Intercession guidelines for the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia (anti-epidemic measures) : The current difficulties have exceeded the limit of human ability, let us pray for the supernatural intervention by God.
(1)
Theme : The plague is a man-made disaster, please pray for confession and repentance starting from the origin of the plague.
Scriptures : “These are the birds you are to regard as unclean and not eat because they are unclean: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.”… “Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening.” (Leviticus 11:13-19, 27)
Explanation : The Mosaic Law already states clearly regarding the regulations on foods and drinks clearance, mentioning whatever is clean and unclean, while what is edible and inedible. If human violates the Mosaic Law and eat something inedible, it would be harmful to their health and lead to human disaster.
Application : It is learned that, the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia was spread by human from animals, which means whoever touches the animal carcasses would be contaminated with the virus in it. If people are used to eat game or bushmeat, they would be easily infected with the virus.
Prayer guidelines : For what we human did which violated the dietary regulations from the Bible, we pray for confession and repentance.
1. Human rejects God as they reject the teachings from the Bible, we deserve the consequence, so we have to pray for God’s forgiveness.
2. Pray for people in our country to change from the unhealthy eating habits. May God help us.
(2)
Theme : Despite war is a punishment from God, God wants us to win.
Scriptures : “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.” (2 Kings 13:2-3)
“Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. ‘My father! My father!’ he cried. ‘The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ Elisha said, ‘Get a bow and some arrows,’ and he did so. ‘Take the bow in your hands,”’he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.’Open the east window,’ he said, and he opened it. ‘Shoot!’ Elisha said, and he shot. ‘The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!’ Elisha declared. ‘You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.’ Then he said, ‘Take the arrows,’ and the king took them. Elisha told him, ‘Strike the ground.’ He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, ‘You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:13-19)
Explanation : The Northern Kingdom of Israel often changes its dynasties, but there is one thing that does not change, which is the people in the kingdom worship the Golden calf, which provokes God’s anger, which lead to God letting the Aram to initiate war to punish the people who sinned. In the Bible, the judgment of God includes war, famine and plague. Although all the disasters come from God, God used Elisha to teach Joash, the King of Israel, some prophetic actions, and objective is to win the war.
Application : The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia is a kind of plague, no matter whether it is a punishment from God, the purpose of God doing this is not to destroy us, but to call us to win the war against the plague.
Prayer guidelines : Pray for our victory against the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia in Wuhan.
1. Those who infected the virus recover.
2. The vaccine will be developed soon.
(3)
Theme : Pray for God’s mercy
Scriptures :
“Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” (Psalm 57:1)
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” …
‘Because he loves me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.’” (Psalm 91:1, 14-15)
Explanation : When the disaster comes, human does not have enough ability to tackle it, and we can only took refuge in God. But what can we do so we can get rescued by God? We really can do nothing which can exchange for the grace from God; therefore, if we want to be rescued by God, we can only trust in the Lord’s mercy. If God lets the disaster come, the purpose of it is to call us to turn around back to Him, and rebuild our relationships with Him.
Application : Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia can be transmitted from human to human, and is spreading in Hong Kong, the disaster might last for a period of time. This virus might not give infected people much illness symptoms during its latency period, and that makes the virus hard to avoid. While waiting the disaster to pass over, there still exists in every chance that we might get infected. Therefore, we have to take refuge in the shadow of God’s wings, which means to have a close relationship with God all the time.
Prayer guidelines : Pray for the awakening of people’s heart even while the epidemic is rampant.
1. People have to be humble confessing their sins, repent and turn back to God.
2. People have to review their relations with God, and have faith rather than being anxious, have peace rather than being panic.
(4)
Theme : Plague is a form of judgment of God, but restoration is God’s will.
Scriptures :
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing.
There is no one to plead your cause, no remedy for your sore, no healing for you.
Why do you cry out over your wound, your pain that has no cure?
Because of your great guilt and many sins, I have done these things to you.
But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord, ‘because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.’” (Jeremiah 30:12-17)
Explanation : The Kingdom of Judah was being invaded by Babylon, the whole nation is about to be subjugated, which is similar with being invaded by plagues and nothing can save them. The underlying reason of this invasion is spiritual, which is a consequence of sinning. God must punish people who have sinned, but meanwhile God wants to restore us to health and heal our wounds.
Application : Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia has a strong infectivity, and there is no medicine that can cure this disease at this moment, thus, the death rate is high. The plague is a problem about health, but there are spiritual causes behind, which is because of our ‘great guilt and many sins’.
Prayer guidelines : Pray for society for confession and repentance as it has ‘great guilt and many sins’.
1. The authorities persecute churches, which disdains and challenges God. Pray for God’s forgiveness.
2. When there are casualties, pray for God’s healing and restoration.
(5)
Theme : To stop to plague, we have to pray
Scriptures : So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. (Numbers 16:47-48)
Explanation : When the Israelites went out from Egypt and walk past the wilderness, Korah and all his followers betrayed them, people complained to Moses and Aaron, and God punished the betrayers with plague. Moses told Aaron to offer the incense in the censer and make atonement for the people, this action therefore stopped the plague.
Application : Are there any relationships between the outbreak of plague and people betraying God, and God’s servant being attacked? God has vindicated and the plague fell, but churches cannot just enjoy gloating, we should instead stand between the living and the dead, offer and burn the incense, which is to pray for the people.
Prayer guidelines : Pray for churches and believers, for them spending time to seek the Lord through fasting and praying during the plague.
1. The Holy Spirit grants vision to intercessors, so they can distinguish out the spiritual factors behind this plague, and fight the spiritual war by praying.
2. Pray for the people who opposed God and the church, to confess their sins. Pray and seek for God’s forgiveness
(6)
Theme : Repentance and rest, seek for God’s supernatural protection
Scriptures :
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)
Explanation : Human power is limited, if we rely on our own efforts and strengths, we would feel tired. We tried running away, and escape from the problem, without realizing the problem is deteriorating faster than we could escape from it! God knows the limitations of human, so he is calling people back to repentance and rest, and regain power and strength from calmness and quietness.
Application : Hong Kong had experienced over half year of social turmoil which had not yet stopped, and the disease followed right after, making many people tired in dealing with these problems, no matter physically and mentally.
Prayer guidelines : Pray for yourself, and the co-workers, leaders and believers in your churches, for them having good rest, regaining power and strength from God.
1. Pray for people who are emotionally depressed being healed by the Holy Spirit, so they can walk out from the frustration.
2. Pray for the frontline health care workers and government officials who are anxious and busy, so they can calm and quiet themselves.
3. The current difficulty had exceeded the limitation of human. Pray for the supernatural intervention from God.