BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 28, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Love Ever Near, we rejoice that you have brought us to a new day – another chance to experience your grace. Open our senses that we may detect your grace in even the smallest things: faithfulness of the postman, dedication of the grocery workers, the roof that protects us, aroma of dinner on the stove, the unexpected text from a long-ago acquaintance, the dew upon the peonies, the wren that sings despite the rain. All are rare treasures – undeserved and often overlooked. Refresh us through all that we see, hear, taste, smell and feel this day.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O God, Source of All Insight, forgive our shallow understanding of your love for us and the joy you experience when we call your name. Our vaporous concepts cannot contain all that you truly are. Surely it is enough, however, that we know you as Blessed Friend, for a true friend is what we need in this perplexing season in which we now live.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

If not for you, Holy Companion, to whom could we turn? Stay beside us and through your grace, we will step forward with heightened assurance, knowing you will catch us if we fall. Help each of us who offer prayers today, and especially those who offer specific requests. May we all feel the presence of our forever Friend:

• Gratitude for the life of a great Christian lady – for her faith & lifelong service
• Gratitude for my grandson’s 13^th birthday yesterday
• Thank you for praying: A friend expects full recovery from COVID-19
• Thankful for clergy and staff working hard to lead and support our members
• A relative in Florida, recipient of double lung transplant, just returned to ICU
• Courage and support for a mother confronting a circumstance that is dangerous to the health of her children
• Guidance and grace for new mother facing a potentially tragic family situation
• Prayers for a mother recovering from surgery
• Please pray for confidence and easing of stress of small business owners and that financial recovery will come soon
• A dear friend facing surgery tomorrow for rectal cancer and her surgeon
• Pray for all to find rest, to practice patience and wisdom, and to extend grace to others during this challenging time
• Wisdom for all decision-makers as they plan to open healthcare facilities – for judicious planning and guidance in keeping staffs, clients, and workers safe
• Presence of the Holy Spirit for a beloved family member approaching death

These prayers, along with all our unspoken ones, we place in your hands and heart.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Steadfast One, we remember the good news that Jesus brought and we are confident that our trust and his mercy will see us through. It is in his blessed name we do 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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 26, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Creator of This New Day, made Holy through your Son’s resurrection, touch us with your mystery and your surprising hope. We enter this Sabbath, ready to see your power working through us in some bold new way. May we be watchful in the time ahead, lest we miss the hour of your arrival.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Forgive us, Good Lord, when our conversations turn into a litany of complaints, when our thoughts and our discussions reflect the colors of gloom and gray. Remind us that the world has a sufficient supply of moaning and criticism, and our grumbling only clutters the air. Bring your brightness to the dark corners of our souls, we pray, and help us to speak and live as people who trust in their Redeemer.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Still, it is true that you long to hear from your children. As the epistle writer taught: “Cast all your cares upon him, for he cares for you.” Therefore, we need not hesitate to bring our concerns into your presence, for you are aware that we long for stability, the absence of fear, the embrace of loved ones, freedom of movement within our community, gathering with our church friends, the regular paycheck. All these we bring to you, as well as the deepest needs voiced by our church family.

• Thank you for prayers – man with brain bleed is now out of ICU
• Homebound mother is grateful for all who send her cards and make her smile
• Widow is thankful for her neighbor who brings her mail and her groceries
• Gratitude: a friend only has one more week of total isolation
• Family grieving death of a young adult son and family grieving death of a husband
• Healing for an aging mother who had emergency surgery yesterday and for her daughter who worries
• Blessing of all who are near death, peace for their loved ones who stand by
• Prayers for a nephew (age 35) is in a coma, drug addiction; peace for his family
• Continued protection for all healthcare workers and first responders
• Prayers to sustain parents and family mourning the death of a beloved daughter
• Prayers for strength and courage for a close friend who faces cancer surgery this week
• Please pray for confidence and easing of stress of small business owners & that recovery will come soon

Take these, our deepest cares, we pray, and help us to feel you at work in each situation. Ours is not to know all things; yet we believe that every prayer uttered is worthy of your grace and is held in sacred trust in that holy realm.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Stand by us, Strengthening God, for you remain our anchor in these unsettling days.

And it is in the name of our risen friend Jesus that we offer our petitions:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 24, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

From the rising of the sun, to the going down of the same, may Jesus Christ be praised! Lord, you know our faults even before we name them. You have heard our prayers offered these past weeks and you know what concerns us most deeply. Through the sacrifice of his life and the resurrection of your Son, we know that nothing is impossible for you. Christ has ripped apart the barriers that separate us from your love. And as you know us so well, and you love us so deeply, fill us all with hope, we pray, and grant us your peace.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Forgive us, O Loving Creator, when we don’t give ourselves permission to rest or time to stop and take in the glories you have placed in our midst. And forgive us also for not loving ourselves enough, for too often neglecting our own needs. Help us make time to remember that it was you who knit us together in our mother’s wombs and that we are wonderfully made. Send your Spirit among us this day, that we might receive the joy you intend for us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

And as you taught us to reveal our innermost thoughts to you, we sincerely offer our gratitudes and our burdens, knowing they will be lovingly received:

• Gratitude: A faithful member celebrates her latest cancer scans; she is progressing well & is given a reprieve from a harsh medication
• Gratitude for monies donated thus far to help a family replace a roof
• Thanksgiving: A member joyfully celebrates her final chemo treatment
• Prayers for a cherished mother, newly diagnosed lung cancer
• Pray for a hospital administrator and his staff as they plan the opening of their facility in early May; that all involved might remain safe
• Prayers for a peaceful death for a beloved mother
• Beloved uncle with COVID-19 and multiple complications
• Continued protection for all healthy first responders and healing for those who contracted the virus while serving in the line of duty
• That governments everywhere be prudent as they move toward reopening public businesses and spaces
• Business owners who are stressed financially and emotionally – for healing and stability to come
• Pray for a wife mourning the death of her husband on Wednesday
• A young cousin very ill, prognosis is not promising and for his family

We sense your presence in each situation, O Gracious One. And in your own silent way, work your miracles among us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Keep us bound together as one community, Faithful Lord, as the path that lies before us is indistinct; but we know our future is in your loving hands:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 22, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation!

We offer our praise to you this morning, for you offer us this day with all its possibilities. We enter these first hours of light, bringing with us our own stories, our hopes, and our fears. Prepare our hearts, Generous God, that we might recognize and receive the goodness you have already planted at our fingertips. May we also examine our souls in these moments, offering our sincere regrets and remorse . . .

Wipe away all our misdoings that have come before, for we are your cherished ones, and you are ever willing to offer us a day of new beginnings.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Lord Jesus, we remember that through your words and touch, those who were distressed found peace and those who were tormented found rest. You wept over the city you loved, and you shed tears when your own friend Lazarus died. As our own Wounded Healer, who shares our mourning and our grief, bless all who are engaged in healing ministries during this time of trouble: those who work in hospitals and hospices, nursing homes and assisted living residences; for nurses, technicians, doctors, chaplains, and counselors; for peacekeepers, priests, and pastors. Through your healing grace, uphold all who love you, all who seek you, and all who need you.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Most particularly, hear us now, as we voice these petitions on behalf or our church family — our thanksgivings and also our prayers of pain and concern — which we lift up to your listening ear:

• Physician parents give thanks: their young children remain healthy
• Praises: a very ill sister has been granted release from the hospital
• Grandparents rejoice in being able to spend more time with a bright and beautiful young grandson
• Prayers appreciated: no new cancer cells discovered in today’s scans
• Gratitude: Daughter in PA (nurse) with COVID-19 is feeling much better
• Courage for church families enduring financial & emotional stress
• Parents under great strain; healing and help for three of their adult children who suffer emotional and psychological maladies
• A mother and adult children in conflict, for understanding & healing
• Prayers for an adult son to enter a drug rehab program
• Four faithful churchwomen who are undergoing cancer treatments
• Peace for a friend with rectal cancer as she faces surgery next week
• Healing prayers for an 8-yr-old cousin with lymphoma at St. Jude’s
• An uncle in Illinois with pre-existing conditions suffers from COVID-19
• Peace for loved ones nearing death, peace for grieving family members
• That job openings may come soon, as the virus threat lessens

We depend upon you always, Healing God, for we know that wherever there is love and caring, you are also there.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Jesus, our Friend, be with us this day and every day, for all that we have, all that we are, and all we hope to be, we offer in your name:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 20, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Jesus, we remember, called out to Mary in her grief as she wept beside the empty tomb. This day, we ask that you might call out our names as well, reminding us that we are not alone. Perhaps you will speak to us through the whisper of the wind, the streaks of blue appearing in a cloudy sky or within the ripples of light on a puddle of rain. As we manage our present struggles, keep us poised to listen, as did Mary; and like that great woman of faith, also make us worthy witnesses to your Easter grace.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

All-knowing God, you know us, and you understand who and what we are. Before any words are uttered, you know already what it is that delights our hearts, and what saddens and disturbs us. You are aware of the harsh and bitter words we have spoken and the ways in which we have hurt others.  Hear our private confessions which we now offer to your ear alone . . .

Jesus said: I forgive you; I love you; Go and sin no more. Write those words upon our hearts, we pray, that we might turn our backs on what is past.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

God of All Hopefulness, when we turn to our God who is the rock that shelters us, we know we are safe from all that threatens. And so, with hopeful hearts, we lay before you these prayers from our church family. For certain we are weakened and tense, but we believe in the One who will answer us in due time, and will turn our mourning into dancing:

• Thankful for prayers: friend who had emergency surgery is now home
• Grateful for word that loved ones in seclusion in NC are safe
• A daughter working in China remains in good health
• Thankful: a diabetic brother is heeding virus protection regulations
• Pray for all who are locked away in assisted living facilities, for family and friends who long to visit, touch, and support their loved ones
• A frontline healthcare worker who misses her young son; he remains with family in Chattanooga, for his protection from COVID-19
• For resolve to share bountifully what we have with our brothers and sisters who find themselves in financial need
• Church families enduring stress and heavy financial worries
• A sister-in-law in an Atlanta hospital after a fall, now on a ventilator
• Healing for a daughter – symptomatic of COVID-19
• Peace for a very ill mother, strength for a daughter who stands by
• Distressed friend who must have more chemo and radiation treatments
• Our private prayers of gratitude and guidance

May the Light of God keep us, the power of God sustain us, and the caress of God heal us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

Holy Lord, beginning today, increase our gratitude, erase our apathy, and deepen our commitment, that our very lives might become signs of the kingdom for which we 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.

 

Join us for a short live devotion today at noon!

This premieres live on our Facebook page at noon – see you then.