW Call to Prayer Summer 2020
What on earth is going on?
‘O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
Psalm 63:1-3
You have probably asked that question many times over the last few months. I have certainly asked it at regular intervals: when trying to buy toilet rolls, during Prime Minister’s briefings, and then most recently this morning when I stood on the scales in the bathroom (although I have a pretty good idea what has caused the increase on the display)!
On a more serious note, the COVID-19 crisis has caused questioning within our society, from politicians to the press, from business men and women to the unemployed, and from health workers to those they are treating in their beds – we have all asked the same question “What on earth is going on?” We’re grappling with the same question within our churches.
As a national movement of gospel Christians, we have received many requests over the last few months to call Christians and churches to pray for the situation. Some have encouraged us to pray for healing and an eradication of the virus, whilst others see the possibility of God at work and want prayer for people to be brought to see their need in a hopeless situation. Some have found the lockdown difficult, seeing it as a sign of God’s punishment, but others have been encouraged by the whole experience as they have seen God’s blessing through new people hearing the gospel. There’s uncertainty and confusion in the church and no one answers to the question of ‘What is God doing?’
We must firstly emphasise that we are not trying to force more prayer or ensure that the Church responds in a particular way to the crisis. Prayer is a matter of discipleship for individual Christians in our local churches and we must answer for ourselves if we need to give more time and attention to prayer. This Call to Prayer is merely an aid to help those who wish to pray, grapple, and engage with what God is doing in Wales through the virus. It is important that everyone considers what they can learn personally through this crisis and it is our hope that we can help that in some small way.
It is important that we base our seeking and petitions in God’s word, therefore each day Mark Thomas (our General Secretary) will open a passage of Scripture with the aim of providing an encouragement and a biblical framework to guide our prayers. You may wish to use the guide every day for a week (along with many hundreds of Christians) or you may want to use it over several weeks. Feel free to use it as the Lord guides you, and please also share it with others in your church – contact the office or visit the website if you would like more copies.
While it appears that there is no one answer to the question, ‘What is God doing?’ we know that this situation should teach us all one big lesson: that everything on this earth is fragile – health, our hobbies, our work, our ideas and even our churches are not to be the centre of our lives. God is the one who gives meaning, the one who deserves all the glory and the one in whom we truly find our home and safe place. Our main aim and hope from this call to prayer is to enable us to share in David’s cry in Psalm 63:
‘O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
Steffan Job, North Wales Office