BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 26, 2020
Pastor Jan
“For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies.
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies …”
Yes, Loving Creator, we are pilgrims upon this good earth, and it has sustained and blessed us richly. You have made our planet an artist’s palette of hues and tints: grassy plots moist with dew, dancing sunlight on pink calla lilies, green shimmering leaves, sturdy branches of shade, filmy clouds adrift in an azure sky. All praise to you, O Lord, for each of these! As we move through the hours ahead, may we not forget to seek you in the smallest corners of the day. And if we go in search of more gifts along the way, remind us of all that we have already.
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“For the gift of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above, all who breathe thoughts kind and mild…”
O Lord of Justice, we remember those who walk for peace and equity, for those who refuse to return violence for violence, those who speak reason to the unreasonable. We pray for those who labor to lift the burdens of all who suffer. Particularly we remember those close to us who dedicate themselves to the work of peace . . . And we remember, as well, these friends and families of Church Street who carry both gratitude and burdens within their own souls:
- Praises: a brother’s surgery on Thursday greatly relieved his suffering
- One appreciates prayers — she is regaining strength following an accident
- Friend is grateful for family members caring for her following cancer surgery
- Couple thankful for a restful week of vacation
- Prayers for a husband’s 2nd consultation today regarding his kidney lesion
- Strength for a young wife battling a chronic illness
- Courage & guidance for a young woman endeavoring to make a fresh start
- Dear friend with stage 4 cancer, courage for herself & for her family
- Lifting spirits of lonely members & loved ones remaining in isolation
- Adult son now working in FLA, that he does not succumb to the virus
- All who are depressed, confused, & overwhelmed during this pandemic
- A beloved father near death & a cherished member hospitalized for tests
- Those working to secure able caretakers for Sterchi Lodge ministry
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“For thyself, best Gift Divine, to the world so freely given
For that great, great love of thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven. . . “
Summer clarity sometimes turns our thoughts to our early years and to those who shaped our walk of faith. We remember parents who were imperfect, yet who tried to point us in the right direction. We recall those who shared Jesus with us and who told us we were chosen, special even. We remember those who encouraged us when we were tentative, who named our gifts and talents. No one is truly self-made; we are clay in the hands of those who cherished us. How marvelous are your ways, O God, for you are still molding us to suit your purposes! And when we travel to your holy realm, you shall finish the work of forming us into perfect vessels, fit for your kingdom.
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“Lord of All, to you we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise!”
As you greeted us in love at dawn, we trust you to bring us to the close of this day in that same love:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
All are welcome at Church Street! We believe every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image. We welcome and celebrate the gifts God has given to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation. We respect diversity of opinion and expressions of Christian faith. We believe God loves everyone unconditionally! As God loves us, so let us love and serve in the name of Christ.
Prayer for Today – July 6
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
July 6, 2020
Pastor Jan
Holy Friend, we offer you this unique day. May gratitude be our companion, for you have tucked away treasures in the folds of each hour; we dare not miss these blessings you have so carefully wrapped: the embrace of the sun warming our bones, eyes to behold the faces of friends, the gift of music to lift our hearts heavenward, the sound of a loved one’s voice on the phone, the ability to read the printed page, aroma of welcome rain on dry fields, memories of wonders of bygone days, the honor of working and living in your name. May all our thanksgivings join with all those praises offered throughout the world!
Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!
Loving Overseer, we pray for an understanding of what yet might be. We seek your reassurance, Lord, that your new work will become visible, even in our shortsightedness. In spite of the church’s honest efforts throughout the ages, injustice poverty, cruelty and hypocrisy are on the rise. Keep us from despairing, Gentle Savior, when our works and our prayers do not come to fruition according to our own timetables. Give us grace, we pray, to continue our work of faith, knowing that somehow, some way, you are already using our good intentions and our prayers to make a cosmic difference in our world.
Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!
Preserver of Life, we lift up to your light all who find themselves in distress, illness, adversity this day. We pray for their deliverance from their afflictions and difficulties. Especially we remember those closest to our hearts . . . Also these friends from our own church family:
Bind our hearts together as one holy community, O Lord, and may we cling together and support one another as we travel that highway that leads to your doorstep.
Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!
Revitalize us this day for faithful service, O Lord, knowing you accept us fully and that you are always pleased to hear the prayer your Son taught his disciples:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – July 3
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
July 3, 2020
Pastor Jan
Tower of Strength, as we are on the cusp of our national holiday, we reflect upon those things that make a nation strong. Is it military might, a robust economy, vast territories stretching from shore to shore? Can we boast growing wealth, colossal skyscrapers, granite wonders pointed toward heaven? Scripture says we dare not make our boast in our might or in our riches. As the Holy One spoke clearly through his prophet: “. . . Let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth . . . “ May we heed these words and ever remember we do not praise our own accomplishments, for all we have attained has come through our God’s largesse.
In Christ alone we place our trust!
O Love Ever Merciful, even today as we celebrate the benefits of our life in this free nation, our sins seem too heavy to carry, and many of them we cannot undo. And by publicly naming our collective sins of greed, arrogance, indifference, we cannot sweep our private failings under the rug. Both have marred your name and thwarted our witness as disciples. These personal misdeeds we now name in the silence of our own hearts . . . Set us free from the past we cannot change, but open to us that future where we might still take on the image of Jesus. The apostle claims that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old life is gone and a new life has begun. We believe and claim this good news!
In Christ alone we place our trust!
We acknowledge, O Lord, those who have sacrificed greatly and who continue to sacrifice that we may live in freedom in this country. We must not take their efforts for granted, for our freedom has come at a high price. May we use our liberty according to your will, that we might become a beacon of hope, not for just a few, but for all who walk our continent. Give hope also, we pray, to these believers in our Church Street family who call out this day:
In Christ alone we place our trust!
We offer this day to you and to your Beloved Son, for the government rests upon his shoulders and thus we have named him Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Welcoming Church Street’s New Clergy
covid, Featured, From the PulpitChurch Street is pleased to welcome Rev. Catherine Clark Nance, Senior Pastor, and Rev. Tim Best, Senior Associate Pastor, to our clergy leadership team. They join Rev. Palmer Cantler, Associate Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade, Minister of Spiritual Enrichment, as well as our Visitation Pastors, Rev. Pat Clendenen and Rev. Andy Ferguson. Enjoy this welcome letter to Church Street from Rev. Catherine Clark Nance:
Dear Church Family,
I would love to say, “It has been wonderful getting to meet so many of you!” I long for the day to shake hands and ask you to repeat your name for me. In the meantime, I am scrolling through Facebook and looking at a pictorial directory I found in my office from 2016 trying to learn some names and faces.
Since I cannot see you right now, I have spent time seeing where you worship and learn and fellowship. I always feel at home in a United Methodist Church building. Regardless of the architecture, location, and age, there are things all Methodist churches have in common. I have enjoyed walking the hallways and seeing the information on bulletin boards, the leftover hearts from Valentine’s Day that the children taped to the walls, collection bins for UMCOR items as well as local agencies. I love the smell of the library and how the UMW Reading List books are prominently displayed. (The colorful butterflies created by children say that all ages are welcome here!)
Sunday School rooms tell a lot about the people who meet there each week. The items you display and the things you store in cabinets, signup sheets for refreshments and teaching, and prayer concerns written on the board all say that Christian fellowship and education are important. I have spent time in each room I visited offering a prayer of thanksgiving for the learning that has gone on. I imagine conversations that have taken place as members strive to love and care for one another in difficult times.
Although I cannot visualize who sits in which pew, I assume most of you usually sit in the same spot! I have sat in different pews while listening to one of the students practice organ and offered prayers for those who come each Sunday. Prayers of gratitude are offered also for those whose precious memories fill the room as well as those we will welcome in the future.
In this time of being physically apart, I often pray the hymn by John Fawcett:
Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.
I pray that we are each aware of God’s Holy and Connecting Spirit; the tie that binds. Through the mystery and benevolence of the Holy Spirit, we are indeed together. I am grateful to be joined with you at Church Street United Methodist Church. The clergy here have welcomed Rev. Tim Best and me graciously. We look forward to working alongside Palmer, Jan, Andy, and Pat. Your staff has made transition easy! How fortunate we are to have a committed and talented staff! I know you appreciate them!
As the hymn continues,
… we shall still be joined in heart
And hope to meet again (let’s change ‘again’ to ‘soon’!)
Thankful for all of the ways we can be joined!
Blessings to you –
Catherine
Prayer for Today – July 2
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
July 2, 2020
Pastor Jan
This is one of those days, Lord, when in spite of summer warmth, there is a chill in the air and even in our hearts. Why these seasons of the spirit come we do not know, but when they do, we prefer sitting in emptiness rather than turning to the warmth of your words and your caring ways. Rekindle the embers of our hearts, O Flame of Goodness, that in the hours ahead, we may remember our commitment doesn’t depend upon how we happen to feel at any given moment. You will use whatever cold offerings we bring to create a spark of home somewhere. Ignite that hope in us again too, we pray.
God of Goodness, hear our prayer.
We know you bear the pain of your people, but there are so many burdens to be borne. Anger and violence have permeated our streets and neighborhoods. Lawlessness increases where peace once reigned. Halls of governments are filled with rancor and distrust. We are held hostage by a virulent disease for which no cure has been discovered, and so many of your people fade away behind barriers of protection, forgetting who they are. We believe you have answers to our dilemma, O God, but we pray you would not tarry too long, for we seem to be sinking under the weight of our pain.
God of Goodness, hear our prayer.
O Master of Surprise, through the ages you have brought restoration when all seemed hopeless. You have always presented yourself in unexpected ways to your confused and hurting people. Give us patience and courage, we pray, to endure our present trials, knowing you have not forgotten us. And also remember these praises and pleas that are offered by members of your Church Street family:
In your tender compassion, watch over our family of faith, that we may become more and more aware of your surprising grace.
God of Goodness, hear our prayer.
O Fount of Wisdom, you spoke your words through the prophets and through Jesus himself, telling us we were indeed our brothers’ keeper – to speak in love and kindness to the stranger, to comfort the fallen, to feed the poor, to offer hope to the bereft. How wise you are in your teaching, for you knew that when we serve the other, our own worries subside. Astonishing is the manner in which you are transforming us!
God of Goodness, hear our prayer.
Wrap up these petitions, Faithful One, and carry them in your basket of peace; and we will rest easy, knowing peace will come in good time, and that all shall be well:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for a midday devotion!
Head to our Facebook page at noon to hear from new Sr. Associate Pastor Tim Best and Rev. Palmer Cantler.
Prayer for Today – July 1
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
July 1, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Song of Welcome, the psalmist urges us to come into your presence with singing, making a joyful noise throughout the land! Thus we enter the gates of this new day, lifting high our thankful praise for all the ways you have cared for us . . . How can we but glorify you, whose mercy and truth are everlasting? Oh, sing in our hearts, Lord, throughout this day!
Sacred One, hear our prayer.
O God With Us, could we ever enumerate the times you remained close beside us during our life’s journeys? We reflect now, bringing to mind those special instances when we felt your presence most keenly . . . Your mercy has been our rock of refuge when loss, doubt, depression, illness, even despair entered our lives. It was your power working within us that held us firm.
Sacred One, hear our prayer.
We trust in you, Framer of the Universe, and believe you hear the smallest creature that calls your name. As you count even the sparrow as worthy of your grace, receive these concerns and joys which are carried to your door by your people at Church Street:
As you sustain us, Lord, through all our challenges, may we learn more of your grace at the core of our being.
Sacred One, hear our prayer.
Canticle of Hope, continue to chant your lyrics of renewal in the background of our days, that, taking up your song, our own strains of praise might reach those who do not yet know of the recreating love of Jesus, the One who taught us to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – June 30
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 30, 2020
Pastor Jan
You search us out day by day, Good Shepherd, desiring to know us more fully, to help us understand our own fears and longings, to show us how we might make decisions that are life-affirming. We praise you for wanting the best for us, O Lord. Work your wonders in our souls today, until our hearts beat in steady rhythm with yours.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God of the Apostles and Prophets, your cries for justice rang out through your messengers who walked the ancient roads of oppression. It wasn’t their own words they uttered, for you so eloquently spoke through them. May your words of mercy, equity, and peace flow through us as well, that we may call out freely in support of the needy, the neglected, the overwrought, the outcast. But not our words alone, we pray, for our deeds underscore the depth of your love for the maltreated.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Patient One, these months of the pandemic have brought us to our knees. Roadblocks have appeared just when we thought we were on the edge of release. Our hopes are dashed when outbreaks of the insidious illness flare up in unexpected places. This is truly a frightening era; yet keep reminding us that your blessings are still arriving. We have witnessed miracles of your healing presence in the births of healthy babies and lives restored to health; you have shown us new avenues of worship and have quickened our passion for justice. Yes, O Lord, you are teaching us patience as you continue to touch us with newness. And as we trust in your providence to sustain us, we lift again today both the gladness and the hopes of our Church Street family:
Living Lord, we remain a blessed people, for you have heard our prayers, are giving us release, and are always working for wholeness on our behalf. May we never take you for granted, O Holy One, for we know the grace you shower upon us in this realm is but a foretaste of that grace so evident in your home above:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – June 29
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 29, 2020
Pastor Jan
The prophet dreamed of a time when lions and oxen would feed together, when leopards and lambs would play in the same field, when wolves would sleep with the cattle. We hold that same vision, Lord. We also long for the violence to evaporate as the dew, for injustice to be blown away as dust, for anger to melt as the frost. Some say such dreams are fantasies, for distrust and division have always been with us. Yet we hold onto that holy hope, as we trust in the God of Miracles, the One who created the good earth, blessed it with wildlife, who called forth humankind to be at work re-creating in his name, and who even brought life out of death.
Praise be to you, O Lord.
Source of Renewal, we enter your presence, as you invited us to do so. You hollowed out that cavern within us that yearns for communion with the holy. Much is taking place beyond our veil of knowing, for your Spirit works in ways and in places of which we have never heard. Fill that empty space you created inside us, we pray, for it is just large enough for that presence for which we thirst. We shall rest now in silence and let you touch whatever it is that needs attention . . . For your radical love that accepts us, for your amazing grace that replenishes us, and for your covenant blessing which binds us to you, we are grateful and humbled.
Praise be to you, O Lord.
Accompany those who travel with heavy sorrows this day, O Lord, as they stumble through the dark expanse of pain. As Jesus also knew the sharp edges of loss, we know he will walk with them. And when they fall, may they realize they do not fall alone. There are others who cry out to you, as well, so attend to these Church Street members who bring their own praises and concerns this day, knowing their pain is your pain, their joys are your joys:
Thank you, Blessed One, for always leaving your door ajar, just in case we cry out.
Praise be to you, O Lord.
In spite of our unworthiness, Generous Friend, you treasure us and have even made us members of your very own family. We thank you for allowing us to be among those who call you Father and who pray with us these words taught by your Son:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for a midday devotion on Facebook!
Click here to join Katie and Evelyn Heatherly for a devotion at noon.
Prayer for Today – June 26
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 26, 2020
Pastor Jan
“For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies.
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies …”
Yes, Loving Creator, we are pilgrims upon this good earth, and it has sustained and blessed us richly. You have made our planet an artist’s palette of hues and tints: grassy plots moist with dew, dancing sunlight on pink calla lilies, green shimmering leaves, sturdy branches of shade, filmy clouds adrift in an azure sky. All praise to you, O Lord, for each of these! As we move through the hours ahead, may we not forget to seek you in the smallest corners of the day. And if we go in search of more gifts along the way, remind us of all that we have already.
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“For the gift of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above, all who breathe thoughts kind and mild…”
O Lord of Justice, we remember those who walk for peace and equity, for those who refuse to return violence for violence, those who speak reason to the unreasonable. We pray for those who labor to lift the burdens of all who suffer. Particularly we remember those close to us who dedicate themselves to the work of peace . . . And we remember, as well, these friends and families of Church Street who carry both gratitude and burdens within their own souls:
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“For thyself, best Gift Divine, to the world so freely given
For that great, great love of thine, peace on earth and joy in heaven. . . “
Summer clarity sometimes turns our thoughts to our early years and to those who shaped our walk of faith. We remember parents who were imperfect, yet who tried to point us in the right direction. We recall those who shared Jesus with us and who told us we were chosen, special even. We remember those who encouraged us when we were tentative, who named our gifts and talents. No one is truly self-made; we are clay in the hands of those who cherished us. How marvelous are your ways, O God, for you are still molding us to suit your purposes! And when we travel to your holy realm, you shall finish the work of forming us into perfect vessels, fit for your kingdom.
Fount of mercy mercy, hear our prayer.
“Lord of All, to you we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise!”
As you greeted us in love at dawn, we trust you to bring us to the close of this day in that same love:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – June 25
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 25, 2020
Pastor Jan
O God on the Move, you continue to call your servants to prepare for the journey. Just as the Israelites traveled from pillar to post, Jesus’ disciples were also itinerants, strangers stepping into unfriendly conclaves. Bless richly, O Lord, those who give up their home places to serve you far and wide. May we not forget them in their journeys, as they join with persons of different backgrounds, languages, and customs in living out your gospel truth. We are not all called to rove, but we are called to remember these traveling ones in our prayers and in our financial giving. Our reward is to know that we are somehow supporting the feet of your messengers who walk distant byways to proclaim the love of Christ.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Most days, O Source of Grace, we spend our hours in the smaller world of our homes, our neighborhoods, our familiar shops and workplaces. We stick to the traditional route. Help us, though, to become more aware of the larger world where frightful situations exist. Jesus said we would always have the poor with us – the poor in spirit, the poor in understanding, the poor in health, the poor in hope. How will we see them, however, if we remain within the gates we’ve erected? We may not be able to help all those who are hurting, but through your grace, we might become at least a small part of your healing.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Fountain of Mercy, we recall how Jesus showed mercy to the outcast, the unclean, the undeserving, even to the blatantly evil ones. All these years we have struggled to do the same, but we still shy away from handing out mercy so freely. Perhaps you shake your head and throw up your hands, O God, when we are so frugal with our grace. And perhaps you are saying to us even now: “Little Ones, do you not know you may be entertaining angels unaware?” Oh yes, we forgot about that.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We lean on you this day, O Tower of Truth, to manage what lies in the hours to come. Whether blessing or burden, may we receive what appears, knowing your Son spoke truth when he said he would be with us even to the end of the age. And especially be with these who open their hearts to you:
Receive our prayers we offer this day, O Lord, as we have been touched by your presence. We are confident that the utterances of our souls are bound up with all those who pray today as Jesus taught:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – June 24
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
June 24, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Generous One, this day we lift our eyes to the heavens and offer our praise. As scripture tells us, you cause the rain to fall on the just and the unjust alike. So too you offer freely your drifting, translucent clouds, your shimmering rays of sunlight, your bracing breezes. You are a spendthrift God who lavishes goodness without restraint. Teach us, your people, to be as excessive in our own distribution of blessings. May we offer grace to the just and the unjust, to those whose beliefs and politics offend us, to those whose appearance and habits we find improper. You are leading each of us homeward, so let us be gracious to those who are traveling in the same direction, if only by another road.
God our helper, hear our prayer.
Sometimes throughout the day we become lulled by the routine and move slow-footed through the hours. Give us wake-up calls along the way, O God, else we will remain unaware of the secret ways you are at work around us. Call our attention to the mystery of an encounter, the blessing of a moment, the whiff of your presence. Your most precious gifts are often hidden in the mundane, so keep us awake, we pray, lest we miss your quiet glory.
God our helper, hear our prayer.
We open our hearts, that our compassion might mirror your own. We lift up those who wait: for the medical test results, for the divorce decree, for the loneliness to end, for the new job, for the illness to pass, for death to draw near. Watch over all of us who wait in hope, O Lord, and also over these church friends who ask to be remembered:
Eternal Guide, we ask for your forgiveness of our sins, particularly these private offenses . . . ; and also we confess our collective sins of rampant greed, exploitation of the poor, careless use of your creation. Turn our minds toward the reality of our actions, and turn our hearts to the truth of Jesus, who taught us to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.