We are now into the third week since Premier Ford made a declaration of emergency for the province of Ontario on March 17 (1) and all non-essential services, schools and public gatherings of more than fifty people were restricted. That number has now been amended to five over this past weekend (2). “Social distancing” will be one of the phrases by which the year 2020 will be remembered. All due to the global village our planet has become.
The Sars-CoV-2 virus started spreading to humans towards the closing weeks of 2019 in the province of Wuhan, China. To date, Covid-19, the disease that it generates, has caused almost 38,000 reported deaths around the world. If unchecked, governments fear the numbers will continue to soar. Thus, some, like Italy and Spain at the top of the list, have taken extreme measures to contain the spreading of the said virus. In Canada so far, that involves minimizing our social contact with others by staying home. Of all the age groups, seniors are the ones being guarded the most to the point where grocery stores are dedicating specific hours for golden agers to shop.
With all the isolation being practiced, most of us have come to appreciate, more than ever, the technology of the twenty first century. Cell phones, emails, video teleconferencing, social network services such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are keeping us in touch with each other and giving our lives a sense of normalcy. Just the other day pastor Charles Skeete and I had the opportunity to join eighty other religious leaders from the city of London, Ontario, in a video conference call with the office of the Mayor via ZOOM. It was fascinating to hear the reports of how the various religious communities were adapting to the present reality by facilitating online gatherings and support.
All this connectivity is made possible thanks to the satellites receiving and retransmitting our communications around the planet. All that information sent around the world wirelessly, unseen to the naked eye! Makes me think of another wireless communication that connects me with the One who can sooth all my fears and gives LIGHT in times of darkness.
Some have described prayer as “the opening of the heart as to a friend” (3). It brings us closer to Him and by faith we make our joys, sadness, fears and desires known.
A fascinating prayer in the Bible is the one addressed and recorded by Daniel in the ninth chapter of his book. After so many seconds of pleading with God, the angel Gabriel is sent to comfort Daniel and give him understanding. The angel says to Daniel: “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.” (Daniel 9:23). Why is this fascinating?
Consider this, according to NASA (4) it would take a rover in Mars 20 hours to transmit 250 megabits of data (about 50, 5Mg pictures) directly to earth.
Voyager 1 is the man-made object having traveled the farthest distance from Earth to date. Launched in September 1977, the satellite had traveled almost 21 billion kilometres by the end of 2017. After receiving and executing a set of commands from Earth to make sure its antenna continues to face Earth, it took another 19 hours and 35 minutes for the reply to travel back through space (5).
Are you starting to see what I see? Back in Daniel 9 the angel says to the prophet that when he began his prayer, the order was given to go out to comfort him! Astrophysicists tells us that there is no faster speed than the speed of light (299 792 458 m/s) and that it takes over 4 years to travel to our closest neighbouring star (after the Sun) at that speed. It took less time for God to hear and respond to Daniel’s prayer! Now, there’s a communication system that we can rely on.
The protocols for prayer are minimal but are made possible by Jesus Christ:
What about posture? Whether it be standing, sitting, kneeling or else, let your posture inform the expression of your heart to God.
Whatever your circumstances, whatever your state of mind or heart, whatever your trials, God is willing to hear you and respond to you. He is only a prayer away!
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(1) https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/ontario-enacts-declaration-of-emergency-to-protect-the-public.html
(2)https://files.ontario.ca/solgen-oic-gatherings-events-2020-03-28.pdf?_ga=2.237680256.1259894360.1585646064-1088158048.1585533724
(3) White, Ellen G. Steps to Christ, p.93.2. https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_SC.93.2¶=108.369
(4) https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communications/
(5) https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=108
The Sars-CoV-2 virus started spreading to humans towards the closing weeks of 2019 in the province of Wuhan, China. To date, Covid-19, the disease that it generates, has caused almost 38,000 reported deaths around the world. If unchecked, governments fear the numbers will continue to soar. Thus, some, like Italy and Spain at the top of the list, have taken extreme measures to contain the spreading of the said virus. In Canada so far, that involves minimizing our social contact with others by staying home. Of all the age groups, seniors are the ones being guarded the most to the point where grocery stores are dedicating specific hours for golden agers to shop.
With all the isolation being practiced, most of us have come to appreciate, more than ever, the technology of the twenty first century. Cell phones, emails, video teleconferencing, social network services such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are keeping us in touch with each other and giving our lives a sense of normalcy. Just the other day pastor Charles Skeete and I had the opportunity to join eighty other religious leaders from the city of London, Ontario, in a video conference call with the office of the Mayor via ZOOM. It was fascinating to hear the reports of how the various religious communities were adapting to the present reality by facilitating online gatherings and support.
All this connectivity is made possible thanks to the satellites receiving and retransmitting our communications around the planet. All that information sent around the world wirelessly, unseen to the naked eye! Makes me think of another wireless communication that connects me with the One who can sooth all my fears and gives LIGHT in times of darkness.
Some have described prayer as “the opening of the heart as to a friend” (3). It brings us closer to Him and by faith we make our joys, sadness, fears and desires known.
A fascinating prayer in the Bible is the one addressed and recorded by Daniel in the ninth chapter of his book. After so many seconds of pleading with God, the angel Gabriel is sent to comfort Daniel and give him understanding. The angel says to Daniel: “At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved.” (Daniel 9:23). Why is this fascinating?
Consider this, according to NASA (4) it would take a rover in Mars 20 hours to transmit 250 megabits of data (about 50, 5Mg pictures) directly to earth.
Voyager 1 is the man-made object having traveled the farthest distance from Earth to date. Launched in September 1977, the satellite had traveled almost 21 billion kilometres by the end of 2017. After receiving and executing a set of commands from Earth to make sure its antenna continues to face Earth, it took another 19 hours and 35 minutes for the reply to travel back through space (5).
Are you starting to see what I see? Back in Daniel 9 the angel says to the prophet that when he began his prayer, the order was given to go out to comfort him! Astrophysicists tells us that there is no faster speed than the speed of light (299 792 458 m/s) and that it takes over 4 years to travel to our closest neighbouring star (after the Sun) at that speed. It took less time for God to hear and respond to Daniel’s prayer! Now, there’s a communication system that we can rely on.
The protocols for prayer are minimal but are made possible by Jesus Christ:
- direct your thoughts, to your loving, heavenly Father
- speak to Him as to a friend
- be ready to listen as He speaks through His written Word
- Claim the righteousness of Jesus for yourself as you finish your prayer on account of His name.
- Keep your antenna facing God’s throne ready to receive new commands!
What about posture? Whether it be standing, sitting, kneeling or else, let your posture inform the expression of your heart to God.
Whatever your circumstances, whatever your state of mind or heart, whatever your trials, God is willing to hear you and respond to you. He is only a prayer away!
------------------------
(1) https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/ontario-enacts-declaration-of-emergency-to-protect-the-public.html
(2)https://files.ontario.ca/solgen-oic-gatherings-events-2020-03-28.pdf?_ga=2.237680256.1259894360.1585646064-1088158048.1585533724
(3) White, Ellen G. Steps to Christ, p.93.2. https://egwwritings.org/?ref=en_SC.93.2¶=108.369
(4) https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/mission/communications/
(5) https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/news/details.php?article_id=108