Prayer To See the Covid-19 Pandemic in Light of Jesus Death on the Cross
We pause to remember how Jesus Christ has entered into our suffering and death on our behalf so we could know forgiveness and life.
On this Good Friday we are stopped dead in our tracks, so to speak, in amazement, Lord Jesus, at the depth of Your love for us. While we didn't care, while we scorned You and Your involvement in the earth and our lives You acted on our behalf at huge personal cost. You were misunderstood and misjudged. You were beaten and mocked. You were discriminated against, falsely accused and even though an innocent man, You were condemned to death. Until the last moment you could have escaped becoming sin and the death and separation from Your Father that resulted, but You voluntarily laid down Your life. During horrible days of suffering and death across the earth due to the covid-19 virus pandemic, we pause to remember how You have entered into suffering and death on our behalf. We remember with amazement and our hearts are filled with gratitude.
The words of a song come to mind: (Video link below)
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene.
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner condemned, unclean.
How marvelous, How wonderful
And my song will ever be
How marvelous, How wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me.
He took my sins and my sorrows
He made them his very own
He bore the burden to Calvary
He suffered and bled for me.
We try to look today at all You did for us from our little pinprick of time and it's hard to take in. You did so much more for us than we will ever now until we see you face to face in heaven. For some of us that may come sooner rather than later due to things like the covid-19 virus or it may be a long time coming yet. What we do know Lord Jesus, is that we can pray for one another in powerful ways and see our experience of God deepen in all of us.
The Bible reminds us: Ephesians 3:14-19 NIRV - I bow in prayer to the Father because of my work among you. From the Father every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. I pray that he will use his glorious riches to make you strong. May his Holy Spirit give you his power deep down inside you. Then Christ will live in your hearts because you believe in him. And I pray that your love will have deep roots. I pray that it will have a strong foundation. May you have power together with all the Lord’s holy people to understand Christ’s love. May you know how wide and long and high and deep it is. And may you know his love, even though it can’t be known completely. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you.
So once again, with the songwriter we proclaim: How marvelous, How wonderful, And my song will ever be, How marvelous, How wonderful is my Saviour's love for me. (See video link below)
We not only want to be amazed by Your love for us today but we want to be sure that we are living the story of our life within Your love. We receive what You did for us on the cross, Jesus. We receive the forgiveness, the new life, the hope for today and for eternity. We receive all the love and grace that sustains us in these challenging times of pandemic but also through all the other ups and downs of life.
While we don't understand the depths of it all, we know that there is something new and different when we surrender our will and our life into Your care and begin to know and follow Your will for our daily lives. These famous words in the Bible try to describe that in terms of the cross and Good Friday and we want this to be our affirmation today.
I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIRV
With another songwriter we affirm: Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine .... Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long. (See video link below)
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Youtube Video of "I Stand Amazed" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8ZCAc9xQ8
Youtube Video of "Blessed Assurance" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SSJicZO6_g
On this Good Friday we are stopped dead in our tracks, so to speak, in amazement, Lord Jesus, at the depth of Your love for us. While we didn't care, while we scorned You and Your involvement in the earth and our lives You acted on our behalf at huge personal cost. You were misunderstood and misjudged. You were beaten and mocked. You were discriminated against, falsely accused and even though an innocent man, You were condemned to death. Until the last moment you could have escaped becoming sin and the death and separation from Your Father that resulted, but You voluntarily laid down Your life. During horrible days of suffering and death across the earth due to the covid-19 virus pandemic, we pause to remember how You have entered into suffering and death on our behalf. We remember with amazement and our hearts are filled with gratitude.
The words of a song come to mind: (Video link below)
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene.
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner condemned, unclean.
How marvelous, How wonderful
And my song will ever be
How marvelous, How wonderful
Is my Saviour's love for me.
He took my sins and my sorrows
He made them his very own
He bore the burden to Calvary
He suffered and bled for me.
We try to look today at all You did for us from our little pinprick of time and it's hard to take in. You did so much more for us than we will ever now until we see you face to face in heaven. For some of us that may come sooner rather than later due to things like the covid-19 virus or it may be a long time coming yet. What we do know Lord Jesus, is that we can pray for one another in powerful ways and see our experience of God deepen in all of us.
The Bible reminds us: Ephesians 3:14-19 NIRV - I bow in prayer to the Father because of my work among you. From the Father every family in heaven and on earth gets its name. I pray that he will use his glorious riches to make you strong. May his Holy Spirit give you his power deep down inside you. Then Christ will live in your hearts because you believe in him. And I pray that your love will have deep roots. I pray that it will have a strong foundation. May you have power together with all the Lord’s holy people to understand Christ’s love. May you know how wide and long and high and deep it is. And may you know his love, even though it can’t be known completely. Then you will be filled with everything God has for you.
So once again, with the songwriter we proclaim: How marvelous, How wonderful, And my song will ever be, How marvelous, How wonderful is my Saviour's love for me. (See video link below)
We not only want to be amazed by Your love for us today but we want to be sure that we are living the story of our life within Your love. We receive what You did for us on the cross, Jesus. We receive the forgiveness, the new life, the hope for today and for eternity. We receive all the love and grace that sustains us in these challenging times of pandemic but also through all the other ups and downs of life.
I have been crucified with Christ. I don’t live any longer, but Christ lives in me. Now I live my life in my body by faith in the Son of God. He loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 NIRV
With another songwriter we affirm: Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine .... Heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Saviour all the day long. (See video link below)
1. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine;
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long.
2. Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
3. Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
Youtube Video of "I Stand Amazed" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ue8ZCAc9xQ8
Youtube Video of "Blessed Assurance" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SSJicZO6_g
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