20 More Prayers to Pray as We Approach the Pandemic’s Peak

Petitioning God is still the most powerful way to respond in crisis.

Last week, paramedics came for my elderly neighbor across the street as my kids and I watched helplessly from our front window. They donned masks and tied each others’ long blue gowns closed. “Why is the fire truck here, too?” my son asked.

“I think it always comes when an ambulance is called,” I said, trying to be useful when in fact I felt useless.

With more than half the world under stay-at-home orders, many of us are experiencing this feeling of helplessness in the face of other people’s suffering. Under normal conditions, there would be meals to make and hospital visits to pay. But these are not normal days.

And yet, we are not powerless. Not even close. One of the most effective things we can do for our neighbors the world over is to get down on our knees and reach out to God, the source of help itself.

I wrote “20 Prayers to Pray During This Pandemic” to remind us that God is who he says he is: “See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me” (Deut. 32:39).

In the weeks since the publication of that piece, hundreds of thousands of people around the globe have been reading, praying (presumably), and also sharing those prayers. The numbers—encompassing more than 100 countries—pay tribute to how the church is coming together in crisis.

As we continue to join hands from a distance, here are 20 more prayers for our neighbors everywhere:

1. For the church, struggling with faith in the midst of global suffering: God, we believe in your willingness to heal and your power to do so. Help our unbelief.

2. For those who have turned to faith in Jesus for the very first time during this pandemic: God, help our new brothers and sisters grow in the grace and ...