Nicki Schiller shared the following prayer with us for this Sunday, The Fifth Sunday of Lent:
Heavenly Father, we thank you that although we cannot come together today in Your house because of the restrictions brought about by the corona virus, we can still come close to You and to each other in our prayers. Please send us Your Holy Spirit, Lord, as we pray to you from our hearts.
We thank you for modern communications technology which makes it possible for us to contact our friends, our families, our neighbours and our church members although we cannot visit them in person. Do not let us forget those who are old, lonely, sick or sad in these difficult days and who may be in need of a phone call , a mail or a letter. When this time of trial is past, let us continue to reach out to those who need us.
Lord, the early spring with its birdsong, the flowers , blue sky and the sunshine still make us happy despite our worries. May this quiet time when so many of us must stay at home give us more time to appreciate your world and think about how to treat your creation with care and respect instead of thoughtlessly helping to destroy it. Could it be that we human beings are more of a threat to our planet than the corona virus is to us?.
We bring before You all the countries of the world where the virus is already active. Have mercy on your suffering children Lord, give strength to all those who care for them. We thank you for the thousands who have recovered and hope that the shared suffering of this present time will make many people see more clearly the importance of peace, justice and friendship between all nations.
Father, give hope to those who are helpless and desperate at this time, to those who are stranded far from home, to the refugees on the Greek islands whose homes have been destroyed, to those here in Hamburg who cannot stay at home because they have no roof over their head. Comfort them with the assurance that we are all at home in You, Father, and send them the practical help they need.
You have sent us locums to minister to us while we search for a new chaplain and we are grateful for the wonderful work they did. Now that the present pandemic has made it impossible for another locum to come, we are not alone. We believe Your Son, Jesus Christ, is with us when we pray together and that this is true, not only till the end of the corona crisis, but till the end of time.
Father God, we bring before you ourselves, our families our friends and neighbours and ask you to protect us all from evil. May we grow in love for You and each other so that this Lent will be a time when we learn to live lives more pleasing to you and celebrate Easter together rejoicing in Christ’s victory over sin and death.