On March 13, 2020 AISD issued a statement that our church family would not be able to meet in Pillow Elementary because of the Corona Virus that was spreading through our country, and through our world.

At first, it was a bit of a shock. All those apocalyptic movies I had watched started flooding to my mind like, “I Am Legend” and “World War Z.” Even my children were asking me, “What was it like when you were our age and viruses started shutting down your schools?”

Honestly, I was in a shock of disbelief, but a few days later the Lord started pressing upon my heart that our church family needs to be praying. So we launched an initiative to pray every day at 12pm on Zoom: zoom.us/my/nvcprayer

“Every day,” my children asked, “Why do we need to pray every day?” Primarily we are praying every day, because Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 7, “Ask, seek, and knock.” Those verb tenses imply that we are not only to ask, seek, and knock, but we are to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking, because Jesus is the only one who has the answers.

My heart and head was and is still flooded with questions like: Is this in every country? Is this influencing every person in the world? Are there leaders of countries thinking about this problem? What does it mean for our economy? Why is the market dropping 10%, 20%, and 30%? What does this mean for our church family? What does this mean for my family? My heart and my head were completely overwhelmed, and I knew I didn’t have the answers. But I do know the One who does have the answers. So we pray every day at 12pm on Zoom: zoom.us/my/nvcprayer

The Apostle Peter writes to the early church about the trials they are going through, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials.” Did you catch that? The Apostle Peter writes, “even though now for a little while.” (1 Peter 1:1-7)

The early church is living under the oppression of the Roman Empire. The early church is being dipped in tar, fed to lions, and professing faith in Christ is likely going to mean a horrible death, and the Apostle Peter writes, “rejoice, even though now for a little while, you have been distressed by various trials.”

But, take note of his reason for rejoicing in our trials in verse 7, “so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

What are we praying for during this time?

• We are praying for the leaders of our world who are making decisions that influence 7 billion people.
• We are praying for our first responders who are the front line of stress that we can’t imagine.
• We are praying for the young people to see the frailty of this world and hear the Lord calling them to Himself.
• We are praying for those who are vulnerable, overlooked, and at risk of being hurt during this time.
• We are praying for all fathers feeling the weight of their family. We are praying for mothers feeling the pulls of their children.

We are repenting of sin, and we are asking the Lord to help us trust Him and that this trial would refine our faith and strengthen our faith. And even if this trial should last all the days of our lives, we are holding tight to the Apostle Peter’s words, “If we are in Christ, then this trial, compared to eternity, is just for a little while.”

We would love for you to join us in prayer at 12pm on Zoom: zoom.us/my/nvcprayer. You can pray for a minute, the whole time, or just listen. You can be a part of the North Village Church family, or we could be complete strangers, but we are confident that now, more than ever, we need to pray.

If you want to sign up for reminders for every day prayer: https://forms.gle/gNwq7JugkYARA8ds8