There’s so much to say when it comes to corona, but I’ve had to step back and ask myself what God is saying. Really there are many things that have happened in the world since January and I have been asking and seeking God’s mind concerning where we stand as his creation and his people. On a personal level and on a Global level God has been at work shifting things, showing us some, concealing somethings in his infinite wisdom and also prompting us to deep prayer.
If there is anything I know that’s happening for sure in this season is that God is requiring deeper, longer and more earnest prayer, worship and praise from us.
What I also know with certainty is that God has called us to be a light and a voice of hope and peace, most especially at a time like this. We can allow the disruption of this pandemic to distract us and put us in a defensive zone or we can use it as a platform to be more active about our spiritual practices and more vocal about our Christian Faith. It will always be my prayer that people will not die, but live long and full lives and that when they do die they die peacefully without suffering and wake up to everlasting life in the arms of the father. Unfortunately, people die and suffer everyday, Corona or not, and it is important that regardless of how or when we die we make the very important and significant decision to make Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour before we do.
Death is the reality of life, but more real is the Faith we have in God while we live, which promises a life spent with him in eternity. There are only two choices, life or damnation and we continuously pray that people get saved and know the love of the Lord here and more so in death.
What to Pray
The focus of our prayers should be that God’s sends salvation for our mortal bodies, especially for those who have been affected and are vulnerable to the effects of the virus. But we should also pray that more people will come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. A cure and knowledge of the cure to Corona could save many lives, but it couldn’t save a single soul. Only knowledge of Jesus Christ and acceptance of this knowledge will save your soul. Let’s not get so distracted by the pandemic that we forget the pandemic of sin brought to the world through two humans, that is still corrupting and killing not only souls but lives at an alarmingly fast rate. The effects of this pandemic is very real and I do not take it lightly at all, but more than anything it has woken me up to the reality of finite state of the human race and how fragile and delicate this life is. It is precious and fragile and we should take it very seriously and use it to build a legacy of godliness that is guaranteed to out live us no matter how long we live.
I sense that God is wanting us to pray for mercy and wisdom first for ourselves and also for the leaders of our various nations. 2 Chronicles 7: 14 comes to mind, which says that “if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways I will hear from heaven and heal their land”. Scripture shows us time and time again that the key to healing and restoration whether for our bodies, filed of work or anything associated with us, is prayer offered up in humility and genuine repentance from evil. Our generation needs this mercy more than ever before. Daniel prayed for the captivity of Israel to be turned around and their lands to be restored, He prayed earnestly for 21 days and in that time he prayed for mercy for himself and for all of Israel. His prayer for mercy on behalf of Israel worked and brought the captivity of Israel to an end. It was the will of God then and it is the will of God today that we pray. Joshua Selman said that “Prayer is the highest form of humility before God”. This is very true. When we pray we refuse to lean on our own understanding, we declare to God that we need him and that we want him. When we add repentance to our prayer we surrender control and prove that our heart and action is in line with our words. Repentance enables us to draw near to God with our hearts and not just our lips (MARK 7:6). It also enables us to align our actions and heart with his will; genuine repentance leads us to seek out the will of the father (Matthew 6:33, Luke 12:31).
We must also pray for judgment over the corona virus and the spiritual forces that are propagating the activity of this virus. The scripture informs us that we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places (Epesians 6:12 NLT). The NKJV calles the evil spirits in the heavely places – spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavely places. Spiritual beings require, physical beings to effectively operate on this world. This is why when God redeemed us from sin and death he needed to come in human form live and die like us to restore us back to God. God had to reason and negotiate with Mary, Joseph (Jesus’ Parents) and Zacharias and Elizabeth (John the baptist parents) for his redemption plan to be fulfilled. God as a spirit being is always looking for who is available to be his physical vessel on earth. He is gentle and waits for us to let him in before he can use us. He will never use us without our willingness to be used for his good purpose. The enemy is not so. He will use whoever is vulnerable and susceptible to his evil suggestions and specially delights in those who openly and actively invite him to accomplish his evil work in through them. These are the people we must place under the arrest of the power of the Holy spirit. People have been spotted actively spreading the virus through unsanitary means, even after they found out they had the virus. Deliberately not complying with the advice of health professionals, going out in public places and contaminating public spaces. These are hosts of wickedness. People who have signed themselves up to the plots of the enemy. They may think they are doing the right thing for whatever reason, but they need to be restrained by spiritual means.
I believe that these are some of the foundational prayers that we need to pray at this time. We must be vigilant and keep our spiritual armor on. Our weapons of warfare are not carnal – we don’t use fists, knives or guns to fight our most dangerous battles we fight in the spirit with the weapons of praise, worship and earnest prayers. We fight from a place of Victory because we have already won. We skip right to the celebratory praise, worship and thanksgiving part because we are people of Faith and firm hope. We sing hymns and sound out our songs of the spirit. And we continue in this spiritual attitude because we know that all things will work together for good.
We Grow in Faith 