LEARNING TO PRAY DURING A PANDEMIC (PART 1)
Dear Friends,
Sometimes when I am very anxious or very stressed I find it hard to pray. I will not bore you with all the details, but it is as if my mind is racing every which way and I cannot concentrate very well. It is at times like these that I find some written prayers very helpful. Just as singing a familiar and powerful song can be very helpful, so praying a prayer someone else prayed and wrote down can be very helpful. Thomas Cranmer was a key leader in the English Reformation. He died a martyr’s death in 1556. He obviously lived during a dangerous and tumultuous time. One important legacy that he left was a Bible reading plan and method. He wanted ordinary Christians to read the whole Bible, cover to cover, on a regular basis by reading some texts in the morning and some in the evening, seven days a week. One feature of his method was providing two prayers to be prayed every morning, and two different prayers every evening, as the Bible reading and prayer time came to the close. Here is the first of the morning prayers.
“O God, You are the author of peace and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom stands our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; defend us your humble servants in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in Your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
First, this is not only a prayer, it is a concise and robust theology as well. When I pray this as my own, alone or with others, I am learning robust theology at the same time. Every phrase can be thought about with profit. You could take this prayer phrase by phrase and do a teaching series. Neither the world, the flesh or the devil are the author of peace or concord - only God is. To know the Triune God is eternal life. To serve the Triune God is to know perfect freedom. I have enemies and I need the Lord to defend me. I have problems with fear and I need to trust in the Lord. My adversaries can loom large and make me foolishly think that Jesus is small and weak. So I need to be reminded of the great might of Jesus Christ my Lord so I see how small my adversaries are in light of Him.
Second, the pandemic merely brings to the fore adversaries that are always present. Sickness and death are always the blink of an eye away. We always struggle with “principalities and powers.” Many of us do have people who do not like us; are against us; want to hurt us; belittle us; shame us; snigger at our setbacks. We are tempted to despair and believe lies about ourselves and others. This prayer alerts us to the realities of life in light of the Gospel and the whole counsel of God.
Third, the prayer is realistic and rousing at the same time. We are used to “realistic” being paired with depressing or sobering, but this prayer helps me to see the world as it is, and my day as it is, without being tempted to despair, but by being grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ. The peace and confidence I need to make it through the day is not found in alcohol, drugs, pornography or a rich fantasy life centered around my greatness – the help I need is not found in idols of the world. Jesus saved me. He is my present and powerful Lord. I am always in greatest safety serving Him. I can be too stressed to pray out of my own resources. So I am grateful that I can pray a prayer like this as my own, carried by the words of another to the Throne of grace and mercy.
George+