AfricaPress-Tanzania: AS human efforts alone proved futile in the fight against Covid- 19, Tanzania sought God’s intervention with special prayers.
It was mid last month when the East African country observed three days of national prayers, signaling that despite anti-Covid-19 measures being instituted, the government still believed in divine intervention in containing the pandemic.
President John Magufuli made the declaration for nationwide prayers, urging Tanzanians to pray for God’s protection and healing as coronavirus continued ravaging the world.
No believer can underestimate the power of prayer – even the powerful ones are bowing before the Almighty God to heal their land and people.
On Thursday, Americans honoured the National Day of Prayer and used the occasion for special prayers against the Covid-19.
On that day, total coronavirus confirmed cases in the most powerful nation stood at 1,292,623 with death toll reaching 76,942.
This year’s ceremony at the White House was understandably dominated by prayers from religious leaders for an end to the coronavirus.
President Trump, who led the occasion, started his speech by describing how his country is engaged in a fierce battle against the terrible disease.
“In recent days and weeks, our country has endured a grave hardship. We pray for every family stricken with grief and devastated with a tragic loss,” stated President Trump.
“We pray for the doctors and for the nurses and for the first responders waging war against the invisible enemy. We pray for the scientists and researchers pioneer(ing) treatments, that they find therapies and vaccines and that they find them soon.”
The US first lady also extended her “deepest sympathy to the families of those who have lost their loved ones to Covid-19” and offered prayers to those who are ill and serving on the front lines. The annual observance, first marked by President Harry Truman and codified by Congress in 1952, “exists to mobilise unified public prayer for America,” according to its mission statement.
The 2020 National Day of Prayer was held amid an ongoing global health crisis resulting in the death of more than 76,000 Americans and record unemployment claims, with houses of worship closing their doors and many Americans turning to faith as they stay inside their homes.
“We are confronted with the challenges of an invisible enemy, one that can only be defeated through unity, and our nation’s strength, love, and devotion to each other,” first lady Melania Trump said in a video ahead of this year’s observation.
Around the country, religious observers have shifted habits amid social distancing, taking to video conferencing services and livestreams during some of the year’s holiest times: Easter, Passover and Ramadan.
The coronavirus pandemic has also seen some religious leaders and groups flouting stay-at-home orders, with one Florida pastor being arrested for hosting large church services.
In past National Day of Prayer observances, the President has generally stayed on script, veering once last year to remark that he turned to God amid “witch hunts.”
“How do you go through those witch hunts and everything else? And you know what we do, Mike (Pence)? We just do it. Right? And we think about God,” Trump said at the 2019 event, also held in the Rose Garden.
He also addressed acts of mass violence, including three historically black churches in Louisiana destroyed by arson and an anti- Semitic attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue, and announced new actions on protections for conscience rights.
And in 2018, Trump signed an executive order creating an initiative that he said would focus on religious liberty and faith-based programmes.
Vice-President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence also delivered remarks during Thursday’s ceremony.
