Insights
Learning from Past Great Intercessors during times of Plague
Here is a prayer from Martin Luther during the time of the plague. This prayer was written to the Rev. Dr. John Hess in 1527 during the bubonic plague. It was titled “Whether One May Flee from a Deadly Plague.”
“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I
shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall
avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become
contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their
death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will
surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not
responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor
needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as
stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash
nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”
Martin Luther
Ruth Millard, CAP, 'I'm getting lots of opportunities to talk about Jesus and salvation as people are coming face to face with life and death. Pray that many come to him.'
What will the new normal look like?
as churches explore access via the social media platforms and find many folk joining from elsewhere, what will happen when the lockdown is released.
Pray for those seeds that have been sown will have been planted in fertile soil.
That the Holy Spirit will cajole them to explore further and that the churches will be welcoming loving places so that they immediately feel part of God's family.
Having been involved with some other zoom prayer gatherings there has been prayer around the sense that church pre Covid19 can be related to old wine in old wineskins ( I see that as the vintage wine). Those who have had an encounter with Jesus during this time are seen as the new wine (I see this being effervescent, not fully matured).
So what will happen with the new wine if it is put into old wineskins.
The prayers of those meetings has been for the church to be able to adapt to these new challenges.
24-7 Prayer International resources