By Reverend Kathy Conner
What would happen if every time we felt tired, weak, or emotionally drained, we paused and just started to sing and worship? What if we decided to praise and thank Him for His goodness in the most unlikely, “I don’t feel like it” moment, letting the grit of our day greet the power of God’s presence.
That’s what Decontee from Liberia did when the Ebola crisis hit in 2014. As a teenager, Decontee contracted Ebola and was quarantined in a hot tent with no medication, no toilets and no hope. It was a death sentence. As she laid on her cot, she began to pray Psalm 91. She began to sing and praise God in her heart. Her Young Life (an outreach ministry to teenagers) leader called her daily and prayed with her. As a result, my colleagues in Young Life Africa and I joined Decontee in praying Psalm 91 for 91 days. Although Decontee survived, health officials and scientists predicted that more than one million people would die within three months. However, on the week of the 91st at day of praying Psalm 91, the New York Times posted an article declaring that the Ebola crisis had come to an end in its epicenter; Liberia, much to the utter amazement of scientists and health officials. They had no explanation for the sudden stop! Unexplainable but for God!
Let’s pray for an “unexplainable sudden stop” during THIS crisis. Let’s continue to pray Psalm 91 for 91 days! Invite your family, your church, your life group, your friends!
In Psalm 91: 5-6 it says, “Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.”
Just as the disease, the darkness and the disaster of the coronavirus seem to strike at midday, let’s pause and worship at midday! Let’s worship in the middle of the day when the news is coming at us. Let’s do this every day. Let’s worship and sing our cry for help. Let’s sing our trust in the only one who can help. Worship is our weapon. This is how we will fight this battle.
Worship isn’t just for Sunday mornings or in our quiet moment alone with God each day. Worship is for the moments when we feel frenzied and fearful in the middle minutes of the day. Worship can happen when the children are waking up and we already feel spent by 6:59 a.m. or when we are out in our car searching for more hand sanitizer and wipes knowing full well that we aren’t likely to find any.
You don’t even need to know the words. Just hum a worship song. Or make up a song or sing any song and direct it to God as a bold act of trust when everything looks dark. Worship pushes back the darkness!
The fearful world needs a fearless church! When we boldly pray Psalm 91 and worship and sing our trust in Him, it changes the atmosphere!
We become Hope Dealers! Light Shiners!
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
