Prayer

COVID-19 prayers from the WCC fellowship

Available in:
17 March 2021
Covid-19
coronaprayer
Spiritual life

Prayers by Christians in various parts of the world offered as resources for the COVID-19 crisis

Throughout the first twelve months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the WCC spiritual life team has been collecting these texts written by Christians in different parts of the world in order to encourage mutual support in common prayer.

  • Everlasting God, Holy One, save us. You have given us the means to read the genes of a virus, and to develop a vaccine against it; but we don’t find the means to distribute this vaccine fairly. We can count meticulously all the costs, but we are less adept at accounting equal value to all lives. Save us. We can unlock the protective mysteries of T-cells and antibodies, but we can't seem to unlock the shackles of selfishness, the chains of conceit, the bondage of unfounded fears. Save us.
  • A Time to Pause and Pray O God of Grace, we remember in prayer all those 123'000 people and more who died with the coronavirus in the UK, upholding them in your presence, Grant peace to those who are grieving the loss of their dear ones, Grant hope for us to see a future in you and with you in these times of despair, Embrace us with your love and Embalm us with your healing. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
  • Almighty Father, We thank you for your love for each one of us. We humbly ask you for the gift of healing of those who have been afflicted by Covid-19. Give them the courage they need and the moral will to combat the disease. Loving Father, We also pray for all the frontliners who with dedication are doing their utmost to offer their energy in order to help the suffering and the marginalised. Provident Father, We ask you to give us the strength to help all those in need and craving for attention and an
  • Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. Lord, have mercy! Rev. Dr Kenneth Mtata, Zimbabwe Council of Churches
  • Prayer of Thanksgiving You have given yourself for us, Lord. You have given your life to give us life. Now we commit ourselves to the service of the most vulnerable. Your mercy has cured us of the pandemics. Now we come close to you and embrace the most vulnerable. Your love has changed us into a new people. As a new people, we will love you in those who are the smallest. Your glory has filled our hearts. We will give generously to the poorest. Help us to glorify you in everything we do. Amen.
  • Lord of our lives, we give thanks for the home that you have provided. As we work from home, we seek your blessing. Continue to guide us each day so that the work of our hands and minds will be found pleasing and acceptable to you. We pray your divine blessing upon our office-homes in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
  • Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, you who by your great mercy have promised to forgive the sins of all those who repent sincerely and with true faith convert to you; have mercy upon us; forgive all of our sins and deliver us from all the pandemics we have created. Confirm and strengthen us in full goodness and mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
  • Only days before lockdown, my toes cool in wet sand, as I watched the sun rise, I asked you Beloved, What will this coming time bring? Almost five months now, of ‘sacred time’ cocooned in ways I would never have chosen. Aching to hold and be held. Longing to hear and see and feel the energy, of those I teach, in ways not dimmed by screens, and poor connectivity. Wondering when I will again hold a boarding pass in my hand. Or sit with my whole family around one table.
  • Jesus, Christ, Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, give us the holiness that commits us to all of your creation that we have made sick. Forgive us for not knowing how to be a good neighbour, for not knowing how to love as you have loved us. Forgive us for the pandemic of heartbreak, injustice and oppression. Forgive us for the pandemic of selfishness and individualism we have created. Forgive us for the pandemic of indifference and for not washing the wounds of the sick. Forgive us...
  • Merciful God, you see that the whole world is shaken and saddened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time when all of creation is under great pain, we claim your living words and ask for your mercy to the whole of humanity. Keep us under your arms and surround us in your warmth. Protect each of us from the crisis we are dealing with every day. You are our listening God. You are our providing God. Merciful God, at this time it is very difficult for us to see light in the midst of the pandemic...
  • We are living in sacred time, in liminal space. in an evolving future Different to all we have known. Strange, In this time of social distancing, of deliberate separation, We are coming to know - in a way we did not know before - the radical interconnectedness of life. Everything matters. every action every thought impacts beyond ourselves. We are rediscovering who we were created to be. To understand that we are WE - not I. And so. May I breathe Christ’s peace today, Breathe it in deeply that it may
  • Our father, who art with us, with your people from the market, with the doctor and the worker, with the businessman and the homeless person, you who have left heaven to spend this quarantine among us. Hallowed be thy name when we look at each other as equals, when we see that country borders are nothing but invisible walls, when we understand that extending our hand means much more than a handshake and that the embrace of community can reach all the way to the other end of the city when we unite...
  • Creator-Beloved, May tired hearts, be renewed: beat strong and steady. May grieving spirits, find healing balm. May imagination, ignite and reveal vast vistas of possibility. As we tentatively emerge, from the hiddenness of necessary hibernation, may we learn to dance again.
  • Loving Father, source of our life, we are here settled in the hand of our Mother, the “Fenua” (land), the one who gives us life. We glorify you because of your love for us. We know that your Word says that the prayer of the faithful shall heal the sick. We bow in front of you with humility, because you are great, and also because we did not take the right road that you showed us. We ask you to stay with us, to remind us that you are our God, and also that you give us faith. Accept us, we pray...
  • God our Creator and Redeemer, We raise to you the pain and grief we are living and experiencing the world over...
  • Prayer by Rev. Lalaina Rajaonah, from the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar: Oh Lord, we thank you for your unconditional love...
  • Creator God, as I prepare to go into the world, help me to see the sacrament in the wearing of this cloth - let it be "an outward sign of an inward grace" - a tangible and visible way of living love for my neighbours, as I love myself. Christ, the Son, since my lips will be covered, uncover my heart, that people would see my smile in the crinkles around my eyes. Since my voice may be muffled, help me to speak clearly, not only with my words, but with my actions. Holy Spirit,...
  • With the prophet Joel we lament the devastation of this plague: The priests mourn; joy and gladness are cut off before our eyes. Disease kills countless; fear afflicts millions. O God, can we, can our society, survive this pandemic? All grieve at this global loss and weep at widespread adversity. Hear us, O God. Uphold us with your strength. Give us your life. Hear these words, and receive their power: God the Father holds the universe in arms of mercy. God the Son brought healing to the sick...
  • God of life, we thank you because you have given us the strength to be together in these moments, to invoke you, to present to you everything that moves us, to listen to the good news that you have for us in these times of struggles but also of hope. Come to us yourself and wake us up! Give us your light! Be our consolation! Speak to each one of us in such a way that we hear from you what we need and what helps us to face life and our commitment to our families, communities of faith and the people...
  • O Holy Father, God of unknown, uncreated depth, You are beyond all description and expectation. You are the Creator of all worlds, physical and metaphysical. As You are only love, in love You created everything that truly is. Through Your Son, everything has form and purpose, and through Your Spirit, everything lives and moves back toward You. O Father, we are troubled by this scourge that is infecting Your people around the world. From the ancient Fall away from You, there are many consequences...
  • Lord Jesus Christ our God, You traveled through towns and villages “curing every disease and illness.” At Your command, the sick were made well. Come to our aid now, in the midst of the global spread of this virus, that we may experience Your healing love. Heal those O Lord who are suffering with this pandemic's illness. May they regain their strength and health through medical care. Heal us from our fears, which prevent nations from working together and neighbors from helping one another. Heal us...
  • Lord our God, You who are rich in mercy, and with careful wisdom direct our lives, listen to our prayer, receive our repentance for our sins, bring an end to this new infectious disease, this new epidemic, just as you averted the punishment of your people in the time of David the King. You who are the Physician of our souls and bodies, grant restored health to those who have been seized by this illness, raising them from their bed of suffering, so that they might glorify You, O merciful Saviour, and preserv
  • In our ongoing struggle to live out our faith in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, God, we come to you in prayer affirming and confessing what we believe: We believe that you created this beautiful world in which death and destruction, sickness, pain and suffering cannot, and must not, have the last word. We believe that you created humanity to care for this earth, to uplift each other’s life, to serve one another in love as God has shown us in Christ. May we hear your call now to heal the world and it
  • God, Almighty, Source of life, creator of light, look at your people, suffering from the consequences of Corona-Virus; abide with them as their support and comfort. Look at your people dealing with the responsibility to take care of those who are ill: medical doctors, nurses, volunteers – stay at their side. Turn your eyes to us, vulnerable people, struggling with fear and uncertainty. Be our redeemer: that we may find a remedy against the virus, that we may find peace for our hearts...
  • Divine Ruah, you who are the breath that gives life, look at all the people suffering today due to lack of oxygen and be the force of lives to be saved and health to be restored. Breeze of Love, heal us from greed, lack of empathy and all that reduces our humanity. Be with us, Refreshing Touch, so that in you we may live and bear witness to your love and benevolence. We ask you this in the name of Jesus Christ, who lives with you in unity with the Father of maternal love. Amen!
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