PRAYING IN A PANDEMIC by Simonetta Carr for Core Christianity
The force of this sudden, impetuous virus has left some of us speechless. Watching the number of deaths rise daily by the hundreds in some countries or states has been a painful exercise. Soon enough, new concerns have quickly emerged: fears for our economy, apprehensions over people’s mental health, or simple anxiety over an uncertain future. This pandemic has touched us all in more ways than one. For Christians, the cancellation of in-person worship services has been particularly distressing.
At times, even prayer seems difficult. We want to ask God to fix it, to put an end to this pain, but we know this is his work. In the end, he might answer as he did to the prophet Habakkuk: “Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (1:5).
But what is God doing? Are we allowed to ask? Are we allowed to complain?
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Honest Prayer
The Bible is full of honest prayers to God. The Book of Habakkuk starts exactly this way: “O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear?” (1:2). So do many of the Psalms. In fact, the Psalmist goes as far as asking God to take his hand out of “the fold of [his] garment” in order to deliver his people (Psalm 74:11). “How long?” is a common refrain.
And that’s OK. It’s OK to pour out our cries to God. In fact, he is the proper outlet for our frustrations, doubts, and complaints. The Bible only condemns those that are not directed to God–the sinful murmuring that grows and finds sanction in repetition and the agreement of others.
“You must learn to call,” Martin Luther preached. “Do not sit by yourself or lie on a couch, hanging and shaking your head. Do not destroy yourself with your own thoughts by worrying. Do not strive and struggle to free yourself and do not brood on your wretchedness, suffering and misery. Say to yourself, ‘Come on, you lazy bum; down on your knees, and lift your eyes and hands toward heaven!’”[1]
