Australia’s National Council of Churches has called for Christians to join in a national day of prayer in response to the coronavirus pandemic this Sunday, 2nd August.
In a message on the NCCA website, Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins, president of the NCCA, said it was “comforting when we know we are all praying together to our Saviour”.
The NCCA has released resources, including a prayer, to aid churches on Sunday including some notes on verses in Matthew 14:13-21 in Jesus feeds 5,000 with fishes and loaves.
Bishop Huggins said the account illustrates the compassion and peaceful and creative response to the “crisis” before Him and that “when the crisis is over and ‘all ate and were filled’, there was plenty left over.”
“Such is God’s generosity, providence and loving presence,” he said. “Hence we offer our prayers for all we need, including an end to this pandemic.”
The call for the day to be set aside for prayer has been supported by the organisers of the annual National Day of Prayer and Fasting who have asked Australians to pray for the nation, particularly the state of Victoria, as well as other nations affected by the pandemic, including the US, Brazil and India.
