Plague, Pence and Prayer

With coronavirus attacking in more and more locations, it was interesting to read of an atheist's reaction: 

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has been mocked by liberals after the White House released a photo of him in his White House office leading a prayer before commencing a meeting with his coronavirus task force. The White House's official Flickr account released the photo showing Pence and 15 others in his West Wing office, all with their heads bowed in prayer. Pence has been asked by President Donald Trump to lead the federal government's response to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The author of the "Friendly Atheist" on the Patheos website, Hemant Mehta, responded to the photo by mocking: "It's not a joke when people say these Republicans are trying to stop a virus with prayer." He continued, "What else did anyone expect? Science? Reason? Something sensible? Of course not. If this virus truly becomes a pandemic, we're at the mercy of people delusional enough to think their pleas to God will fix the problem." Mehta even went on to mock God, saying: "The same God who presumably created the virus, at least in their minds, will somehow make sure it hurts only a handful of Americans … and a ton of Chinese people." New York Times Magazine contributor, Thomas Chatterton Williams, responded to the photo saying, "We are so screwed." ¹     

Now it's easy to pick holes in Mehta's comment. He seems to suppose that after their prayer meeting, this team of advisors would sit back and do nothing, waiting for God to sort it out. In reality it's much more likely that they would be praying for wisdom to make good and effective decisions on how to tackle the problem. His comment about "a handful of Americans and a ton of Chinese people" is no more than a cheap jibe, describing imaginary words or thoughts in the minds of the team.

There have been many disasters, both natural and man-made, in the history of the world, and often they have highlighted the difference between believers and unbelievers in God. Several of the best-known are known simply because they are recorded in the Bible. 

The Flood

Think of the well-known story of the great flood and Noah's Ark. ²  The whole point of the story centres upon the fact that one man and his family were in touch with God, and their destiny was assured because they (and especially Noah himself) listened to and obeyed God.  He couldn't have done that without prayer being involved!

The Ten Plagues

Then think of the story of the ten plagues and the Exodus. ³  This story culminates in the parting of the Red Sea and the escape from Egypt of the Hebrews, behind whom the Egyptian army was destroyed as the sea flowed back and drowned them. The Egyptians were led by a king, Pharaoh, who scorned God. The Hebrews by contrast were led by a man, Moses, who followed and obeyed God, and was in constant touch with God by prayer. The whole history of the Jews pivots on these events and is still commemorated by the devout each year in the Feast of the Passover.

The stilling of the storm on Galilee

We also read in the bible of a time when Jesus and his disciples were caught in a great storm whilst out in a fishing boat on Galilee. ⁴    

The disciples were terrified, but Jesus calmed the storm. Their reaction was to say "What kind of a man is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Dunkirk

Now this phrase, "Even the wind and waves obey him" brings me to a much more recent event which happened during the Second World War, which became known as 'The Miracle of Dunkirk' - a phrase first used, and with good reason, by Winston Churchill. If the weather conditions had been different, the outcome would have been different too.  The recent film Dunkirk (2017) describes vividly the extraordinary events which led to the rescue of 338,000 allied troops, but leaves out the main reason why Churchill called it a miracle. 

If you don’t know the story, on 10th May 1940, Hitler unleashed a military onslaught on France and Belgium. Within days the British Army – outmanoeuvred and unprepared – along with soldiers of other Allied nations, found themselves with their backs to the sea and hemmed in by enemies. The German High Command was able to boast with confidence that its troops were ‘proceeding to annihilate the British Army’. That the total destruction of an entire army was imminent was a view shared by many in the military and political leadership of Britain. Prime Minister Winston Churchill found himself preparing to announce to the public an unprecedented military catastrophe involving the capture or death of a third of a million soldiers.

But it didn’t happen. On 23rd May, King George VI requested that the following Sunday should be observed as a National Day of Prayer. Late on the Saturday evening the military decision was taken to evacuate as many as possible of the Allied forces. On the Sunday, the nation devoted itself to prayer in an unprecedented way. Eyewitnesses and photographs confirm overflowing congregations in places of worship across the land. Long queues formed outside cathedrals. The same day an urgent request went out for boats of all sizes and shapes to cross the English Channel to rescue the besieged army, a call ultimately answered by around 800 vessels.

Yet even before the praying began (in my experience, prayer often works like that) curious events were happening. In a decision that infuriated his generals and still baffles historians, Hitler ordered his army to halt. Had they continued to fight, the destruction of the Allied forces would have been inevitable and the war would have taken a different, darker and more terrible path. Yet for three days the German tanks and soldiers stood idle while the evacuation unfolded. Not only so, bad weather on the Tuesday grounded the Luftwaffe, allowing Allied soldiers to march unhindered to the beaches. In contrast, on Wednesday the sea was extraordinarily calm, making the perilous evacuation less hazardous. By the time the German Army was finally ordered to renew its attack, over 338,000 troops had been snatched from the beaches, including 140,000 French, Belgian, Dutch and Polish soldiers. Many of them were to return four years later to liberate Europe.

Now you could argue it was all a coincidence, but I think not. It certainly wasn’t considered so at the time. Sunday 9th June was declared a National Day of Thanksgiving and, encouraged by Churchill himself, the phrase ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’ began to circulate. ⁵

Since those days there has been a steady drift  away from Christian belief and practice in much of the population, so it's almost impossible to imagine that in our current crisis there will be an official call for a national day of prayer!  But there is one clear conclusion which can be drawn from all these events, namely that God is in charge, God controls events, God hears and responds to the prayers of individuals and even of nations, and that what God seeks is that we should recognise this and call out to Him in the belief that he will control the outcome. We can't predict what the overll outcome will be, but I agree with Canon J John when he says says "I think Dunkirk stands as an extraordinary encouragement to pray in faith. However great our problems, God is greater than them all. That ‘Dunkirk encouragement’ to pray in times of need applies at every level of life and to every challenge, from what may be a petty domestic crisis to a national disaster." <sup>5

Postscript, March 15th
To my surprise, within hours of me writing  "it's almost impossible to imagine that in our current crisis there will be an official call for a national day of prayer!", President Trump has announced that USA will have a National Day of Prayer today, March 15th!</sup>

¹ https://christiantoday.com/article/mike-pence-prays-with-coronavirus-task-force-for-gods-help-liberals-and-atheists-mock/134410.htm

² Genesis chapter 6 onwards.

³ Exodus 7 onwards.  Also http://creationday.com/2015/08/scientific-evidence-for-the-parting-of-the-red-sea-2/

⁴ Matthew 8, verse 23 onwards

⁵  https://canonjjohn.com/2017/07/17/national-day-of-prayer-during-dunkirk-1940/