I am thankful for this pattern we have settled into which includes praying together each Wednesday. When I pause to pray on Wednesdays at 1 pm, I find strength in knowing that many of you are also approaching God at the same time. The familiar rhythms of worship and prayer that we were used to have had to be replaced with new rhythms. God remains with us in these new rhythms and is urging us to turn our attention toward Him. One of our familiar rhythms as Christian believers is Easter. We have had ways that we expected to gather for Good Friday and for Easter Sunday. This will be distinctly different this year. God meets with us in this strangely different time and gives us hope. Easter is all about hope and this is focused on the good news that Jesus is alive! The hope of Easter is not diminished because it has to be celebrated in different ways. Hope takes on new shape and new significance as we live in the reality of this worldwide pandemic. We will all need to keep our eyes on Jesus and to keep a tight grasp on hope. It is a hope that can only be found in Jesus and our faith in Him! Thank you for the hope that rises in all of our hearts as we pray together. Clearly our world needs hope! I am again inviting you to step aside from the pressing weight of all the news and commentary about what is going on with the COVID19 crisis and for each of us to enter into the place of hope that is ours when we pray. Here is a prayer you can pray tomorrow Wednesday April 8th at 1 pm. As God inspires you, I encourage you to come to God with confidence and to choose to place all the details of our lives in God’s loving hands:
Loving God, as we come to you in prayer, we realize that You are the hope that rises above all that is swirling around us. We look ahead to the Easter hope that we are eager to celebrate. You who have the power to bring Jesus, Your Son back to life, there is nothing too difficult for You. We continue to ask You to disable this virus. When we find ourselves in places of deep despair and uncertainty, that is exactly where You meet us and remind us that there is hope in You. We turn our eyes to You Lord Jesus and the things of this earth do grow strangely dim in the light of Your glory and grace. This week we pray that You will bring Your hope to those who are overwhelmed in their concerted fight against this corona virus. We pray that we will find ways to express our appreciation for those who are working so hard to keep us safe. We pray for those who continue to serve in all the essential services. We ask you to bless those who are taking risks to ensure that all of us have what we need. We pray for them and their families. We thank you for those who are caring for the sick and finding ways to offer comfort and support. When people go home at night and don’t know how they are going to face going back again the next day, please lift them up and fill them with Your eternal hope. When people give so much of themselves and feel unappreciated, please make them aware that You notice what they are giving. When we hear cynical and judgmental responses, remind us of the attitude of Jesus. For those who are finding it really hard to stay home in order to be safe, we pray for Your help. Our God, each of us is being challenged to view life from a different perspective and to have an altered view of what really matters. In our awareness of all the limitations we are facing, we encounter Your unlimited love and that gives us hope. We find in You what we need for each new day. In all the places where the light of Your hope is growing dim, please rekindle that hope in You. For all the times that we have celebrated that Jesus is alive, fill our hearts again with the profound truth of what that means. We really can face today and every tomorrow with hope because Jesus lives. We want others to know You and Your hope. We pray for the ways that can happen through us. During this time, we pray that our conversations and our actions will reveal and emphasize Your living hope. Please continue to show us that our hope is not empty because it is centered in You who revealed the truth of the empty tomb, that Jesus is alive forever! We receive Your everlasting hope, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
I want to remind you that I will be sending out a Good Friday Service for this Friday April, 10th. If you want to participate in Communion there in your homes, please arrange to have bread which will recall the body of Christ given for us and a cup that will recall the blood of Christ shed for us.
With Constant Love & Prayers, Pastor Lola