Once or twice in the last year and a half I’ve heard a
Christian say something to the effect that they are trusting the Lord to keep
them safe from the coronavirus. I suppose that is true of all of us to
one degree or another, but the comment got me thinking: How high a
priority should our physical safety have in our prayers?
Let’s dismiss binary thinking on this subject right at the
front door. I cannot see how praying for better circumstances can ever be categorically
wrong when it is accompanied by a heartfelt “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours.”
It not a question of good vs. bad use of prayer time, but a question
concerning degrees of good. We are looking to have the very best priorities in
prayer, right? Ideally, we should be asking for the things Christ himself would have asked of his Father under the same circumstances.
That’s a very high bar, and we will not reach it all the time in prayer, but it should certainly be our goal in coming into the presence of God.