FAITH IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC – THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE INTERCESSORS

XLIII.
THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE INTERCESSORS
(4/27)

Do not worry about anything, but with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. (Philippians 4:6)

Theologian and biblical scholar Walter Wink asserts that the future belongs to the intercessors, “those who believe and pray the future into being.” At this time of pandemic, we need to pray. We need to pray for the wellbeing of our planet. Prayer, at its best, widens our concern beyond self-interest to world loyalty. Prayer, mated with thanksgiving, places past, present, and future in God’s hands, while expanding our sense of urgency in responding to the crises of our time. Prayer inspires us to open our heart and hands to persons in need, while honoring the wellbeing of our family and ourselves.

Writing from prison, Paul challenges us to go beyond debilitating anxiety to share in the future God imagines for us and the world. We are all “standin’ in the need of prayer,” as the gospel hymn says.

Our prayers can be about our immediate personal needs, but beyond that we pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, that is, for our planet even in this time of trial to reflect God’s values and for our behaviors to reflect God’s values.

Let us pray without ceasing for the wellbeing of our neighbors, for essential workers, for wisdom in our national leaders, for the peoples of the earth – whether in Barnstable or Beijing, Damascus or Denver, Singapore or San Diego. Let our prayers give birth to acts of compassion and hospitality, beginning with our homes and going forth across the Cape and the planet.
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Awaken us to our kinship with all creation. Let every breath be a prayer as we go beyond self-interest to world loyalty. Amen.