One of our China students said: “When I first arrived in Singapore in Jan 2020, there were only a few cases of Covid a day. Today, as I am leaving, the number hit almost 900.” At the time of this writing, the number of Covid new cases is inching towards 2000. Cases have been doubling every week. In the face of the unknown, most of us are fearful of what comes next. 

In John 14, the 11 were expressing different degrees of fear in the face of the uncertain life without Jesus. Troubled Peter focused on himself – why am I left behind? Doubting Thomas was a bit more inclusive – how can we know where to go, what to do? Courageous Philip made the bold demand – show us God.

And we in the midst of Covid ask similar questions, pray similar prayers. First, like Peter, I tend to focus on myself – on my desires to have certainty. I call it the D (desire) prayer. Second, like Thomas, I may extend my prayers to include others. Praying for their guidance and protection through the storm. I call it the O (others) prayer. And finally, like Philip, when my desires and others’ needs are met, I think about God. I may want to see God in the midst of crises. I call it the G (God) prayer. In short, in crises, in covid, we tend to come to God with a D.O.G. prayer which focuses first on our desires, then others, and then finally God.

Jesus addresses the disciples’ fear unexpectedly with a prayer in John 17 – Jesus’ longest prayer. It is striking here that Jesus’ never prayed for the disciples’ desires to be fulfilled. He did not pray for the uncertainty to end. He never prayed for the good old days to return. But what he prayed for, transformed the disciples and changed the world. How did he pray?

First, like Peter, Jesus prayed for himself. But unlike the disciples he prayed for the hour to come. The hour in the gospel of John is always the hour of his death. In short, he prayed to be quickly sent to His death so that God’s glory can be seen by all. His first priority in his crises is for the Glory of God to come shining through. I call it the G (glory) prayer.

Second, Jesus prayed for others (the eleven). There are many elements (spiritual protection, spiritual unity, spiritual joy) but it all centers around their mission and their sanctification (Christlikeness). Jesus prayed for their mission: “As you (the father) have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” Jesus prayed for their sanctification: “for them I sanctify myself so that they will be truly sanctified”. The biggest danger in a crisis is that we focus on fear and drift from our mission. The biggest deterrent to our mission is that we ended up looking just like the world (paralyzed by fear) rather than looking like Christ. And so, when Christ prayed for others, he prayed for both mission and sanctification. I call it the O (others) prayer.

In crisis, Jesus prays the G.O. prayer (1^st God’s glory then others mission) rather than the D.O.G. prayer. The D.O.G. prayer shows that we are “of the world” and have been neutralized by Satan. The G.O. prayer enables us to go “into the world” and be true to our mission. But to change from a D.O.G. prayer to a G.O. prayer in Covid, we have to overcome fear. And the only weapon against fear is faith and so Jesus use the word “believe” seven times in John chapters 16 & 17 to emphasize faith. Believe in him, he has overcome the world. Fear not.

Martin Luther King Jr said it well: “Fear knocked on the door. Faith answered. There was no one there.” Some wise man said: “F.E.A.R. is ‘Fake Evidence Appearing Real’. Only people of faith can know it’s true nature and not be afraid.”

Friends, at BTS, we do not want to pray D.O.G. prayers. We want to pray G.O. prayers in this Covid times –

• That we will give God glory daily
• That we will be true to our mission – “serving Singapore, and blessing Asia”
• That we will produce students who are sanctified, set apart, for Jesus’ use.

Let us join hands and become courageous G.O. prayer partners so that together we will be victorious in this difficult time.

Rev Peter Lin
President