During a news conference on Thursday, July 16, 2020, Louisiana Gov. John Bell Edwards (D) did something that even he described as “a little bit unusual.” He asked the citizens of his state to join him for a time of prayer and fasting about the coronavirus pandemic.

CBN reports:

KLFY-TV reports during a press conference on Thursday, Edwards asked all residents of the Pelican State to join him in three days of lunch fasting and prayer beginning Monday, July 20 through Wednesday, July 22.  He called for the fasting and prayer for those who are sick, the caretakers, and for the families of those who have died from the coronavirus.

The governor invited everyone in the state to participate in the event regardless of their religious faith. 

READ: LA Gov. Calls for 3 Days of Fasting, Prayer to Combat COVID-19, ‘that God Will Heal Our Land’

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, we read:

¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7: 14 NIV)

God promises to heal the land if people will turn to God.

And I believe it’s significant that Louisiana’s Governor issued this call. When the prophet Jonah preached to the people of Nineveh warning of imminent judgement, we are told that the country’s king led by example. He removed his kingly robes, humbled himself, and dressed in sackcloth, the clothes of the poorest in his nation. The king then issued a decree calling on the people to fast and pray so that God would show compassion on the nation (Jonah 3:5-9).