Spirit Prayers: Praying Through the Pandemic and Social Unrest

In early 2020 the world was shaken by the novel coronavirus, SARSCoV-2 which rapidly spread over the entire globe. At the time of this writing, the pandemic is responsible for at least 59 million known infections and 1.4 million deaths. With rapid spread of the virus across the world and in the United States of America, we found ourselves sheltering in place with cities in lock-down. Our congregation, like many others, closed the doors to the church building and went to work looking for ways to remain open while socially distanced. We met virtually. These prayers were written in response to the fear, anxiety and pain cause by the pandemic. The author felt a need to pray daily with the congregations she serves. After 8 months of pandemic here and the current rise in cases and deaths globally, it seems that others might benefit from written prayers designed to help a person enter into their own prayer. Each entry begins with a Scripture text from the Holy Bible or Theological reflection that inspired the prayer that follows. Though written from a Christian context, the prayers may be helpful for anyone who calls upon God in crisis.