Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

June 2020 – Across the U.S., Christians have begun gathering outside hospitals to pray for patients and medical staff inside. Towns such as Albany, Georgia; Kissimmee, Florida; and Alexander City, Alabama; have witnessed congregations of believers standing outside hospitals offering prayers and songs of praise to the Lord. Multiple studies have uncovered a recent uptick in prayer in response to COVID-19.

Pew Research reported that out of 11,537 U.S. adults surveyed from March 19-24, 55% have responded in prayer for an end to the outbreak. In a separate survey, Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, a professor at University of Copenhagen in Denmark, found a rise in Internet searches for prayer in March.

The number of online prayer searches surpassed the regular highs during Christmas and Easter and “surged to the highest level during the past five years for which comparative Google search data is available,” said the professor. 

pewsocialtrends.org, 3/30/20; christianpost.com, 4/3/20