Praying after the earthquake

“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way…Be still and know that I am the God.  I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”  Psalm 46:1, 10

Since we know that God is our refuge and strength and God also tells us to pray for all people, how do we pray when we hear of the earthquake that has struck Christchurch in New Zealand? Some of us will know family and friends who have been affected and we long to help.  To be so far away can make us feel helpless but we can help by sending people, supplies and money, and one of the most practical things we can do is to pray. Our God and Father who looks on us, is also their God and Father who looks on them.  Even now he is sustaining the human efforts to find, to comfort and to restore. He will hear our prayers.

So what shall we pray?

Some of the obvious immediate needs which we can pray for are:

• Pray for those who grieve the loss of friends and family.
• Pray the rescuers will find any who are trapped.
• Pray that the rescuers will be kept from harm.
• Pray there will be no more earthquakes.
• Pray for those in the front line of care, communication and leadership.
• Pray for friends and family affected known to us (including the Luthers who felt close to the events).
• Pray for essential services to be restored and that disease will not break out.

For all these and the many needs that have arisen please pray for our loving Father God to provide.

But some of the things we should pray for are longer term needs as Christchurch citizens live in fear, grief and uncertainty. They also need help that strengthens the spirit and will enable them to go on each day. We need to pray for the children traumatised, for the elderly living alone, for the infirm and the sick.

Let us pray for God in his grace to give faith, hope and love to the people of Christchurch.
Pray for faith that despite this catastrophe, God is still at work in their lives, that God is the rock that does not move, that God can be trusted even when the earth gives way.
Pray for the hope that with God at work there is a future, this crisis will come to an end, and that God can redeem even the most impossible situations as he has shown us in the death of his son.
Pray for love that will heal the broken-hearted, love that will comfort the frightened children, love that will reach out to the homeless and afflicted, love that will share meagre resources, love that will share with strangers and those who are without.