Isolation can be difficult for each one of us. All humans are created in the image of God and since God exists in Divine Community, being Three-in-One, we were created to reflect his nature. This is why all humans need community. Some have a greater need to be around others and some have a lesser need; this is the difference between extroverts and introverts, yet even introverts need people—even if in small doses.
Because this time of forced isolation is difficult for all of us, let’s pray for all who call New City Church home, both those who have joined us formally in membership and those who have not yet made this decision. Pray for recent visitors who are looking for a church home—a decision made much more difficult while we are currently unable to assemble together. Pray for those in your City Group. Pray for those who used to attend New City and now no longer participate in the life of a church.
As we pray for one another, let’s pray for our faith to be strengthened. Pray for God to open our eyes to see Jesus more clearly, that we might respond to that vision with greater faith. Pray for health. Being stuck at home and away from others may provide greater temptation for some, so pray for victory over sin. Pray for the moral purity of one another. Pray for our people to seek God during this quarantine, that we might grow in maturity in Christ during our time of forced separation. Pray for those who are single. Loneliness may affect any of us, yet for those who live alone the weight of isolation may be even greater. (Don’t simply pray—reach out to them!) Pray for our church’s witness to our city, that through our testimony others might be pointed to the One who came to end suffering and death by embracing it himself.
Several in our church have already been impacted financially by the necessary steps our state is taking to limit the spread of this coronavirus, whether they have been laid off from work or have reduced hours or fewer clients or the task of looking for a job is made significantly more difficult due to a slowing economy. Pray for God to provide for their needs. Pray that even in the midst of hardship each one of us would look to God for hope for the future. Pray that we would be able to assist those in great need.
“To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power,so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(2 Thessalonians 1:11–12)
As we sang from our couches this past Sunday,
This is my prayer in the battle
When triumph is still on its way
I am a conqueror and co-heir with Christ
So firm on His promise I’ll stand
We pray, not because God’s answer is immediate, but because God’s answer is sure. He will do what he says he will do. We pray because his promise is unbreakable.