A Call to Prayer from the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

As the novel coronavirus has captured the headlines in recent weeks, misinformation, conspiracy theories, and fear of the unknown have raised anxiety and caused widespread apprehension. Financial markets have wobbled and people of Asian descent in this country and around the world have been unfairly targeted. This virus has exposed the vulnerability and fragility of the global community.

As we all struggle with the horrific impact of the deadly virus that has infected so many people in China and now in a number of other countries, we cannot but call upon our God for help and healing.

Please join me in crying out for relief from this plague.

We pray for healing for those who are infected, in China and in all the places where the virus has spread.

We pray for all who already have lost loved ones to the illness and those who will yet suffer such loss.

We pray for doctors, nurses and aides providing medical care, for insight in their caring, and for their health and well-being.

We pray for wisdom for the medical and scientific experts who are desperately seeking ways to control the spread of the virus.

We pray for public officials who must make the hard decisions about the quarantining of those who may have been exposed to the virus; and we pray for all those for whom those decisions feel like unjust imprisonment.

We lift up the Christian church in China and our partners throughout the region as they seek to bring Christ’s healing presence and peace.

We pray for God to keep us alert to the threats posed by such a worldwide crisis, remembering the millions of God’s children who live in places where the availability of medical care is meager or nonexistent.

May God open our hearts, our financial resources, and our political will, so that the vision of a better future can become a reality for all of God’s children.

In the Providence of the God who created us, in the Passion of our Savior Jesus Christ who redeems us, and in the Power of the Holy Spirit through whom God’s will is done. AMEN.

In Faith and Hope,

 

J. Herbert Nelson, II
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)