More Things are Wrought by Prayer

“God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress, Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and mountains plunge into the depths of the sea.” Psalm 46:2-3

I am sure many are dealing with fear and anxiety at this time. It is but natural as we face many uncertainties. A neighbor of mine went to a party with her husband before the quarantine and found out there was a Covid-19 positive patient present at the event. She confessed she was filled with fear as she faced her own mortality. I see many such confessions on Facebook. 

I think the most poignant was from an anesthesiologist who was one of the frontliner’s in the battlefield against Covid-19. Before he passed away, he seemed very troubled. Without his family beside him, he texted, “The turn of events is just no longer going in my favor. The feeling you get, aside from extreme pains all over, difficulty of breathing and as if all life is being sucked from your body.” 

“They will be putting cutdown lines and central tubes on me anytime soon. If they intubate me and place me on ventilator, then the game is almost over,” he said. But his last words were about his autistic son and his wife, a doctor who was also fighting for her life in another part of the hospital. He pleaded that his friends and family take care of them both. 

Is it really possible to be strong and fear not when in the midst of a world shaking unprecedented pandemic? The mountains have not plunged into the depths of the sea but our stock markets have certainly taken a beating. We do not know the future, and when all this will be over. 

There is One who knows the future, and who holds this world in His hands. Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote these favorite lines, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of”. We may not be aware of it, and we certainly forget, but we are surrounded by God’s answers to our prayers. If we are anxious and afraid, let us turn away from the TV, radio, Viber, Twitter or wherever we are getting our bad news, and turn to God. He can and will surround us with grace if we persevere in prayer. If we read the Psalms, He can even give us peace beyond understanding. Whatever our problems, God’s Word will not return to Him without accomplishing good in our life. Let us place our trust in the One who loves us best.