You Are Not Alone

I wrote these prayers for my diverse group of friends, scattered around the globe, to help us all remember that we are not alone, and to help us walk through this season together and with Jesus who loves us and keeps us. Also, candidly, writing these prayers also helps me reflect on the joys and the struggles of the last two weeks, to help me remain connected to the incredible emotional rollercoaster of this pandemic.  

I helped a friend find a referral to a women’s shelter, in order to escape an abusive relationship at their home.  If the place where you are sheltering is dangerous, you are not alone.  Please reach out.

Jesus, please give strength and protection to those who need it today.  

I talked with business owners who have given up their profits in order to serve their employees.  If you are taking care of the people you work with, you are not alone.  

Jesus, thank you for the examples of people who demonstrate sacrificial love at work!  

I talked with a friend who is ready to give up on the Church.  If being confined from your church helped you realize that you don’t love the church anymore, you are not alone.  

Jesus, please help us cultivate a love for your Church. 

I saw people share canned goods, toilet paper, and laughter with people experiencing homelessness.  If you are helping vulnerable people in your community thrive, you are not alone.  

Jesus, thank you for these acts of generosity.  

 I heard from a friend who is ready to give up on his wife.  If sheltering in place helped you realize that you don’t like your spouse anymore, you are not alone.  

Jesus, please give us the grace to see what you want us to see, about ourselves and our spouses, in this season. 

 I witnessed people buy countless gift cards from small businesses who were ordered to close, to help them stay afloat.  If you bought a gift card from a small business to help them keep going, you are not alone.  

Jesus, thank you for these acts of generosity. 

I heard from friends who don’t like their children, and they don’t like themselves as parents, either.  If you’ve drifted apart from your family, you are not alone.  

Jesus, please restore our love for our children and for ourselves.  

I talked with my friends who work in health care who described feeling incredibly supported by our community through gifts of food, words of encouragement, and reminders of friendship.  If you have a friend who works in health care, and you’ve taken the time to reach out and connect with them, you are not alone.

Jesus, thank you for the gift of friendship.  

I talked with people who have never learned how to rest, or how to calm and silence their hearts.  If the stress of solitude is more than you can bear, you are not alone.  

Jesus, help us connect with the ways you have taught our predecessors how to rest in a time of pandemic.  

I talked with pastors who are noticing neighbors and friends who have been excluded from their church, and those pastors are reaching out in creative and accessible ways!  If the disruption of society has opened your eyes to overlooked neighbors, you are not alone.  

Jesus, thank you for the gift of seeing our neighborhood with a fresh imagination, and help us follow your lead.

I talked with multiple non-profit leaders who are not sure if they will be able to make payroll next month.  If your payroll depends on generosity, and next month is uncertain, you are not alone.  

Jesus, help us walk in humility and honesty in the weeks ahead.  

I was in a business meeting on Zoom with a colleague whose behavior made me wonder if they are using drugs again.  If the stress of the last two weeks has resurfaced old addictions, you are not alone.  

Jesus, give us the strength to find treatment, seek support, and learn to depend on you.  

I talked with a friend who wants to help lead her neighborhood association so that she can pursue the common good with the people she lives near.  If you are reaching out to your neighbors in love, you are not alone.  

Jesus, help us bring about your shalom in our neighborhoods. 

There are many other things that all of us have gone through, which are not given as an example here.  For all the things unmentioned, you are not alone. The Bible teaches us that God often uses catastrophe (if God causes a catastrophe will need to be the topic of a different blog) not to cause something new in our lives, but rather to expose what was already present in our lives, and was hidden under a veil of busyness, routine, and fatigue.  Remember:  Jesus loves you even if you don’t love you.  This might be the first pandemic any of us have experience, but it is certainly not the first that humanity has endured.  Throughout history, over the span of thousands of years, in the midst of the joy and the struggle of this pandemic, Jesus is with us and we are not alone.  

 -Matt McCoy

P.S. In order to help make this a daily practice for me, and possibly for you as well, Spring Church will experiment with short, daily prayers for specific people, events and things. We’ll post them every day on facebook and instagram at 7am for the next two weeks, so please let us know how our community can be praying for you.