Prayer To Recognize and Appreciate What Is Essential

 One of the benefits of this difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic for many people has been a reassessment of what’s essential. 

We often laugh when we tell stories of growing up – I did so in a family with 12 children and we didn’t each have our bedroom – most of the time we didn’t even have our own bed.  The tiny closet of the 1950’s in my case were shared with 2 older sisters.  We didn’t each have a chest of drawers, we had a drawer. 

And, imagine this, for 14 of us we had one bathroom.  We were grateful for food on the table, wood for the stove to keep the house warm and shoes that fit that didn’t have holes in the soles.  We wished for new clothes but managed on the hand me downs that my mom did such a great job of mending and washing in the ringer washing machine and hanging on the clothes line outside.

I’ve told the story many times of how Mom made so many loaves of bread every week so we could take our lunches to school and have bread at meals.  Wonderful home baked bread.  But what did we want?  The day old bread that could be bought from the Trent Valley Bakery truck that went around once or twice a week.  Can you imagine??  Crazy in our heads we were.

My point in mentioning all this is that we managed – and did it just fine – with much less than what we all think we need now.  This time in the pandemic with changing financial situations for many is bringing about some reassessing of what is essential.

So today we pray to remember what really matters and to live well and with contentment as we experience all of our essential needs cared for by our loving God.  Let’s pray

We’re grateful today God to know that You exists that Jesus has come to earth to show us how wonderful You is and how steadily and powerfully He is sustaining life in us and around us. I love this little summary verse from Hebrews about the solidness of the essentials for our life with You that have been provided for us: 

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.  Hebrews 1:3

Thank You God that not only are You in control but through Jesus You have made a way for us to be washed from our sins and come into loving relationship with You.  We’re so grateful to know that Jesus has done everything that is essential for that and so He’s now sitting down in a place of honor.  The work is finished.  Provision has been made. We can tap into that today at every point we have need.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.   1 John 4:4

We’re grateful today as well that we have victory with Jesus because His Spirit has come to live in us and the Holy Spirit in us is greater than any power being expressed around us – no matter how big the wave of this disease or how much the personal world we know today crumbles and changes around us.  God, You are greater and Your power in us makes us able to rise above it all. 

We don’t have to pretend that the way around us isn’t challenging and that it often feels like a dark valley.  From ancient times people of faith just like us have prayed: 

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  Psalm 23:4

And so we’re praying that again today, trusting Your care, Your protection, and Your comfort to be all we need with whatever we face today.

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.   Psalm 23:6

We’re many months into this season of the pandemic and You’ve been with us and brought us to this day and so we trust that Your unfailing love will take us through however many months of this upside down kind of living lies ahead. Our prayer today is that we would remain faithful to what is basic, what is essential is our faith walk with you and with Saint Paul we affirm:

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.   Philippians 1:20

That’s what matters – for today and for all time.  Help us to recognize and live within the essentials today.  Amen