How to Pray in Response to the Coronavirus

Learning how to breathe, intercede, and trust God for some healthy introspection will give power to our prayers.

What do we do in this moment of howling chaos? For some of us, we may need to start with our breath. We can ask God for wisdom when heart palpitations arise. Do we grab a brown paper bag? Do we simply inhale and exhale deeply, grounding ourselves in our immediate environs? Do we call the doctor? No matter what response we ultimately need, we can first bring our bodily responses to God in prayer.

Tending to our breath draws us closer to the Holy Spirit. Both the Hebrew word ruach and the Greek word pneuma used for “spirit” in Scripture also mean “breath” and “wind.” Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that this evil virus attacks our breath.

In response to this threat, the ancient breath prayers of the church can empower us. These prayers remind us that nothing — not even darkness, COVID-19, or death — can separate us from the Spirit and love of God (Psalm 139: 7–12, Romans 8: 35–39).

Photo credit: polybazze on Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA

Through our breath prayers, God may call us to contemplation. As Dr. Gerald May observes in his book The Dark Night of the Soul, the Latin roots of the word “contemplation” are com and templum, “with” and “temple.” God invites us in breath prayer to rest in the Holy of Holies of God’s Temple.

In addition to contemplation, God may also call us to more active forms of prayer. Even in the confines of our home, there is good and holy work available to us in the form of intercession. As Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, author of the book I Prayed, Now What? explains, “we…have witnessed miracles through the power of prayer.”

Like any work, there are best practices to consider before we engage in intercession. We first need to examine our own hearts for any unconfessed sin. Isaiah 59: 1–3 warns us that our iniquities are a barrier to God, yet James 5: 16 reassures us that if we confess our sins to each other and pray for each other, then we will all be healed.

A few years ago, I learned the value of confessing sin as part of intercession. I had prayed for several days, and yet the only response was a seemingly harsh silence. I finally felt convicted to ask God if anything was blocking my prayer request. I prayed, “God, please bring to mind any sin that you would like me to confess.” Jesus immediately reminded me of a recent memory where I had cursed someone who had angered me. I forgave that person, and then asked God’s forgiveness for cursing them. That very same evening, God answered my initial prayer request.

Wrong motives may also hamper our intercessory prayer. James 4:2–3 admonishes us, “you do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.” We need to be honest about why we are praying — are we trying to control God, seek spiritual entertainment, and/or predict the future for our own selfish gain? Or are we humbly coming before God for the sake of loving relationship? Are we willing to be changed by our prayers, and to trust God for the results?

I’ve created a seven-day chart of intercessory prayer needs. While I believe these needs resonate with God’s will based on my reading of Scripture, I also admit I don’t know what will happen as a result of this coronavirus. I therefore claim great confidence in God’s love, faithfulness, and provision, even as I’ve learned humility by accepting answers to prayers from unexpected people, timing, and means.

Though this chart could be tweaked for different topics and time periods (for example, it could be stretched over a four week period), the length of seven days is meaningful. I believe God is calling us back to a life of Sabbath that more closely aligns with the weekly rhythms that God initiated in Genesis 1. This prayer chart builds up to a seventh day rest where instead of COVID-19 intercession, we are invited to remember the Sabbath by praising God and remembering how God has faithfully responded in previous times of trial.

My hope is this prayer chart may teach us patience, as well as expand our faith and our compassion, for people in a variety of circumstances. As we begin a new prayer journey together, I’ll close with an ancient promise that the Lord continues to offer us:

if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. — 2 Chronicles 7: 14–15

May it be so. Come, Lord Jesus.