Reversing the Tide of Fear: A New Day for Prayer
If today’s troubles do not signal the beginning of the end, they certainly signal a new day for the world. In today’s global village, a virus travels the world in weeks; an international communication of the danger and subsequent response actualize in days.
Our response will structure the future of our common life on our planet. And the church is scrambling to figure out how to do ministry in this new world.
But what if we saw this crisis as a call to return to evangelism and prayer? Already, we’ve seen church broadcasts attract many more viewers than regular attenders. Imagine if God’s people united in a common voice and the message of the gospel went viral in the same way. Dream for a moment what countless and eternal good would come of it.
Maybe what you envision is a planet-wide Pentecost. Something like it has happened before. In the first century, Roman emperors were intent on global conquest, so they built roads to connect the realms they subjugated. Rome also employed a common language so everyone in the world could understand each other. The apostles and missionaries used the same Roman roads and common language to carry the gospel quickly throughout the world (Romans 1:8).
What if this crisis forced churches to use global communications networks more effectively? What if, in a global tide of prayer, millions would hear a message of hope, and the false gods of human progress and self-sufficiency were exposed and silenced? What a noble and promising call to prayer emerges from this dream!
What message should we share when afforded the opportunity? What can we say in light of the world’s allegations that God either does not exist or is an unmoved and unscathed spectator of mankind’s sufferings (or even more to the point of the world’s accusation—that God is responsible for these troubles and judgments)?
The following scripture addresses and speaks with clarity to these very issues:
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
—Hebrews 2:14-15
In this Scripture, we discover that Satan is the agent of death and mayhem among men. Yes, God is a judge and he is Sovereign, but he is not and never can be the agent of evil. Let our prayers acknowledge both the right of God to judge and his pure holiness when it comes to evil.
Second, this passage equips us to confidently answer the charge that God is indifferent to human suffering—whether that charge is an honest question or a hostile allegation—as we boldly proclaim a Saviour who suffered murder at the hands of those he came to rescue. Christ entered the very flesh and blood of humankind to meet our death and suffering head on, and to pour out his own life in the battle for our deliverance. Therefore we must portray Him as He is to a hurting world, drawing attention to his sacrifice to rescue everyone from the fear of death by delivering us from death itself. “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:9).
The whole world trembles at COVID-19 because, apart from Jesus, we are confined by a paralyzing fear of death. But this passage reminds that every believer in this promise can have the fearless awareness that death is done for, and eternal life has already begun. Even before we speak, this hope radiates like a nova in an increasingly dark world. True seekers will be irresistibly drawn to the light.
While we pray for hope and healing of the present weary order, let us concentrate the heart of our prayers on Jesus bringing a new day and a new world.
About the Author
John Smed and his wife, Caron, have planted two churches in Canada. He also directed church planting for Mission to North America for seven years and helped found Grace Network Canada. In 2012, Prayer Current: making disciples through prayer, was formed. They bring prayer training for urban mission to church planters, campus ministers, pastors, evangelists and network teams throughout North America, Cuba, and Asia.