The Lord’s Prayer in the Days of COVID-19

Editor’s note: The following devotional, which is centered on “The Lord’s Prayer,” was submitted by Pastor Dave Watson of Staten Island.

Our Father – Thank You that You are so personal. You are “our Father.” You are “my Father.” We are part of Your family. We get to call You Abba, which means Daddy. You are a Father who gives good gifts to His children. You are a Dad we can come to with all our concerns for as our father, we are Your concern. We can run to You when we are afraid. Right now we are afraid for our city and our nation and our friends and our families and even for ourselves. We run to Your arms. May we feel Your embrace. Help us to trust You Father!

Who art in Heaven – You are not like our earthly fathers who are imperfect and who have limited perspectives. You are perfect and deal with us always in Your perfect love and faithfulness. You have a heavenly and eternal perspective. You know our needs before we ask. You can and do work all things for good to those who love You, those who are called according to Your purpose. That’s us, even in the midst of this pandemic.

Hallowed be Thine Name – LORD here in Your presence, around Your throne room, we can hear the angels spontaneously say “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” We join with them in proclaiming that You are Holy. There is none like You and You swear by Your holiness. As we catch a glimpse of You in this way we fall on our faces and cry with Isaiah, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.”  We have taken You way too lightly. Forgive us for not revering You for who You are.

Thy Kingdom Come – Yes, Lord. It is not about us but You. It is not about our Kingdom but Yours. Lord, in this moment when I am worried about my world, help me, help us, to be kingdom-minded. May we seek first, even in this moment, Your kingdom and Your righteousness. May the first thoughts out of my lips be “how can I help to advance the kingdom” in the crisis we are facing.

Thy will be done – Yes Lord. It is not about my will but Yours. Lord, we are praying for this cup to pass but nevertheless not our will but Yours be done. We want it to end now. We do not want another single moment to pass with the suffering and anxiety that this virus brings but we yield to Your perfect will. Yes, Your will be done.

On earth as it is in heaven – May we the earthly beings be as obedient to Your will as the heavenly being are. May we seek to carry out Your will like our citizenship is from heaven because it in fact is.  Lord we don’t understand but we know You make no mistakes.

Give us this day our daily bread – We are dependent on You for our food. You open Your hand and meet the desire of every living thing. Please provide for us. We are dependent upon You for life, and breath and hope and strength. Please provide for those who have the greatest needs right now. For those struggling with this illness please bring healing, for those scared please bring comfort, for those filled with anxiety please give peace and for those who are without strength please give them the strength they need to persevere on. Please Lord, especially help our healthcare workers and first responders, our doctors, nurses, technicians, Police Officers and Firefighters and EMS workers and those providing transportation with the MTA. May they and we find in You a sure source of strength.

And forgive our trespasses – We have sinned against You Lord. Our sins should not be taken lightly. Our sin separates us from You. Jesus had to die for our sins so that we could be forgiven. We are grateful for His sacrifice, but we are aware that if we regard iniquity in our hearts the Lord won’t hear us. So we thank You for Your promise, that if we confess our sins You are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Lord, in our stress we have said things we shouldn’t have said, done thing we shouldn’t have done, and thought things we shouldn’t have thought. Yet, we are without excuse. Thank you for Your forgiveness that restores to you.

As we forgive those who trespass against us – As forgiven people Lord we have an obligation to forgive others as we have been forgiven. Lord, people have let us down, people have done us wrong. Our public officials have not been prepared and have not always been truthful with us. They have been petty and partisan.  Lord, help us to forgive as we have been forgiven.

And lead us not into temptation – Lord, we know You don’t tempt us but You often allow us to be tried. Our faint hearts ask for the least amount of trials possible. We are so afraid our faith will fail. We are grateful that You won’t let us be tested above what we are able to bear and that You will provide a way of escape so that we may bear it. Right now Lord we think You may have us confused with someone else. It doesn’t appear we can bear this. Please give us the strength we need to endure this test. Please help us experience the way of escape.

But deliver us from evil – Yes Lord, rescue us from the evil that is around us and the evil one who would destroy us. Rescue us from the evil in our society and the evil in our own hearts. Save us from this virus. Heal those struggling with this virus. Please give us a cure. We are grateful for any help that the government can give us but we know that ultimately “vain is the help of men”. Thank You for the fact that You’re the greatest of all Saviors and You can save us to the uttermost through Jesus Christ both now and more importantly eternally.

For thine is the Kingdom – You reign now and forever

And the power – You are the One in perfect control

And the glory – Your name will be magnified

Forever – Both now and through eternity, from this most difficult of times until we are with You forever.

Amen. – May it be so.

Dr. David Watson is the senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Staten Island. This article was reprinted from his blog,  https://nycshepherd.com/.

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