This week, my pastor posed an interesting question: “What if we prayed?” Like most of you, I experienced church from my home, watching live online because we are practicing social distancing or sheltering in place. The topic of the sermon revolved around these current day topics. Because – let’s be honest – these are unprecedented and uncertain times.

Because of COVID-19, much of the country is undergoing extreme and new procedures in effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Some people have lost jobs. Others are now working from home. Some parents are homeschooling for the first time as children can’t go to school. We’re going to church in our living rooms. And beneath it all is the undercurrent thought: “What if I get sick?”

But what if we prayed?

Prayer is something that has always been hard for me to understand. It seems counterintuitive to ask God for something he already knows we’re going to ask for or to ask him to change a situation he already knows how it will end. However, I think prayer is more for us then it is for him. There is power in prayer, and though I can’t explain the why or how, when we pray, we are encouraged, uplifted and rejuvenated in our faith. Prayer creates faith.

What are you going through right now? What are your concerns?

Are you struggling with working from home, homeschooling your children, entertaining a toddler and still maintaining a household?

What if we prayed?

Are you concerned about the effects of COVID-19 on your family? Are you fighting for your life with another disease?

What if we prayed?

Are you struggling emotionally, finding it hard to be away from your friends and loved ones? Do you have anxiety and stress or feel for those around you who may be suffering more than you?

What if we prayed?

Have you lost your job and don’t see how you are going to pay your bills or provide for your family?

What if we prayed?

This weekend, I heard Natalie Grant sing a song written by her daughter with a line that said, “Turn your concerns into prayers.” I can’t possibly write out every concern that may be consuming your heart, but whatever it is, turn them into prayers. Because who knows what God might do if we prayed. Let us pray!

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” –James 5:16

Written by Aimee Freston, associate director of digital communications for Buckner International.