Prayer for Today – November 17

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 17, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Creating God, as your Spirit moved over the chaos to give light and life to our world, send that same spirit around and through us today to awaken what has withered within. We confess that we move as automatons amid the hours, giving only a rare nod to the glory that you have placed so near. Leaves smile and sparkle, birds offer you praise, supple moss softens the footpath, pansies bow their heads as the wind calls your name. Awaken us from our stupor! Help us relinquish our dreams of another life, for in so many ways, we are already living the dream.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Noble Giver, we confess that we place our trust in passing trends, in the false idols of wealth and fame.  Worldly glory and acclaim are tenuous.  We know this, but we confess that envy seeps into our spirits far too often.  We note what others possess and witness the freedom their affluence offers them.  Remind us that prestige and prosperity do not move us closer to your side; teach us to be content with what we have, for we have more than enough.  Forgive our foolish wanderings, we pray, and help us cling to Christ, who works through your grace to meet all our needs.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Enduring One, we who abide in your fold admit that we are shaken by the suffering so near at hand.  Before we can absorb one grief, another takes its place. Be with each one afflicted with the coronavirus, we pray:  those who are ill, especially those in critical care; those who cringe in fear; each one who grieves the loss of loved ones who succumbed to the disease; those isolated from family and friends, especially those who are confused; those whose livelihoods have been disrupted; educators and students trying to move forward in spite of great obstacles; caregivers and healthcare workers whose energy is all but depleted.  Shine your unfading light upon each one, rekindling their broken spirits, that they may feel our prayers on their behalf, that they may know they are not alone, and that they be secure in their hearts that your strength will see them through.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

And as you offer us every opportunity to share our deepest selves with you, we place before you these additional needs and gratitudes of your people and Church Street.  Thank you for never too busy to listen when we call:

  • Celebration of husband’s return home after delicate heart surgery
  • Gratitude for test results showing no indication of cancer
  • Thanksgiving: Member home following bypass surgery
  • Grateful that beloved mother is recovering well from virus
  • Refugee children held on US border, that they may be released and reunited with their families before Christmas
  • Prayers for resolution of conflicts within two families
  • Peace for faithful member awaiting PET scan results this week
  • Protection of all healthcare workers who serve at great risk
  • Lift up a very ill sister-in-law who remains in ICU with COVID
  • Healing of teenage daughter, courage for worried parents
  • Comfort for husband whose young wife died last week and for entire family who are trying to find a way forward
  • Solace for two sons who grieve the death of their mother on Saturday
  • Prayers that a lonely daughter will find friends and companionship
  • Healing for a beloved mother & a father hospitalized with COVID
  • Strength and guidance for caregiver; continued healing for her husband
  • Mercy and peace for wife whose husband (51) died of a massive stroke
  • Healing from virus: young grandson and a young granddaughter
  • Prayers that a daughter finds the work God wants her to undertake
  • Faithful Christian friend with progressive cancer, now in ICU
  • A hospitalized brother, healing of foot infection, strength for family

Watch over us in these bleak times, O Lord, for we trust you will bear us up on eagle wings, as you have done from age to age, and one day we shall soar high above to reside with you and with your Beloved Son, who taught us this prayer:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 16

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 16, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

If thou wilt suffer God to guide thee, and hope in God through all thy ways,

God will give strength, whate’er betide thee, and bear thee through the hardest days.

We offer praise to you, Lord God, for our church family. We thank you for all those who came before us, those who built our structure and dedicated it to your purposes, for those saints who guided us in walking in Jesus’ steps. We know that we are reaping what these other witnesses have sown – those who also lived through hard times. And like them, may we faithfully love, work, and serve your people, that even those yet unborn may benefit from our own labor. For we take comfort in knowing that when you call us home, we will rejoin that larger Church Street family, and indeed all your devoted servants, in that realm that has joy beyond our perception.

 

Sing, pray, and keep God’s ways unswerving; so do thine own part faithfully;

And trust God’s word, though undeserving, thou yet shall fine it true for thee. 

And even though we must be away from our beloved physical structure during this time of widespread virus, we believe you are holding us together in the invisible web of your love. You, O Unknowable One, are above and beyond both steeple and spire, both archway and font, both pulpit and altar. These merely point to your heavenly goodness. So while we are physically apart, let us imagine our house of worship permanently planted within our hearts. And with each heartbeat, we will be continually singing as one, lifting up those ageless hymns, celebrating the One who claims us and who will lead us safely back to Henley at his appointed time.

Watchful Savior, we pray for our created world and for all its inhabitants, each of whom you know intimately.  We focus far too intently on what has gone wrong in our lives, and in the lives of others. But ever so often, turn our attention to what we have received already through your untold generosity. One great gift is your invitation to offer our celebrations and our burdens, so hear now these sentiments that rise from the souls of your people at Church Street:

  • Member is grateful that her eye procedure on Thursday was successful
  • Family thankful husband/father was released from hospital on Friday
  • Thankful that friend recovering from open heart surgery is improving
  • Gratitude for the life of a loving Christian wife who died on Saturday
  • Thanksgiving that a father in ICU is much improved
  • Lift up a very ill sister-in-law who remains in ICU with COVID
  • Prayers for good news for member having imp medical test today
  • Comfort for husband whose young wife died this week and for entire family who are mourning her sudden death
  • Solace for two sons who grieve the death of their mother on Saturday
  • Prayers that a lonely daughter will find friends and companionship
  • Healing for a beloved mother and a father hospitalized with COVID
  • Strength and guidance for caregiver; continued healing for her husband
  • Comfort for beloved wife suffering from metastatic cancer and her family
  • Mercy and peace for wife whose husband (51) died of a massive stroke
  • Healing prayers for one recovering from delicate heart surgery
  • College-age grandson with COVID, that he may heal sufficiently to  finish his semester
  • Dear faithful Christian friend with progressive cancer, now in ICU
  • Healing for teenage daughter, wisdom and peace for her loving parents
  • A hospitalized brother, healing of foot infection, strength for family
  • Recovery from COVID for loved ones in hospitals and healthcare facilities

 

Only be still, and wait God’s leisure, in cheerful hope, with heart content,

To take whate’er thy Maker’s pleasure and all-discerning love hath sent.

Gentle Jesus, you once promised: “Ask and it shall be given.” And so we ask for these gifts:  for the courage to be brave in this time of stress; for the strength to carry out with hopeful hearts the ministries to which you have called us; for the tenacity to hold on, even when others are giving up; and for the love that moves us to be still and patient, and yet prepared, for whatever befalls. All these things we pray in your blessed name, just as you taught us:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 12

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 12, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

O Silent Companion, we are again apprised of the numbers — numbers representing the ill ones, breathing souls who are beloved of God. When did it happen that our days were clouded by statistics? Numbers are meaningless when we must peer through a window to blow a kiss to that one cherished relative, when we must refrain from hugging that one hurting friend, when we attend to the needs of our own family member who has contracted the virus. “How long?” asked the psalmist whose own heart was breaking, and we fatigued ones put forth that same query: How long before this uneasiness is banished?

Forgiving One, in this vexing time of separation, we tend to heap our complaints and questions high, leaving them in little piles across your path. But you listen calmly as we offer them, and even lend your ear when we hand out advice on how you should fix what has been broken. We confess that we are full of hubris and lack the patience of the faithful. Give us that perseverance of the saints, we pray, that we, as they, might endure our inconveniences and misfortunes with grace.

Though the time of freedom remains uncertain, somehow, kindness and thoughtfulness thread themselves through our days, offering us their wisdom. It may be that the road stretches further than we can imagine, but the Suffering One walks with us, bearing hope. And even when the winds of dullness and routine blow rattle the windows of our lives, even when doubts hunker down deep within, his love becomes a blanket that tenderly wraps itself around every stone-cold heart.

Wrap all our hearts in your blanket of love, we pray, and especially these ones whose personal burdens are too heavy for them to bear alone:

  • Gratitude for member’s successful bypass surgery yesterday
  • Thanksgiving that lung pathology report was promising
  • One is grateful for assistance in caring for a handicapped brother
  • Prayers appreciated: Nephew with COVID moved from ICU
  • Prayers for healing of a member recovering from COVID at home
  • Lift up a sister-in-law who remains in ICU, but is improving
  • Healing for a young grandson in D. C.
  • God’s presence with grieving family – sudden death of daughter (28)
  • Comfort for beloved wife suffering from metastatic cancer& her family
  • That tensions surrounding the presidential election will ease
  • Healing prayers for one recovering from delicate heart surgery
  • Peace & assurance for daughter and granddaughter caring for ill mother
  • For successful procedure: member having glaucoma surgery today
  • Dear faithful Christian friend with progressive cancer, now in ICU
  • Grieving family: loved one with COVID and pneumonia died yesterday
  • Healing for teenage daughter, wisdom and peace for her loving parents
  • A hospitalized brother, healing of foot infection, strength for family
  • Pray for complete recovery from COVID for loved ones in hospitals and in healthcare facilities
  • Prayers for one recovering from surgery on both knees
  • Prayers for faithful member, in hospice care at home, strength for family

Turn our eyes upon Jesus, Good Lord, for his life mirrors what we ourselves hope to become. In all his ways he acknowledged you, so bear with us until we also arise each morning singing praises for all the goodness woven into our lives; and lying down each evening in peace, knowing it is Christ who is our Eternal Rest:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 11

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 11, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Great and Gentle God, you seem to know that this is a time when we need your brightness more than ever, and that is why you have bequeathed us this strand of dazzling days. In the brightness we can more easily detect your presence and are even more aware of those gentle gifts that come our way: a meal delivered, a timely phone call, the quiet loyalty of a spouse or loved one, the sudden insight that makes all the difference in our faith, the word of wisdom that comes from the aging friend, the memory of a past blessing, a note of encouragement. You come to us in little nudges, new every day, O Lord, urging us to move on, showing us that life is worth the living.

You see our hearts, dear Lord, and the painful memories and regrets that abide therein. There are the harsh words we spoke yesterday that cut as sharp as a sword; there is the face of one who longed for a word of gratitude, yet our lips were silent as stone; there was the frivolous purchase that we made in a casual manner, forgetting the transaction itself could have fed a family of four. Forgive our insensitivity, we pray, for we want to be free of all our flaws. May tomorrow bring another set of hours, another cleansing beam, and other chances for us to set things right.

And there are many who need a fresh touch of grace: our public servants who keep order; those who work diligently for a cure for the dreaded COVID-19 virus; depleted healthcare workers whose hours are long and whose lives remain at risk; educators who trudge forward, balancing virtual and in-person teaching responsibilities; those for whom infirmity has become a way of life; those who have no family to help them bear their burdens. All these, and the special ones in our hearts we lift up to you in these moments:  . . . . . . . . . . . We can picture you wearing our burdens as a yoke upon your shoulders, O Christ, and we are humbled that your desire is to ease our souls.

In your mercy receive all that we offer, asking that you also accept these special concerns and joyful thanksgivings which come from the hearts of your Church Street family:

  • Member’s kidney surgery yesterday was successful, prayers appreciated
  • Thankful for prayers: A friend’s hysterectomy went well
  • Gratitude that a new home build is progressing nicely
  • Thanksgiving for the United Methodist Women’s Service of Remembrance yesterday
  • Prayers for healing of a member recovering from COVID-19 at home
  • Comfort for beloved wife suffering from metastatic cancer; peace for her grieving husband and friends
  • That tensions surrounding the presidential election will ease
  • Continue prayers for one recovering from delicate heart surgery at Vanderbilt, strength and comfort for his family
  • For peace to surround mother in hospice care, and her family
  • Please pray for healing of a family member in ICU, weak with virus
  • Pray for promising pathology reports for an ill member
  • Dear friend hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia
  • Healing for teenage daughter, wisdom and peace for her loving parents
  • A hospitalized brother, healing of his foot infection, strength for family
  • Staff and residents at local facility where virus numbers have spiked
  • Pray for loving husband whose Parkinson’s is debilitating
  • Continued prayer for autistic grandson, for healing of recent symptoms

We pray all of this, holding fast to the hope that you are our Sovereign and the Sustainer of our lives.  And even though we cannot put into words just what it is that we believe, we pray through your Spirit, laying everything before you in the name of your Son, as we pray together:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 10

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 10, 2020

God of Today and Every Day, we are fragile folk and we confess that we have allowed fear to control our lives. Our hearts are tattered and our minds race as we wait for the next blow: “What if…… happens?” we ask ourselves. Calm our trembling notions, we pray, as we face the unknown. Even in the throes of governmental change, even in midst of a pandemic, even when lawlessness has become commonplace, even when we live in the shadows of a broken world, you are with us. Today and every day, Good Lord, speak your peace to our restless souls. We long to remain firm in the faith that we have openly confessed. And what we have confessed may we practice boldly.

Thank you for planting desire in our hearts—a desire to know you, a desire to be better people. You show us the faces of so many living on the edge, the homeless and mentally ill, those who are going through the motions of living, existing amid oppression and denied a chance to realize their dreams and talents. Our efforts to rectify seem insignificant in the frame of such great need; but as they have crossed our path, we know they are precious in your sight, and you intend our hands to hold out your grace and hope to each.

As we pray for all those souls who search for an open door, we also offer the prayers of our inmost hearts, our thanksgivings, our burdens and our desires known only to you . . . . . . . . . .  And as your mercy envelopes all, continue to guard these who also offer their joys and their deepest desires to your care:

  • Gratitude: Beautiful fall foliage and more time at home to admire beauty
  • Thanksgiving for all who are praying for the victims of Covid-19
  • Thankful that wife is released from the hospital to recover at home
  • Member celebrates the completion of her radiation treatments
  • That tensions throughout our nation will turn toward peace
  • Prayers for member having kidney surgery today
  • Three members suffering from depression, that healing may come
  • Prayers for friend having hysterectomy today, that all might go well
  • Please pray for longtime friend in ICU, that she may overcome the virus
  • Prayers for faithful Christian physician recovering from heart surgery
  • Dear friend in Martin, Tennessee, hospitalized with Covid-19 complications
  • Healing for teenage daughter, peace for her loving parents
  • Staff and residents at local facility where virus numbers have spiked
  • A broken family, that parents may be led to healing relationship
  • Continued prayer for autistic grandson, for healing of recent symptoms
  • Prayers for friend with metastatic cancer, comfort for family

Lead us, Gracious God, to live in the way of Jesus, who was engaged with the world, but who was not of the world; who took on the form of a slave, but has since taken his rightful place beside you in glory. By his blessed example may we live out our days, for it is in his name we pray all these things:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 9

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 9, 2020

 

This is my commandment,

that you love one another as I have loved you.

Great Teacher, you ask of us a hard thing. Our experiences are limited, for many of us have never lived in foreign cultures nor have we been deeply exposed to the personal or collective histories that have shaped the mindsets of those who live on other shores. Our perspectives are as diverse as our understandings of your sacred goodness; and yet you command us to love each and all. And as you know, we even find it hard to live in love with our own kin, with those who bear our own resemblance and share our common history.

Ah, but then how far-reaching is your wisdom; for you are aware that when we concentrate on understanding the lives of others, when we focus on building our regard for the other, we will have far less time to dwell on our own petty concerns.  You are the Bridge-Builder, and if we too are to become wise, we will join in your labor, putting into place one small plank after another. Then you shall fasten them all together into your holy design and we shall all move freely across that platform of trust that stretches across the world.

All Renewing One, in this disquieting era of racial, cultural, and economic brokenness, we pray that your selfless love might bear fruit in our nation. We pray that you would implant your holy wisdom in the minds and hearts of both new and returning national officials just elected. Burn away our disrespect and disregard for the most vulnerable among us; melt the mistrust and misunderstanding that erodes the spirit. Renew the soul of our nation, and anchor our faith in you, that we might find a way for all to live out the life of freedom you plan for all.

Holy Comforter, we lift up all who face illness and adversity this day. Comfort those who are afraid; and give strength to those who love and care for them. May your holy peace wash over them, reminding them they are neither alone nor forgotten. Hear also these prayers that come from the hearts of your people at Church Street:

  • Thanksgiving for prayers: Family in North Carolina all recovered from virus
  • Gratitude: Family returned safely from Florida with promising news
  • Gratitude for two successful orthopedic surgeries on Friday
  • Family celebrates a granddaughter’s improved health
  • Continued thanks for healthcare workers and educators at all levels
  • Please pray for a lenient court ruling today for faithful member
  • Prayers for faithful Christian physician having heart surgery today, that he may recover to remain a shining witness to others
  • Dear friend in Martin, Tennessee, hospitalized with Covid-19 complications
  • Relief for those suffering from economic setbacks due to virus
  • Healing for teenage daughter, peace for her loving parents
  • Relief from postpartum depression and young mother’s anxiety
  • Faithful member having lung biopsy today, wisdom for medical team
  • Safety and peace for elderly mother in hospice care, peace for her family
  • Healing: young grandson with autism; a father’s depression
  • Continued prayers, nephew in Missouri, seriously ill with Covid-19
  • Prayers for friend with metastatic cancer, comfort for family

Spirit of Heavenly Hope, as you promised you would never leave us, may your brightest hope and love take root in our hearts, so that even during the dimmest days we will feel your empowering spirit stirring within. In the name of Christ we make our prayer:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 4

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 4, 2020

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear…

Be still, and know that I am God!

I am exalted among the nations; I am exalted in the earth.

-Psalm 46:1-2a, 10

All-Knowing God, in whom we live and move and have our being, we come before you this day with hopeful and trusting hearts. On this morning after an election that may continue to divide us as a nation, we bow before you in complete surrender, searching for your compassionate and healing presence to guide us in our life together. Although the final outcome may still be uncertain, we know that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” How do we move into your future with new eyes, new ears, new ways of being?

Merciful God, grant us patience in this time of waiting, for it is not only we who wait, but the entire world. What happens here not only affects us as a nation, but all your children everywhere. You call us to be a witness to your reconciling power, an instrument of healing in a broken, hurting world. Open our hearts and minds to the realization that we are part of a global village, a richly diverse gathering of all your children, yearning for your shalom – a world of peace with justice, where equality is more than a dream and peace is more than the absence of war.

Compassionate God, remind us that, in this time of anxious waiting, there are others who do not have the “luxury” of spending hours glued to the media coverage of unfolding results and events. Open our hearts that we may hear the cries of those in need – those without work, struggling to keep a roof over their heads and put food on their table; those whose lives have been shattered by a pandemic that will not end; those who live on our streets, longing for a friendly face and a word of hope; those who live in isolation, hungry for the touch of another human being; those who fear for their lives, uncertain of a future filled with so much racial tension and unrest. All these and more, though invisible to us, are in plain sight to you. Watch over these, your children, and also hear the concerns from your Church Street family:

  • Gratitude for a member’s successful hip surgery
  • Thanksgiving for CSUMC children and youth programs
  • Grateful cancer was detected early, only minor surgery required
  • Prayers for God’s healing and a way forward for our splintered nation
  • Prayers for young mother, relief from postpartum depression, anxiety
  • Two sons with major addictions, that they may pursue rehabilitation
  • Prayers for wife and family currently at Mayo Clinic, wisdom for doctors
  • Prayers for young grandson with autism, healing of his self-abuse
  • Continued prayers, nephew in Missouri, seriously ill with Covid-19
  • Member grieving on anniversary of wife’s death and many struggles
  • Sustaining dear friend and her family as they move her to a new facility
  • Healing and guidance for family – husband ailing with very serious illness
  • Strength for friend with metastatic cancer, wisdom for her physicians
  • Prayers that a federal court ruling on November 9 will be lenient and just
  • Healing of granddaughter (16) very ill with gastroparesis
  • Continued prayers for young wife battling leukemia
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care & her worried family

Break our hearts, O God, as your heart is breaking, and bring us to new understandings of what it means to be a true follower of Jesus Christ. Emblazon on our spirits our baptismal vows – “to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.” Free us from all that keeps us from joyful service and strengthen our resolve to walk the paths you place before us, secure in the knowledge that we do not walk alone.

Reconciling God, whatever the final results of the election, give us the grace to accept the leaders we as a people have chosen, and the willingness to work alongside them to bring hope and healing to your world. May they be open vessels, putting aside their own agendas to hear your still, small voice calling them to a life of servanthood. Keep ever before us that a life lived in service to others is the only life worth living. Following the example of Christ who modeled for us a life of servanthood that knew no bounds, we offer the prayer he taught us:

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.

Special thanks to Rev. Pat Clendenen for contributing to this week’s prayers.

Have a Prayer Request?

Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 3

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 3, 2020

Make me a channel of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love;
Where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord,
And where there’s doubt, true faith in You.

Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope;
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there’s sadness, ever joy.

O Master, grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.

-Sebastian Temple

We greet you this morning, Welcoming God, trusting in your divine presence and infinite wisdom to guide us throughout this day. This is an important time for our nation – we, the people of the United States of America – for on this day we will elect leaders who will take us into the future. May those we elect be ones whose guiding principles reflect a vision of shalom – peace with justice for all your children, both here and around the world.

As your beloved children, created in your image, we long to be channels of your peace, to stand above the fray as witnesses to the transforming power of your love. But how do we sing your song in the midst of all the chaos? It seems that we have lost our way, no longer able to celebrate the amazing diversity that defines us as a nation.

Throughout today and in the days to follow, may our thoughts, words, and actions be reflections of Christ’s love for each of us. Turn our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks that we may be agents of your healing peace and uniting love.

In the midst of all that seeks to consume us this day, may we not forget the hurting, the lost, the lonely, the outcast, the grieving, the ill, the dying, the dispossessed, and the disenfranchised. For many of these, the election may not be in the forefront of their lives, and voting may not even be a possibility. Yet, it is these, first and foremost, for whom Christ came, those whom we are called to serve in his name. Remind us that, as people of faith, it is for them also that we cast our vote.

And as on all days, we share our deepest joys and perplexities with you, knowing that it is your grace that upholds us all:

  • Grateful for prayers: Friend in North Carolina improving from virus infection
  • Thanksgiving for healthcare workers and their dedication
  • Family thankful that a pregnancy is proceeding well
  • Prayers for God’s healing and a way forward for our splintered nation
  • Prayers for young mother, relief from postpartum depression, anxiety
  • Two sons with major addictions, that they may pursue rehabilitation
  • Prayers for wife this week at the Mayo Clinic for further diagnosis of brain malady; safety and comfort for her faithful family
  • Prayers for young grandson with autism, healing of his self-abuse
  • Continued prayers, nephew in Missouri, seriously ill with Covid-19
  • Member grieving on anniversary of wife’s death and many struggles
  • Sustaining dear friend and her family as they move her to a new facility
  • Healing and guidance for family – husband ailing with very serious illness
  • Strength for friend with metastatic cancer, wisdom for her physicians
  • Prayers that a federal court ruling on November 9 will be lenient and just
  • Healing of granddaughter (16) very ill with gastroparesis
  • Continued prayers for young wife battling leukemia
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care and her worried family

God of grace and glory, you have told us through your prophet Micah what you require of us – to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with you. As “required” people, empowered by your Spirit, flood our hearts and minds with your vision for your world – the Beloved Community – and give us the courage and strength to walk into the future as channels of your peace, trusting that the Risen Christ goes before us to prepare the way. And so, as people of the Resurrection, we confidently offer the prayer he taught us:

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.

Special thanks to Rev. Pat Clendenen for contributing to this week’s prayers.

Have a Prayer Request?

Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – November 2

,

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 2, 2020

Great is thy faithfulness, O God…

Morning by morning new mercies we see.

O Holy One, with the sounds of the bells still faintly ringing in the distance, we find ourselves still longing to linger in yesterday’s celebration of All Saints Day. As we worshipped together, though physically separated, we found comfort and assurance, strength and hope. Your presence came to us in so many forms – the magnificent processional, the glorious sounds of the organ and singers, the read and spoken word. We could not help but feel that great cloud of witnesses standing with you and flooding our hearts and minds with love and peace.

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

As Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

O Faithful One, we are surrounded by so much uncertainty, and it is so easy for fear and anxiety to take hold, causing us to forget who we are and Whose we are. Help us to breathe deeply in your Spirit, opening our hearts to the many ways in which you reach out to us, and assuring us that, in those times when we stumble, you will carry us.

Comforting One, we lift to you this day the many concerns and needs within our church family, our community, our nation, and our world. Where we can be your hands and feet of comfort, assurance, and hope – whatever form that may take – gently nudge us and send us forth in the name of Christ.

  • Thankful that niece in Missouri is improving from virus
  • Gratitude: Pastor recovering from grave illness, home from hospital
  • Member grateful for prayers – she has landed the job she desired
  • Thanksgiving that a mother will be released from rehab today
  • Grateful for prayers: Members felt support as they buried a loved one
  • Two sons with major addictions, that they may pursue and find healing
  • Prayers for wife this week at Mayo Clinic for further diagnosis of brain malady; safety and comfort for her faithful family
  • Prayers for beloved grandson with autism, for healing of his most recent attempts to harm himself
  • Strength for friend with metastatic cancer, wisdom for her physicians
  • Granddaughter (18) with virus, protection for family, especially her father
  • Prayers that a court ruling on November 9 will be lenient
  • Healing of granddaughter (16) very ill with gastroparesis
  • Re-building of a business adversely affected by Covid-19 restrictions
  • Healing for best friend in North Carolina with virus; that her family is not infected
  • Continued prayers for young wife battling leukemia
  • Healing of dear friend – young man in critical care, battling Covid-19
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care
  • Nephew in Missouri on ventilator, in serious condition, with Covid-19

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow…

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

O Renewer of Life, send us forth into this new day with renewed hope and renewed spirits, reminding us that the great cloud of witnesses we celebrated yesterday are ringing bells for us on our life journey. May our thanksgiving for the lives they lived among us become thanksgiving, that we too may faithfully walk the path you set before.

In sure and certain hope of your constant presence and abiding love, we offer the prayer Christ taught us….

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.

Special thanks to Rev. Pat Clendenen for contributing to this week’s prayers.

Have a Prayer Request?

Submit your prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by

Prayer for Today – October 29

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 29, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Forever Guide, on this long journey called life, we confess that we do not always live as your people. We want to shine as the saints above, but we are often consumed in our own pursuits and do far too little to keep our promises. Day and night we have been swaddled in your love, fed by your mercy and nursed in your grace; and still we overlook the unfolding of your kingdom in our very midst. We thank you for our examples, those who left us legacies of trust. Sing to us the old songs of the saints, the melodies of your friends who continued to walk in your way of light, who lived by faith even when tribulations descended. Give us grace, we pray to join in that unending chorus of the faithful.

Redeeming God, these days you find us wringing our hands and lamenting, as so much around us seems to be swirling in disorder. Chaos appears to be gaining the upper hand across our own country, even threatening to cover your beautiful planet. We long for that land where justice rolls down as a mighty river and righteousness moves as an ever-flowing stream; but our fear of change blocks our path. Help us, Good Lord, to be bold enough to take those deliberate steps toward loving and understanding our brothers and sisters everywhere. We know you are a God who redeems, and pray you would take that anxiety and confusion, even from within ourselves, and make of them a seedbed of your new creation.

Lord of the Disheartened, gather in your arms, we pray, those who are most discouraged – those whom we know and others who are strangers, huddled in some faraway, lonely corner. Embrace those who are ill or frightened as they face a diagnosis, illness, surgery, poverty, or any sort of loss. We know you hear the cries of our hearts and that you have not left us comfortless. May your Spirit attend each one, and also these who are connected to the Church Street family:

  • Grateful for prayers: Pastor with kidney ailment released from hospital
  • One is thankful for successful cataract surgery on Wednesday
  • Thanksgiving for church study opportunities
  • Member family celebrates the birth of healthy baby boy yesterday
  • Prayers for two members assist with sister-in-law’s funeral in Florida
  • Prayer that counselor may be of help to son with major addictions
  • Healing of our nation and order to be restored
  • Granddaughter (18) with virus, protection for family, especially her father
  • Lifting of depression for three members who suffer significantly
  • Healing for best friend in North Carolina with virus; that her family is not infected
  • Continued prayers for young wife battling leukemia
  • For calm and courage for members awaiting a court ruling
  • Healing of dear friend – young man in critical care, battling Covid-19
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
  • Continued prayers for healing of beloved elderly mother
  • Healing of young son with virus & protection of his family
  • Nephew in Missouri on ventilator with Covid-19 and his wife infected

Gracious Sustainer, we give you thanks for your open ear that receives all our prayers, for friends and family members who support us, and for those role models who have upheld us through the years.  And most of all, we are humbled by the gift of your Son Jesus, who taught us the depth of your love and the wideness of your mercy.  We lift up all these offerings this day in the name of Christ, who prayed in this way:

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 prayer request confidentially by clicking here.

/by