Prayers for Coronavirus Christmas 2020

As my far better half and I read the Christmas round robin and handwritten letters we have received, it has been apparent that, for all our friends, this year has been unlike any other that we could have predicted.

My regular readers will know that I have been reading and writing much about COVID-19 as well as some of the people involved in studying it, making policy decisions or, to a lesser extent, have been affected by it in a familial or financial way.

I owe a debt of gratitude to British parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle for the following intentions. I should also thank BBC Parliament, because, without that channel, I never would have surmised the depth and breadth of the coronavirus crisis on our lives.

I have devoted much time to thinking about other people’s family members (ours have gone to their rest) as well as business owners during the past nine months.

These special prayer intentions are dedicated to them. I am using the first person plural for anyone who would like to pray along.

Thank you, Lord, for watching over us and our world this year, a time when so much was unexpected and unknown. We know that things could have been better but we also acknowledge that things could have been much, much worse than they were. Thank you for our everyday blessings. Please help us to appreciate what we have, even on our darkest days.

With that in mind, many are in pain and need moral or material support.

O Lord, we humbly ask You to please bless the following at Christmas and in the New Year ahead:

– Those who are lonely and had expected to be reunited with loved ones after a long and difficult year. Please help them to find comfort during a time when they had expected to be with family and friends;

– Those who have lost a family member to coronavirus or to a medical condition that went untreated because of hospital or clinical capacity restrictions. We ask that You continue to comfort those in their loss, especially at this most family-oriented time of year;

– Those who are still awaiting urgent medical treatment and testing for conditions known and unknown. May they receive prompt scheduling for inpatient and outpatient procedures promptly in 2021;

– Those who were unable to visit loved ones in care homes during the year because of coronavirus restrictions. Please comfort those family members and help bring them relief in the New Year with clinical protocols — such as ample lateral flow tests and requisite PPE — allowing them that long-awaited reunion in person;

– Those women who had to be without their husband, partner or another loved one whilst giving birth or losing a newborn child earlier in the year. While policies have since changed for the better, their anxiety or grief will have been heightened by successive months of ongoing uncertainty in the world;

– Those who have suffered unbearable living conditions in tiny or overcrowded accommodation whose year has been marred by family conflict or domestic abuse. Please bring comfort or a means of refuge to those who have had to endure this acute pain, be it physical or emotional;

– Children whose education has been interrupted for much of this year because of the virus and whose final grades and examinations might have been adversely affected. Please give them hope for the future and the intellectual wherewithal to pursue their studies, whatever their vocation and aspiration in life;

– Men and women who have lost their jobs this year, sometimes permanently. Please help them to maintain the hope they need to persevere in life. Grant them a speedy return to work in the New Year;

– Men and women who have lost their businesses or who are unsure if they can reopen when circumstances permit. Please grant them a way forward — perhaps involving a new business partner in the same situation — so that they may continue doing what they love to do most. We ask this particularly for those in the hospitality industry, upon which so much of our conviviality depends;

– Our physicians, nurses, paramedics, staff and other frontline workers in their care for us in hospitals, testing centres and clinics. Please help them to maintain their stamina — both physical and mental — so that they may continue to care for all those requiring urgent medical attention;

– Those who deliver food, medicines and other orders to depots and to our doorsteps. Help to keep them alert, punctual and cheerful as they go about their work, especially lorry drivers who have long and time-sensitive journeys to make for our well-being, health and delight.

O Lord, we ask that You and the Holy Spirit enlighten:

– The scientists and doctors who are working to develop vaccines as well as make medical recommendations to public health bodies. Please guide them in making the correct decisions that work for the health of everyone. Please help more prophylaxes become available as part of a public health initiative so that not all of us have to depend on a vaccine;

– Our politicians — whether local, regional or national — in making the correct public policy in future. If they have made mistakes, help them to make amends. Please keep them away from harmful outside influences. Guide them towards viewing the citizens — upon whom their positions depend — as equals rather than subjects and lesser beings. Most importantly, help remind them of our freedom and civil liberties which must be restored soon;

– Our clergy, most of whom have been doing whatever they can for their respective congregations. Please help to keep them spiritually strong and physically resilient as they meet the needs of the faithful and share the Good News with others;

– Every one of us, so that, as individuals, we may continue to care for each other in this ongoing drama. Help us along this continuing journey and please provide us all with a better way forward, rather than subject us to those who have only their self-interest in mind. Help us to remember the great light and hope that the Christ Child brought to our world. Help us to remember your Son, Jesus Christ, in times of trouble and tribulation. Please continue to send us Your infinite grace and mercy as we face another year of uncertainty.

Dear Lord, graciously hear our prayers on behalf of all affected by coronavirus as we pray for your blessings upon them — and us — through Jesus Christ our Lord, our only Mediator and Advocate. May the Holy Spirit also help to strengthen all of us in 2021. Amen.