Making a One-Week Prayer Plan

Structure is vital right now. Especially for those who are in quarantine and self-isolation. This can apply as much to prayer as to the shape of daily life. There is so much to pray right now that it can seem a little overwhelming. But the best way to deal with anything large is to break it down to small chunks.

Here we’ll sketch out a one-week prayer plan to help focus your thoughts and prayers whilst at home.

For a guide to planning a routine for your days, check out our new guide to making a schedule for self-isolation.

Throughout the week, we’ll be starting inwards with praying for your own heart, and moving out through neighbours, family, and out into the wider world.

Monday

On the first day of creation God said ‘let there be light’ and light appeared. Try starting the week by praying for the light within yourself. That the flickering hope never goes out.

Think of the ways that you have felt fear and worry. Now which of those fears is more powerful than God? Which ones will outlast Him?

Praying for your heart is like preparing a room. When it’s done, you are freed to welcome others, to provide hope and shelter for the people in your life.

For the start of the week, pray for light.

Tuesday

On the second day of creation, the sky was created. This was done to separate those same waters that the Spirit of God hovered over prior to the sky’s creation. Between the waters is the space for God to move. Think of the people who may be with you in this time of self-isolation. What moves between you?

Think of the ways that God can move in these close-quarters relationships. Maybe it means living with more patience and grace. Maybe it’s seeing each other as God sees you.

For Tuesday, pray for the spaces where God can move between you and those with whom you live. That He be glorified.

Wednesday

On the third day of creation, God created the land and the life that rises up from the earth. Every seed-bearing plant sprung up from this new land.

Think of your neighbours, those people who are bound to you by the same patch of earth. The same buildings and the same streets. In your prayer, reflect on ways you can bring the light of God to them. It is through light that plants find their life.

In the Biblical story, it was through a gathering together than land was created, and it is through a gathering together that new life can be brought to your neighbourhood.

For Wednesday, pray for your neighbourhood. Pray that new life will spring from your shared land.

Thursday

On the fourth day, two sets of light were created. The lights which shone on the day and the lights which shone in the night. The lights of the day are what give us life, the lights of the night are what guides us in the dark.

Today, pray for the two lights in your life.

First, for your family, the people who gave you life and raised you up from the earth. They don’t need to be legal or blood relatives. They are the people who are the Sun in your life. Providing sustenance and the strength to go on. They are smaller in number, but larger in presence.

Secondly, pray for your friends. They are the people who, like stars, guide you like a ship in the night. Those times you didn’t know where to turn, they showed the way. Shaped the journey of your life.

For Thursday, pray for God’s strength in the two lights of your life. That they will shine and recognise the lights in their lives.

Friday

On the fifth day of creation, life appeared for the first time. Flying through the oceans and sailing on the currents of the sky, the fish and the birds were made. This first life does not live on the land like we do. They are in our lives, but not part of our world.

For the fifth day of the week, and the final workday before the weekend, pray for those who work in healthcare. The men and women who are racing through hospital corridors, working extremely long days, and offering up their strength to help save our lives. We may not always see them, but they are always there. Their blue scrubs flashing by like scales in the sea.

For Friday, pray for everybody working in healthcare. That they find in equally generous measures the strength and rest that comes from God.

Saturday

The final part of creation is us. People. Coming after the creatures that populate the land, God created us in his image.

For Saturday, simply pray for God’s peace and protection over the world.

Hold in your thoughts every person affected by Coronavirus, and pray that they find a measure of hope from God.

Sunday

On the seventh day, God rested.

For today, simply stop.

Focus your thoughts on God, on the bigger picture of God’s love.

Find rest.

Tomorrow will come in time.

For more ideas and ways that you can pray for the world during the Coronavirus crisis, 5 Things to Pray in a Global Crisis offers timely and insightful approaches. Each one simple. Each one powerful.

Return to the list of practices for Christians during Coronavirus: https://www.eden.co.uk/blog/7-practices-for-christians-during-coronavirus-p1784105