This prayer material is a composite of input from prayer leaders, missionaries, and pastors from Egypt. It is a precious land where God has been at work. It has incredible potential to be used by God to bring salvation to the nations. Let’s pray!
The coronavirus itself
Despite the mosques and churches being closed, people are still gathering in groups for Ramadan festivities as well as in their daily business. Airports, restaurants, cafes, schools and universities are also all closed.
Many people are either unaware of how the virus spreads, or choose to ignore the advice and measures given to help them prevent spreading it.
There is a curfew from 9pm – 6am each night, but this runs up against people wanting to break the Ramadan fast with extended family or friends.
Official numbers have been low for the last three months, but the number of cases is beginning to accelerate quickly. Medical experts are deeply concerned that the rise in numbers are about to explode, and are calling for stricter lockdown measures.
The hospitals are already saturated. People who are sick are being asked to stay home because there is no more capacity to receive them at the hospital.
Pray:
Pray that common sense basic hygiene procedures will catch on throughout society and normal people will learn how the virus is transmitted and understand what they can do to prevent this as much as possible.
Pray for wisdom for the government to know what policies to roll out and how to rightly enforce them. They need to strike a balance between fighting the spread of the virus and protecting the most economically vulnerable. It is especially difficult to enforce strict lockdown measures during Ramadan.
Pray that community leaders (especially religious leaders) might encourage their people to cooperate with the policies. Egyptians are a religious people and it has been shown in other countries that irresponsible religious leadership has accelerated the spread of the virus.
Pray that the Lord might have mercy and work in ways that only He can to minimize the spread and effects of the virus.
The socio-economic situation
Unemployment was already high before the virus, especially among young people. The lockdown measures taken have caused significant job loss. It is the poor who are most affected. And it is the poor who rely on daily income to pay for daily expenses. Many of them have no savings to fall back on. Hunger and sickness will set in very quickly amongst the most vulnerable.
Many youth and young adults are discouraged, bored, frustrated, and hopeless. There is little in the Egyptian economic forecast to give them much hope for a bright future, and many are disillusioned with the religious options that they are aware of.
Children are home from school. The ones in poorer families lack the resources and connectivity to continue their learning. As with economic conditions, it is the children of poor families who suffer most.
Pray:
Pray for solutions to the economic situation – especially for the poorest and most vulnerable. The stimulus cheques, quantitative easing, and universal basic income models in wealthier countries are probably too far a stretch in the Egyptian context.
Pray that Muslims would exercise compassion and kindness to those in need – zakat (charity) is as much a pillar of Islam as sawm (fasting during Ramadan)!
Pray for Christians to demonstrate remarkable generosity to their neighbours, to the poorest of the poor, even to their enemies! May the Gospel be lived out through acts of love and care that communicates the love of Jesus to Egyptians.
The Church in Egypt:
Egypt has more Christians than any other Arab nation by a huge margin. In both Islam and Christianity, Egypt provides leadership to the Arab world. Christians in Egypt have learned to live amidst intense economic and religious pressure, how to move in the power of prayer, and how to love those who persecute them. God has been doing a remarkable work in the Egyptian Church in the last 10 years.
Pray:
Pray that the body of Christ in Egypt will receive from the Lord clear guidance for her work in the current time and in the coming time – not just for Egypt but for the entire Middle East. Egypt has immense missionary-sending potential to the Muslim world!
After CoVid-19, the Egyptian Church may have a different role to play in the region, and many more open doors for ministry. Pray that God will call the Church in Egypt to a new, increased, empowered, redemptive role in the Middle East, and the entire Arab/Muslim world!
Pray that God would fulfil this verse in Egypt in these days:
“And so the LORD will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know [heed, honor, and cherish] the LORD in that day. They will even worship with sacrifices [of animals] and offerings [of produce]; they will make a vow to the LORD and fulfill it.” Isaiah 19:21 AMP