Interfaith Day of Prayer – Prayer from Yvette Flunder
Prayer for Such a Time as This (COVID-19)
Prayer from Yvette Flunder
Interfaith Day of Prayer
May 7, 2020
Great God, by all of Your many Names, and Your Beautiful Manifestations…we are Your people, and the sheep of your pasture. We enter into Your gates with thanksgiving, and into Your courts with praise
You see us and You know all about our struggle. You are the God of our weary years and our silent tears. Our experience of You has taught us, that You will never leave us, nor will You forsake us.
We petition You in this season…Because our people are dying from a virus, for which we have no cure,
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
Our government is in turmoil, and inundated with greed and avarice,
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
There is restlessness fear and desperation in our atmosphere
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
People are housing insecure, job insecure, food insecure and healthcare insecure
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
Our Children are displaced and afraid
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
People are quarantined with their abusers
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
Obscene amounts of money from the labor of the poor is being squandered by the rich
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
We are surrounded by those who say they represent You, yet they call good evil, and call evil good
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
We are under the thumb of a ‘religion sanctioned’ despot, who is devoid of empathy
…and our Mothers, Fathers, Siblings, Children are being stacked like cord wood in refrigerator trucks
God have mercy, and hear our prayer
Yet we keenly sense Your presence here with us, sheltering in place and preparing us for our ‘what’s next’. Divine change is in the air and many things will never be the same again.
We see Your Face in the many health professionals who put their lives on the line daily
We see Your Face in the parents and family members who daily home school their children
We see Your Face in those who carry food to those who are elderly, sick and shut-in
We testify to Your power to deliver…we have seen You do it before, and we know the plans that You have for us…plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future
We trust You because Your promises are sure and righteous altogether
Great is Your faithfulness!
And now our ears are listening to Your Heartbeat
We are keenly aware of Your voice and Presence
Show us the way through
Show us the way out
Show us the work we must do
Reveal the opened door
Give us deliverance from this death dealing regime
Enlighten and empower the virologists to find a cure for COVID-19
Help nations to work together for healing, justice and equality
Enlighten and enable the Church to overcome evil with good
Let there be a time of Jubilee…a redistribution of wealth
Heal our Earth as she rests
You are the God of all flesh…there is nothing impossible for You!
And by faith, we enter into Your gates with thanksgiving and into Your courts with praise!
Grant our petition, in the Name of Jesus, and in the name of All that is Just, Righteous and Divine
Amen,`Ase and so it is!
Rec. Dr. Yvette Flunder
Presiding Bishop, The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, Senior Pastor, City of Refuge UCC, author, activist, international healer