All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
Pray for peace in uncertain times
- Give thanks that God is in control. Even when it seems like things don’t make sense. John Piper said: “Know that the same sovereignty that could stop the coronavirus and doesn’t, is the very sovereignty that sustains the soul in it. Indeed, more than sustains, it sweetens the soul with hope that, for those who trust him, his purposes are kind, even in death.”
- As our cultural idols of health and wealth are exposed by this virus, pray that many will find true hope in Jesus Christ
- Pray for particular people you know who need to meet Jesu
- Pray for those you know who are sick, especially those in our RFC family
Pray for all Churches and for their Leaders
- Wisdom in public declarations
- Mobilisation of volunteers
- Courage and wisdom
- For RFC specifically that we would fulfil the request given to us by Reading Borough Council to meet the needs of vulnerable people in South Reading.
Pray for those in authority
- For national government and for your MP
- For local government e.g. RBC (include any local counselors you know by name)
- For the police service as they have the unenviable task of enforcing the law / guidance from above and have to deal with a general public who all have their own interpretation of what is acceptable or not.
Pray for those facing economic pressures and job losses
- The self-employed who have no work atm.
- For the newly unemployed – signed onto the dole and experiencing the stress of wondering how their application will turn out.
- For small and medium sized business owners who are losing sleep over the unenviable choices they have to make for their employees and the impacts those choices will have for the employees and their families.
- For financial help from the government to be wisely and fairly distributed
- For the wise distribution of the hardship fund set up by RFC
Pray for NHS and health care workers
- For the right equipment in the right quantity in the right place at the right time
- For strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming need.
- For gracious treatment from the families of the sick
- For the NHS to learn well from this episode and be able to plan well for any future recurrence of a pandemic
- For those in hospices and care homes looking after the elderly
- For those who die alone and don’t get to say goodbye to their loved ones because of the need for distancing.
- For the families of those who won’t get a proper funeral because of the need for mass burials
Pray for social services and other bodies who have to deal with the fallout of this lockdown.
- For schools who looking after the children of those who are looking after the sick and dying.
- For social services who are trying to help families in crisis or trying to help mums and / or children who are suffering abuse at the hands of others more than usual due to lockdown.
- For those working with youth that find themselves with little or nothing (they want) to do and who could get drawn into gangs / drug running.
- For the charities who are either overwhelmed by the increased need or who are unable to reach out to those they normally care for due to social distancing requirements
- For the prison service who in a period of overcrowding find themselves with few staff due to many self-isolating due to underlying health issues.
- For those let out early due to the pressures on the system, not to reoffend when they get out, but to get good role models in their lives.
