Two Ways to Pray about the Coronavirus Crisis

March 16, 2020
Beck Ewing






Mar 15, 2020 was declared a National Day of Prayer for the Corona Virus Crisis. And

God wants us to pray. But instead of just asking God to preserve our lives and way of

life from this virus, we should be spending significant time and prayer on two topics that come from the question:

“Are we and God really on the same page?” or '“Is God leading us to change?”

In times of crisis and decision, we quote II Chron. 7:14 “If my people.” Great verse. And we do want God to heal our sick and our land. But it’s as if we blind ourselves to a very important requirement to that promise: “If My people shall...turn from their wicked ways.” So we beg God to deliver us or give us a favorable election; and then if God doesn’t do what we wanted, we chalk it up to the “mysterious ways of God” rather than the fact that we did not change at all.

So what does God want from us? The Promised Land was God’s destination for His people Israel. But they rejected that destination, because they didn’t want to do what it would take to inherit the kingdom He wanted them to have. If they had learned the lessons they were supposed to learn along the way— of trust, dependence, obedience, and holiness— then they would have been ready to obey and enter. But they were more concerned about surviving, getting through, and ending the difficulties than they were about learning about God and what He had for them. So, God doomed them to wander the wilderness where they had been before, now with a sense of futility and pointlessness. Today, God’s intended destination for us is His Kingdom come on Earth as it is in heaven. But when we reject the destination God has for us, we end up waiting out life without destiny, instead of living life with purpose.

We like to think that we are in control of our own destinations, that we can have lives of our own choosing as long as they aren’t “too sinful.” And maybe, for a time, we can. But ultimately, God guides our destiny, and He will not leave us alone to be satisfied with lesser things than His Kingdom.

When crises, change, or scary callings come our way, how do we respond?
Do we cling to what we have at all costs? Are we just concerned about surviving and maintaining the status quo? Instead, we must realize that God may be trying to break through our preoccupations so that we will seek His Kingdom in a new way that we had not seen— or even wanted— before.

So what are the two questions we needing to be praying about besides deliverance:

#1 What do we need to change about ourselves?

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that the Christian church (including ourselves) are not where we need to be. Here’s just some of the areas we know we fall short in:

Sins of what we don’t do:
*Not Sharing Jesus with the lost within our own communities
*Not showing love and not being involved with our neighbors, coworkers, etc.

*Replacing the Kingdom with the American Dream

*Isolating ourselves from the real problems in our towns
*Living self-serving, self-centered, and/or not willing to sacrifice personal comfort

Sins of what we do
*Ignore or participate in abortion, sex trafficking, pornography
*Indulge in obesity, laziness, and materialism

*Divorce, hold prejudices and grudges, gossip
*Tolerate corrupt government and business
*Support godless educational systems


God’s healing can come when His people repent, so we can’t point the finger at those who don’t know Him yet. Let’s hold ourselves accountable for our own sins and that we do so little to stop evil from happening in our country.

But if we know we are in such bad shape, why won’t we change? Like Israel, we often trust in our heritage and our weekend religious services to give us a free pass. But just like we shouldn’t wait until after we completely overload our hospitals before we address an outbreak, we shouldn’t wait until God brings harsh judgment before we finally take our own sins and the condition of the lost around us seriously.

Can we force others to repent with us? No, but we can start with ourselves and with any who are willing to come seek His Kingdom with us. Which leads me to...

#2 How should we use this crisis to spread His Kingdom?

Whether we nervously stockpile toilet paper or deny a problem even exists, we humans cling to maintaining the life we have.

Sometimes we even use God to justify keeping things as they are, claiming that we are remaining faithful to what God wants despite difficulties. But what if He’s changing the game plan? Can we let go and adapt? Can we embrace what He is trying to do in our lives now?

Crises help us focus on what is truly important. And what’s important is not merely family or survival, it’s God’s Kingdom being realized on earth as it is in heaven. And maybe closing the Magic Kingdom and our church services for a while will change our perspective and help us see what realizing the Kingdom really means.

When God allows pervasive trouble, He is often trying to shake things up and grow His Kingdom. He uses the crisis to cause His people to go a different direction they normally wouldn’t go. Remember how the persecution in Jerusalem caused the believers to....gasp...leave the centralized expression of the Church?! God was using the persecution to spread His Kingdom into other parts in the world.

Here are some ways He may be challenging us to change:

- Changing the way that we do ministry
How can we use this crisis to empower us to bring His Kingdom into our local communities untouched by our church services and even Life Group gatherings? If we disciple more outside of the church walls and groups, then we can plant His Word into communities instead of just inviting them into our gatherings. This shift will then place the responsibility of discipleship back into the hands of all His people and not just the clergy. For instance, we can plant Discovery Bible Studies into families and communities by coaching them over zoom or the phone.

- Changing the way we do church
Is God trying to change the way we worship and equip Christians? Perhaps if we shift away from maintaining multi-million dollar buildings within every 7-10 minute radius, we can devote more of our money to helping and reaching people outside the church.

What if we talk about growing in obedience to God’s Word more than just learning more about it? If we did, we would have to spend less time lecturing and more time having conversations about specific steps in changing and holding each other accountable to them.

And maybe we could spend less time orchestrating worship experiences and spend more time discipling each other life-on-life and developing relationships with those that don’t know Jesus. If we want more authentic Christian community, it will take more relationship. We need to spend more time interacting with people, not just being around people at events.

- Truly loving our neighbors
How do those around us need our help? Let’s turn our inward focus to an outward focus. Some of us are more vulnerable to this crisis than others. Some don’t have a lot of extra finances, good health, or the ability to stay at home with children. We need to meet these kinds of needs around us.

How can we develop relationships with people that don’t know Jesus in this environment? If outside activities are limited, maybe we should use technology like zoom and FaceTime to connect with people (especially lost ones) in ways we haven’t been willing to participate in before: online book clubs, online movie watching, online games, other online discussion groups, etc.

No matter what we end up doing, let’s act wisely, pray, and open our minds. Invent, create, adapt, and embrace change. This is how we work with God to make all things work together for good. We can reach the lost, help those in need, stop injustice and corruption, love each other with extravagance, and empower communities to educate, express artistically, invent, and prosper economically in a way that pleases God and brings wholeness. And when we do, we can finally reach the destiny God has for us: His Kingdom come.

The Meaning of Fellowship

Fellowship. 

What does that word mean in the context of a Christian life?  Potluck dinners?  Church programs? Building cleanup days? Christmas plays and cantatas? Could the meaning in today's culture look different than it did in the time that Jesus walked the earth? What do you think it means?

Read the original meaning David Mathis believes God intended for His church below and contemplate. How far is your church and/or small group from this meaning? And how can we facilitate change? 

In no way am I saying potluck dinners should be abolished (no way - so many great cooks in every church!). But are we sharing a meal or a mission?  Instead of looking at it as taking something away, maybe we could look at it as adding on to what is already in place.  



It’s a shame that the word fellowship has fallen on hard times in many church circles. Nowadays, fellowship means you’re just doing something social together and you just happen to be Christians. That's not at all what is meant by the richness and the strength of the New Testament word often translated as fellowship.

Maybe you hear people pronounce the Greek word as "koinonia." In the New Testament, fellowship refers to a partnership, a collective, a mission where everyone is all in together. They’re risking life. They’re risking all of their possessions. They’re risking their money, to put it in a shared venture together and to have that shared mission and enterprise.

The first thing to say about the fellowship as a means of grace is that it is a mission. Rightly did J. R. R Tolkien call his first book The Fellowship of the Ring. Because there was a lot at stake; they were on a mission together. They weren't just sitting back and having a pipe, sipping on the Gaffer's Old Winyards, and just shooting the breeze in a social situation. The world is at stake and they’ve got to get the ring to Mount Doom. This is what’s involved in a fellowship.

So, when I say fellowship as a means of grace, I don’t mean just Christian social situations but rather a shared mission together. Jesus put his church on mission in the declaration of the great commission—the commission to make disciples of all the nations. That begins locally but then extends internationally. We are on mission together in the gospel. So the first aspect of fellowship is being on mission together.

Another aspect of the fellowship is worshipping together. Let me give you a verse to go with that: Hebrews 10:24-25, where the author says,


And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25)

He's encouraging his readers to come together, strengthen each other, and do that in a context of worship. And so, in that context of fellowship as corporate worship together, we will get various means of grace like sitting together under the preaching of God’s Word and the corporate interactions that happen before, during, and after those gatherings. There's also taking the Lord’s Table together as a means of grace. There's being baptized or watching in faith as others are baptized as a means of grace.

The third aspect of fellowship is our life together as Christians. The text for this one is Hebrews 3:12-13:


Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-15)

And the amazing thing about that passage is that it’s not an exhortation to individuals to watch out that their own hearts might not become hardened. Rather, it’s an exhortation to the community to be on the lookout for other people in the community who don’t have the spiritual strength—who don’t have the spiritual wherewithal—to watch out for their own souls. And so, healthy Christians are being encouraged to take notice of others—to be aware enough of others—that they'd be able to speak a gospel-word into their brother or sister's life—encouraging that person in a season of difficulty, dryness, depression, or suffering.

An important aspect of the fellowship is our external mission together, our vertical worship together, and then internal care and love for one another—our being a means of grace to someone else. One of the first questions to ask about fellowship is not "What is this body doing for me? What is this local church doing for me? What is this Christian community doing for me?" The local church will be a means of grace in your life. However, a very important question to ask first is, "How can I be a means of grace to others in this community?"

We need to think not only about how to receive God’s Word in Bible intake and how to speak to God and receive the blessing of being in communication with him in prayer, but also how to be a means of grace to someone else. How can my life in Christ be a means of grace to someone else?

Here's one way to think about it: it’s amazing that God put these holes in the side of our head. And what you can do is you can put words in those holes for somebody who’s struggling or for someone who’s dry. What that person needs is a good word—a manifestation of the gospel. Perhaps they’re so spiritually lethargic that they’re not ingesting the Bible well for themselves via reading and studying and meditation. Maybe they don’t have the heart to pray. But what they do have, typically, are holes in the side of their heads. And you can put gospel words into those holes, so that even when they're is not doing well spiritually, you can help them by speaking a word of grace into their lives.

Rooted in the Local Church

God has often used this to bring people back from dangerous spiritual situations. Bringing back a sinner from his wandering as James 5:19-20 talks about. This is being a means of grace to others. It’s most important that this would happen in covenant contexts. A lot of grace can flow in situations where it’s a Christian community. But where there is covenant membership in the local church is the place where lives flourish as we experience receive God's grace through significant relationships.

So, for instance, we wouldn’t say, "Well I love these people enough, I don’t need to commit to them." Rather, we’d say, "I love these people enough that I’m willing to commit to them in sickness and in health, when times are joyful and when times are sorrowful," as you would do in a marriage. Hopefully you wouldn’t say, "I love her enough; we don’t need a commitment and we don’t need a piece of paper." No! The question is, "Do you love her enough to commit; to be there in sorrow, in pain, and in sickness?"

That’s the opportunity we have in covenant fellowship. We say, "I love these people enough that I’m going to commit to be there in the hardest of times. In the worst of times. When they’re the driest. When they’re the most depressed. When they the most need help, I want to be there and I want to be God’s means of grace in their life. And I want to be that means of grace in my life as well."

To listen and watch the video click here.

Trip to Philadelphia

My husband, daughter and I were able to make it into downtown Philadelphia a couple of Saturdays ago and were so blessed by the Lord.  It was a brisk and sunny day for which we were grateful. We gave out around 35-40 survivor bags and were able to pray with many of the recipients.  Some were asleep on a bench or a grassy knoll in the park, so for those we gently lay the bag next to their belongings - a "surprise" when they awoke no doubt.  Many are so very grateful and express their gratitude for the bags while others refuse any help at all - one never knows how each person will react.  God has His plan and we need only obey His will - leaving the results always to Him.

We did have a happy surprise.  Several years ago when we were just starting to go to Philly with this ministry we came across a gentleman by the name of Rinaldo.  I believe he was from Cuba and didn't know much, if any, English.  On this trip my daughter and I happen to go down some stairs to the underground shopping area (part of the subway system) and in the distance it looked like Rinaldo.  We hurried over to the gentleman and said "Rinaldo?" to which he shook his head yes.

Rinaldo in 2012

Unfortunately, due in part to the language barrier and maybe the years on the streets taking its toll, we couldn't get much further in conversation with Rinaldo.  But it was so good to see him and know he is well. Please keep him in your prayers as we will, too.

We did come across a couple of women while there and luckily we had a few bags with pink hats in them.  I often wonder if women living on the streets miss some of the girlie stuff they might have grown up wearing - so maybe a pink hat will put a smile on their face.  Later in the day we happen to walk by one of the women and she was wearing her pink hat!  God always knows and provides. Praise Him!

In closing I want to ask you to pray for the homeless in Philadelphia and all over the world. It is a hard and dangerous life living on the streets.  We are all one or two steps away from that life ourselves - seriously.  Praise God for all He does and for all He provides.  May all the glory go to Him for He alone is worthy.

For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God.

Psalm 145:3 

Survivor Ministry

My husband, Paul, and I (and often our grown kids) have been led by the Lord to minister to the street homeless in Philadelphia. This is a video we put together several years ago after one of our trips there.  We live 3 hours away and because it has been getting increasingly difficult to go there as often as we would like, we are hoping to find a way to move closer to Philly. With God all things are possible.

While there are many shelters in the city, the street homeless often don't use them for various reasons (mental illness, addictions, paranoia, etc.).  These are the people we seek to find.  Some are new to the streets - others have been on the streets for many years.  They are different ages, ethnicities, genders and have different belief systems. We try to meet them where they are in order to show them the love of the one true God.

We make up what we call "survivor bags" -  zip lock bags filled with a variety of items depending on the season.  The bags usually contain something to drink, a protein, raisins, applesauce, crackers, granola bar, band aids, wipes, gum, socks, trash bag, tissues, Bible tracts, daily devotions and in the winter hat/gloves/scarf.  We witness to the homeless and often pray with them if they are willing. If you are interested in doing something like this for your town you can visit www.loveinabag.com to get a list of what we put in the bags.  It's a great project for a youth or women's group!

We hope to go again soon - the bags are made up and ready to go!  Please pray for softened hearts that are ready to hear and even accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior; that God would be glorified in all we do and say; that we would be obedient to our Lord; and also for our safety.  We give Him all the glory and praise Him for we could do nothing without Him. Thank you so much and may God bless you!

Homeless in Baltimore 12/21

Back from our street ministry in Baltimore and once again God has blessed me beyond words.  To be used as His hands and feet always brings me to a place of indescribable ecstasy - a privilege undeserved and yet never to be taken for granted. And once again I come home with a new question of "why?"

In the past there have been questions of "why the misery?; why the addictions?; why the pain?; why do some have and some don't?; why, Lord, why?"  This time was no different - but it was different.

Stanley is a black man probably in his 50's although it's hard to tell when someone has been out in the elements for any length of time.  His family has produced four preachers and while Stanley did not profess to be one of them, he could quote scripture and tell us Bible stories better than many preachers out there.  So of course I assumed Stanley was a true believer, disciple, follower of Jesus - and in his heart that may be the truth.  But Stanley told us he is a sinner (response: we ALL are, Stanley).  No, we didn't understand.  Stanley is a HUGE sinner who knows better but can't or refuses to clean up his act.  And Stanley had another secret - he cannot understand why him.  Why, God, why him?  Why is he homeless?  Why is his life meaningless?  What is the purpose of his suffering, sin and feelings of hopelessness?  Why doesn't God just change it when He's so powerful and could do it in an instant?  Why?  Our question was why couldn't Stanley accept grace?

After inadequately making attempt after attempt to answer his questions, Kristina and I began to realize sometimes you just can't answer all questions.  Sometimes, as humans, we don't have the answers and we are being dishonest to try and act like we do.  Sometimes God doesn't give us the answers.  He has His reasons and He doesn't always share those reasons.  Maybe because we don't need to know; maybe because we couldn't handle it if we knew; maybe we just wouldn't understand.

Then my daughter, my very insightful daughter, asked Stanley a question (this, by the way, is a time proven way of answering someone's question).  She asked him if he took these questions to God - to which Stanley said "oh yes, all the time, I ask and tell God all the time how I feel."  And Kristina told Stanley to keep doing that - to keep talking to God, asking Him why, telling Him how he feels.  What great advice to give him. The Old Testament is riddled with people who cried to God, complained to God, shouted to God and questioned God.  What did they all have in common?  Belief.  They believed in God Almighty or they wouldn't be crying, complaining, shouting or questioning Him.  And through it all He grew their faith.

Stanley said he would definitely keep wrestling with God because, afterall, He is his Father.  And there it was - confirmation that despite all the pain, all the disappointment, all the disgrace, there was belief.  God can and will deal with Stanley's doubts as long as he keeps taking it to Him.  And I thank God for yet another lesson showing me I don't have all the answers but He does.  Praise Him for taking the time to grow us, teach us, mold us and love us.  Amen.


Click here to read a great article by Philip Yancey on Faith and Doubt.

Live Before You Die - day 6

God's kingdom is intended not to be confined behind the stained-glass windows of beautiful churches but to permeate the planet. The kingdom of heaven is designed to grow, multiply, and infiltrate all that it comes in contact with........

That can never happen if the only ones doing the work of the ministry are the apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists.  Instead God's plan is for the real work of the ministry to be done by the plumbers, the high school teachers, the landscapers, the lawyers, and the doctors.  We need men and women who carry the glory of God and the gospel witness into the White House, Hollywood, Wall Street, Main Street, and every other area of culture and society.

The New Testament pattern is for those in fivefold ministry offices to serve the body of Christ by equipping the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:12).  The real ministers and ambassadors of God's kingdom to the world, the real players on the field, are the hundreds of millions of blood-washed saints who make up the body of Christ.  What a tragic loss we have incurred by perpetuating the mentality that the few of us in fivefold ministry are the "real" ministers and the rest are just spectators.

In reality, most Christians are called to serve God in "secular" spheres of influence.  But one thing is certain: no matter what God calls you to do, it is for His glory and for the expansion of His kingdom.  This is not about personal satisfaction.

Whether God calls you to full-time, vocational ministry or calls you to be His ambassador in the world of business, science, government, entertainment, or wherever, the principles are the same, the keys to discovering God's will are the same, the challenges and pitfalls are the same and, in the end, the reward will be the same.  Contrary to what many people believe, God does not reward us based on how many people we lead to Jesus.  He rewards us based on our obedience and faithfulness to His call and will.  May you be faithful and obedient in whatever field He calls you to so that in the end you will hear those words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matt 25:21).

Daniel Kolenda, Live before you die