Prayer is our greatest power

It can be difficult to know where to start when praying for a crisis as large as coronavirus. But as Tearfund Ambassador and founder of 24/7 Prayer Pete Greig says: ‘I am convinced that prayer is not only our greatest privilege, but also our greatest source of power.’

Our God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. So we’ve created a prayer guide to help you bring everything before God using the acronym PRAY (praise, reflect, ask, yield). Here’s how you can use it so we can pray together during this time.

Praise
Listen to, or sing, a song of worship to help you focus on God and become aware of his presence.

Reflect
To help build our faith, we reflect on the nature of the one to whom we pray:

• We give thanks that God is enthroned in the heavens and yet is close to the poor and brokenhearted. (Psalm 103:19, Psalm 34:18)
• We give thanks that God hears and responds to our prayers. (Psalm 145:18, Matthew 7:11)

Ask
For many families in poorer countries, being in lockdown means no longer being able to earn enough to feed your children. In places where malnutrition is already a problem, even more people are going hungry and face the risk of starvation – like the 15,000 Venezuelan refugee families in Barranquilla, Colombia.

As Tearfund delivers emergency food and supplies to the most vulnerable communities, ask for God’s provision for families in need.

Millions of people around the world who may get very ill from coronavirus will have no access to healthcare. People in rural villages might have miles to walk to the nearest clinic. Equipment, such as ventilators, is scarce – even in the larger hospitals. In South Sudan there are only four ventilators for a population of 11 million people.

Tearfund has created resources containing life-saving health advice, including crucial hygiene practices, to limit the spread of the virus. We’re sharing these with communities around the world. Ask God to protect countries where there is a lack of basic healthcare. Pray for governments to release funds to help these countries tackle coronavirus.

Yield: please pray
Lord, show me how you would have me show love to my local and global neighbours in this season, in both prayer and action. Amen.

We hope this prayer guide will be a helpful resource for you in these times. You can access it in full here.