You may be wondering how I pray in this season, and what I pray for. Here are a few recommendations of prayer for the Hope Community:
- We have students returning from semesters abroad. Pray for safe and uneventful travel and for their protection from any kind of illness, and for their disappointment at having their experiences cut short.
- Our spring sports athletes are grieving the loss of their seasons. For so many of our students, athletics is their outlet, their community, and their joy. Our winter athletes missed out on their grand finales: NCAA tourneys and meets. These losses are especially hard for seniors. Pray for these teams and their coaches as they grieve and make a way forward.
- We have many students from the countries where the virus has been for several weeks. They are concerned for family and friends, and also wondering about travel plans home for the summer. Please pray for our international students to have peace and for homes to open up if they need somewhere for summer.
- Our international students, staff, and faculty are aware of the bias that can crop up during times of crises. Pray that our community is anti-racist in every way, especially as we care for our friends from other countries and cultures.
- Pray for the health professionals, researchers, government officials, and public health providers and networks working tirelessly to help flatten the curve and slow down this pandemic.
- God will bring other things to mind—names, faces, departments—listen to God as he calls us to pray.
As a Campus Ministry team we have been living into these words from the Apostle Paul:
“The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Phillippians 4:4-7
I love this scripture. Paul reminds us God shows up. He encourages us not to let anxiety define our reality. In keeping hope we are called to prayer!
Our prayer for you in this season is that all anxiety will melt away like an ice-cube in the sun, as you pray and experience the peace of Christ, who will guard your thinking and your feeling in this time of uncertainty. Remember, the Lord is near! This is good-news.
May our Lord Jesus Christ, who guards our hearts and minds, be with you all!