President’s Blog 8- Prayer for Healing – 2 Chronicles 7:14
March 24, 2020
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NRSV
Good Morning Lord,
Today, as we humble ourselves, pray, seek Your Face and turn from our wicked ways, we intercede for the most vulnerable family members among us. As we feel inconvenienced, stressed, and overwhelmed by our predicament, we stop to bow in the face of Covid-19 for those without reliable access to basic needs (e.g., shelter, food, health care).
God, we lift those among us who were already vulnerable when our economy was strong and now face even more severe hardship as jobs evaporate overnight, day-by-day, and industry-by-industry. Oh Lord, we ask your intervention for members of our community who cannot “socially distance;” or shelter in safe, warm, hygienic places.
Creator, Redeemer, and Empowerer God, we pray for those severely vulnerable to the transmission of communicable diseases. That is, we lift to Thee, the mentally ill and immunocompromised, single parents, older rural residents, parents of children with special needs, poor families and Inmates. We present before You segments of our communion who find themselves burdened, anxious, compromised, stigmatized, by the lack of resources and direction.
Today, we plead for mercy on their behalf. Today, we humble ourselves, we pray, we seek Your Face and we turn from our wicked ways as our offerings and spiritual sacrifices. But, please Oh God, do not let us forget them once this crisis is over. Keep them in our consciousness and our hearts. Reconstruct our society so that we walk together and not “over and under” one another. Reunite us, so that our most vulnerable will join us when we are released from our isolation and offer with us praise, hope, and renewed trust in You and in one another!
Amen! Amen! Amen!
In Joy and Justice!
Micah L. McCreary
President, New Brunswick Theological Seminary