Prayer for Today – October 26

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 26, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7

O Listening Heart, thank you for the mysterious gift of prayer. The apostle taught us that your candle is never diminished and that you wait through the long hours for our call. But still, we frequently feel we are making a nuisance of ourselves when we arrive at your door with another basket of wants and needs. Of course, you know that our own inner light flickers when we travel the shaded roads of life, and we so need a share of your eternal flame. And how faithful you are to share your glory. Why, even today, the flame of your sunrise stoops down to brighten our spirits!

Eternal One, so much has unfolded this past year that we are anxious about what tomorrow will bring. The rampant virus has intensified throughout your created world, putting all in danger, particularly the poor and the vulnerable. We pray for these victims, and for the lonely, the hungry, the despondent, and the dying. The prophet once told us you had plans for us, plans for a future filled with hope. We hold onto that hope, Lord, for all we are worth. Knowing you are looking out for us makes all things bearable.

The evidence of your working on our behalf is solid, as miracles are being played out in all places, even within our church family. Our hearts fill with gratitude for your wonders and benefits. And as we lift up these personal situations to your care, we seek most of all that peace that surpasses all understanding:

  • Gratitude: A member offers praises for God’s healing in her life
  • Young father recovering from oral surgery, prayers appreciated
  • Praises that tests revealed no recurrence of colon cancer
  • One offers thanksgiving for her full recovery from the virus
  • Prayers for strength for member raising his teenage grandchildren
  • Healing prayers for a pastor ill with kidney disease and his anxious wife
  • Pray for dear wife returning to Mayo’s today for further diagnosis
  • Healing for best friend in North Carolina with virus; that her family is not infected
  • For help to assist member embroiled in a family misunderstanding
  • Healing of dear friend – young man in critical care, battling Covid-19
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
  • Prayers for mother with debilitating illness, wisdom for physicians
  • Healing of young son with virus and protection of his family
  • Teenager (18) with virus, protection for family, especially her at-risk father
  • Guidance & healing: One depressed, searching for a new residence
  • Healing mercies for member with lingering pain

Father of All Mercies, it was through your mercy that you gave us Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way of faithfulness, even when we didn’t understand. And through your mercy, you created ministries for us to share, and even sparked a deep desire within us to please you. And best of all, though our understanding remains partial and often faulty, you believe in us. Your goodness never ends, Lord, so we know you accept the prayers we offer this day, and that you also hear our whispered prayer taught us 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.

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Prayer for Today – October 22

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 22, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

Master of the House, we lift up our church family to you and ask that you would bind us together more strongly than ever, even though our doors remain closed due to the lurking virus. The windows and doors of our hearts, on the other hand, can be flung wide, showing the world that the love of Christ is not bound by bolts or locks. Help us remember our vows to support our church by praising your goodness, by lifting up our brothers and sisters in prayer, by seeking your mercy and forgiveness, and by financially undergirding the work of your kingdom. In our moments of self-pity, we might consider our efforts and our gifts insignificant; yet Jesus praised the widow’s mite she softly dropped into the alms basin so long ago. May we give from our hearts, as well, knowing that whatever blessing we extend and whatever gift we offer will be multiplied through your grace.

Loving God, hear our prayer.

Voice of Encouragement, as we consider the ongoing troubles across the globe, we often think little progress has been made in our life-long work for peace and harmony. We confess our fears and we sometimes doubt if we have the energy to move ahead in our quest. Perhaps we should step back and let the younger generations take over for us, we think to ourselves. Ah, but then we hear you calling in the night:

“Wherever there is pain and suffering, you are needed.
Wherever there is loneliness and grief, there is a word only you can speak.
Wherever there is sickness and death, you must carry my love.
Wherever there is hunger and homelessness, you can address those needs.
Wherever there is inequality and oppression, your work must continue.”

Yes, of course, Good Lord, you have been our strength in all times past, and we have every reason to believe you will sustain us.

Loving God, hear our prayer.

Silent Friend, quiet the whirring of our minds and settle the anxieties that cling to our inward parts. And in the silence that ensues, may we offer our gratitude for your continued favors . . . . . . and whisper those who are closest to our hearts . . . .  And may your healing breath touch each of these individuals whose welfare is important to your Church Street family:

  • Gratitude: Faithful member recovering at home from heart surgery
  • Celebration: Infant in NICU for 3 months is now at home with family
  • Thanksgiving for our chorister and youth choirs who bless our worship
  • Grateful that mother in rehab is remaining positive and is improving
  • Prayers for three suffering from depression
  • Strength for daughter, sole caregiver for her mother
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
  • Healing of our nation’s divisiveness, distrust, violence and bitterness
  • Prayers for mother with debilitating illness, wisdom for physicians
  • Healing for a young father recovering from oral surgery
  • Healing of young son with virus and protection of his family
  • Cherished husband beginning dialysis today, for recovery
  • Prayers for three who are recovering from injurious falls
  • A broken family, prayers for sustaining one most wounded
  • Prayers for guidance for one searching for a new residence
  • Strength for loved ones isolated from families due to virus threat
  • God’s peace for elderly friend trying to recover from the virus

Thank you, Sacred One, for hearing our petitions this day, for reminding us that your hope is at work in the world, and for renewing our courage to step out in faith. And receive again, we pray, these words implanted in our hearts by Jesus himself:

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.

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Prayer for Today – October 21

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 21, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

O Approachable One, we remember how Jesus told stories of everyday living.  He spoke of money, taxes, greed, forgiveness, loving, sharing, sadness and lostness.  As those hungry souls who listened intently so long ago, so may we open our hearts to those timeless simple stories that never grow stale and never fail to prick our souls.  In the everydayness of our own lives, may we see your showers of grace and your gifts of renewal.
And as we look and listen, we are discovering little by little just what Jesus asks of us.  He calls us to live the life that he lived, and it is not easy.  Give us courage, we pray, to say “yes” to that One Who Calls today, tomorrow and each day that we are given.  We know it is a struggle to keep our pledge of faithfulness; but when we err, shake us up, turn us around, and point us toward that narrow path, the path of love that leads to Christ.
We feel you ever so near, O Healing One, and we believe you alone are sustaining us in this disturbing era.  Deliver us, we pray, especially in the evening hours when the lights grow dim, that we might remain hopeful witnesses to your enduring love.  You have been our Rock in all times past, so we cling to you, knowing we will not be swept away by any disease, national upheaval, or personal tragedy.  Thank you, Lord, for being our Healer; and as you invited us to do so, we lay our concerns and thanksgivings before you, knowing that you are already moving to bring about a new thing:
  • Gratitude: Promising news received regarding a medical exam
  • Thankful for prayers: 2 families with Covid-19 are much improved
  • Thanksgiving for unexpected contact with an old friend
  • Prayers for faithful member recovering from heart surgery on Tuesday
  • Courage & wisdom for grandfather raising his 2 teenage grandchildren
  • Husband dealing with depression & his overburdened wife
  • Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
  • Healing prayers: Shrinking of tumor for one in therapy
  • Easing of tensions & resurgence of faith throughout our nation
  • Prayers for mother with debilitating illness, wisdom for physicians who are planning surgery and treatment
  • Healing for a young father recovering from oral surgery
  • Lift up cherished husband hospitalized with serious illness
  • Healing for an aunt who suffered fractures in a recent fall
  • A broken family, for wisdom and grace to sustain one most wounded
  • Continued prayers for two members recovering from painful falls
  • Upholding beloved husband in hospice care & strength for his wife
  • Friend with cancer, caregiver for sibling with cancer & an elderly mother
  • God’s peace for elderly friend trying to recover from the virus
Loving One, we thank you for receiving these prayers of our hearts.  In whatever way you think best, attend to our pleas.  Out of the depth of your mercy, you sent your Son to seek and to save; So pour out your courage upon us, that we might serve you more faithfully by sharing your saving goodness with others.  And at the last, may you find us still breathing those all-sufficient words taught us by Jesus himself:

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.

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Prayer for Today – October 20

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 20, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

Reassuring One, it is no secret to you that we are a restless people, moving first in one direction, then another, wandering far from the path you have laid out for us to travel, chasing one empty promise after another, and falling for the same old lines handed down by society’s self-appointed gurus. We pray you don’t become too tired of our unsettling behavior and the ways in which we keep forgetting you are the Way, the Truth and the Life. More than ever before, Good Lord, we need your reassurance. Take us to task if you must; yet remind us that you won’t give up on us, no matter what.

God of Mercy, hear our prayer.

World Lover, yes, there is more to confess: We admit that we’re always putting ourselves and our country first. We generally offer only a casual nod to other nations of the world, particularly those in which greed, fear, and injustice triumph every day. Remove the scales from the eyes of our hearts, that we might see the world and all its children as your beloved. Hopelessness weighs heavy on the backs of multitudes who need safety and security, meaningful work, improved education, clean air, fresh water, and sufficient food. Watch over these vulnerable ones whose faces do not resemble ours, but their bodies and souls are precious in your sight.

God of Mercy, hear our prayer.

O Friend of the Afflicted, we pray for those everywhere who are struggling with anxiety, depression, loneliness, poverty, and any other emotional or physical illness. May each see a glimmer of your light, sufficient to help them make it through another day. May that beam also find its way into the lives of your people of Church Street, particularly these who ask to be remembered:

  • Couple offer thanks for their eighth wedding anniversary
  • Prayers appreciated: Surgery on Friday was completed as planned
  • Grateful for prayers – Member’s kidney surgery was successful
  • Thanksgiving for our church musicians & all staff
  • Gratitude: Atlanta friend’s Monday surgeries went smoothly
  • Prayers for mother hospitalized, for proper diagnosis & treatment
  • Husband dealing with depression & his overburdened wife
  • Healing prayers: shrinking of tumor for one in therapy
  • Healing for an aunt who suffered fractures in a recent fall
  • Friend whose husband was killed last week in a tragic auto accident & their daughter who is to be married on Saturday
  • Two members recovering from painful falls
  • Upholding beloved husband in hospice care & strength for his wife
  • Brother-in-law in Chicago w/ cancer; strength for his weary spouse
  • Friend w/ cancer, caregiver for sibling w/ cancer & an elderly mother
  • Prayers for guidance for a member making a weighty decision
  • God’s peace for elderly friend trying to recover from the virus
  • Continued healing for 2 member families recovering from Covid-19

God of Mercy, how fortunate we are that we might lay all our worries, our errors, and our thanksgivings on your doorstep. You are both the light in the window to welcome us and the home to which we always return. The Good Keeper, Jesus the Christ, sees that the door is open wide, and it is in his name we offer our prayers:

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.

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Prayer for Today – October 19

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 19, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

Inspiring God, amid all the disorder and free-floating anger so close to home, we offer thanks for those souls around us who, even in the face of hard struggles, use their voices to speak of your goodness. And in spite of the unrest permeating our society, we thank you for those calm ones who offer kind words and reassurance.

And when confusion seems to rule the day, we are grateful for those who are able to articulate with clarity the higher road that leads to the welfare of the whole. When life seems harsh, we thank you for those who use their voices to sing of your love. Your inspiration shines through all these agents of grace. Grant that we, as they, might use our own voices to share your song of hope.

Gentle Spirit, hear our prayer.

God of Many Faces, in your love and wisdom, you have created such rich diversity among your people. Forgive us, we pray, when we fear our differences, for in doing so, we are really rejecting your creation and your holy will. Show us how to celebrate our varying individual gifts and graces, for we are each part of the Body of Christ. And as one complete community, remind us that when one of us is suffering, the rest of us share in his/her burden, or when one is celebrating, we share in his/her joy. Erase the strife and competition among us, that we may witness to Christ by the ways we lift up one another. 

Gentle Spirit, hear our prayer.

O One Worthy of All Devotion, we know that your regard for us is deep and beyond our comprehending. And so we pray for ourselves . . . for our forgiveness . . . for holy wisdom to do your will . . . for our prayers which have no words, even the whispers of our hearts . . . And as you are eager to hear all our longings, we lift up the thanksgivings and burdens from the hearts of your people at Church Street: 

  • Gratitude for prayers: diagnosis at Mayo Clinic was reassuring
  • Prayers appreciated: 4-day intensive course completed well
  • Thankful a father is recovering steadily from virus
  • 3 families express gratitude for rest & renewal during fall break
  • Thanksgiving: 97-yr-old friend with Covid is very much improved
  • Member undergoing surgery today, that all might go well
  • Healing prayers: shrinking of tumor for one in radiation therapy
  • Friend in Atlanta facing significant surgery today; for worried family, for wisdom & skill of her surgeons
  • Friend whose husband was killed last week in a tragic auto accident
  • Easing of a husband’s depression & his wife caring for ill mother
  • Two members recovering from painful falls
  • Upholding beloved husband in hospice care & strength for his wife
  • Prayers for brother-in-law in Chicago w/ esophageal cancer; upholding of his wife who also cares for her father w/ dementia
  • Friend w/ cancer, caregiver for sibling w/ cancer & an elderly mother
  • Prayers for guidance for a member making a weighty decision
  • Healing mercies for members of 2 families suffering from Covid-19

Loving God, may this day ahead be dedicated to you; and whatever transpires, may you be pleased with our efforts. May all that we undertake be reminiscent of those timeless deeds of goodness carried out by our Teacher, Jesus the Christ, who told us to pray 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.

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Prayer for Today – October 15

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 15, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

O Holy Vision, some of us walk bruised, burdened, and blinded through the ways of the world. We continue to question the unease, the uncertainty, the unknown. The apostle said that we see through a glass darkly, as through a clouded mirror; he said that ours is not to know all things in this realm. Rather, we are asked to live by faith and not by sight. And we do, though it is sometimes frightfully hard. So in these pressing times, we ask for a tender memory of your loving promise: that one day we shall all see clearly, and then face-to-face. Until that grand shadowless day arrives, may we trust in your sure and certain providence.

Loving God, hear our prayer.

Dearest Confidant, we praise you that our lives remain an open book to you, for you know the secrets of our hearts, our deepest desires, and our long-held dreams. There is no need to rehash our pasts with you, no need to explain our plans or motives with you, for you never forget. Oh, what a blessing it is to merely pick up where we left off when last we conversed. You keep your back door unlatched for us, always willing to sit for a spell, to speak of both the trivial and the weighty, no matter how late the hour. A wise one once said that the best things in life are free. Whoever he was, he must have known the joy of sitting in your sacred presence.

Loving God, hear our prayer.

Kindest Heart, help us to look with the kindness of Jesus upon each one who crosses our path today. May our own hearts remain especially open to those who have been bitterly bruised by the world. Perhaps our small gestures of tenderness might not turn their lives around, but they just might offer a glimmer of grace that will soften their hearts. Thank you for taking all your little ones under your wing, and we know that you also remember these particular situations offered by your children at Church Street:

  • Gratitude for a mini-reunion with friends after long separation
  • Two families offer thankfulness for a fall respite
  • Remember wife at Mayo Clinic on Friday, wisdom for diagnosticians
  • Prayers for brother-in-law in Chicago with esophageal cancer; upholding of his wife who also cares for her father with dementia
  • Friend with cancer, caregiver for sibling with cancer & an elderly mother
  • Prayers for guidance for a member making a weighty decision
  • Healing prayers for two broken families & children involved
  • Lift up a custody mediation proceeding, that all might go well
  • Cherished wife & mother undergoing surgery today
  • Prayers for member in pain & may have to have more gum surgery
  • Friend in Atlanta facing significant surgery 1/19, for worried family, for wisdom & skill of her surgeons
  • Healing mercies for members of 3 families suffering from Covid-19
  • Continued prayers for 97-yr-old mother with virus & worried family
  • Wisdom & focus for member taking 4-day intensive course
  • Complete healing of 2-yr-old son who had leg surgery recently

Loving God, may this day ahead be dedicated to you; and whatever transpires, may you be pleased with our efforts. May all that we undertake be reminiscent of those timeless deeds of goodness carried out by our Teacher, Jesus the Christ, who told us to pray 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.

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Prayer for Today – October 14

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 14, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

O God Most Holy, as we glimpse your morning brightness through the colored branches, we are filled with a deep longing to remain enfolded in your holy presence this day. Without reservation, the bracing breeze reminds us that we are accepted just as we are, and you wrap us in such rare natural beauty out of the goodness of your spirit. O Lord, your benevolence leaves us truly speechless; mere words do little justice to your mercy. We are aware of our faults and frailties, but you know that we are striving to be faithful to our promises to bear one another’s burdens and to dream one another’s dreams.

Song of Heaven, hear our prayer.

O Shining Light of Salvation, you are the stronghold of our lives, so what have we to fear? This we believe in our hearts, but in truth, we remain uneasy about many things. May all who are ill or frightened somehow feel your hand resting upon their brow. May those in sorrow remember your tears mingle with their own. May those who feel lonely open your door of welcome. May those who are impoverished receive a generous sharing of what we ourselves possess. Play your eternal lullaby throughout the late hours, we pray, and we shall then be at peace.

Song of Heaven, hear our prayer.

And as you bend your ear to receive the prayers of all who call upon your name, also accept these earnest prayers from your friends at Church Street UMC:

  • Thankful for prayers: mother is out of hospital, recovers in rehab
  • One family expresses gratitude for the respite of Fall Break
  • Thanksgiving for the life of a faithful saint who died in peace
  • Prayers for brother-in-law in Chicago w/ esophageal cancer; upholding of his wife who also cares for her father w/ dementia
  • Member facing a second kidney surgery, for pain relief & healing
  • Prayers for guidance for a member making a weighty decision
  • Healing prayers for broken family, for reconciliation, for children
  • Lift up a custody mediation proceeding, that all might go well
  • Courage for wife seeking leniency of the court; healing for husband
  • For a grandson’s emotional issues to soften as he studies in college
  • Healing mercies for members of 3 families suffering from Covid-19
  • For peace, forgiveness, & order to once again reign in our nation
  • Prayers for forgiveness for our taking our blessings for granted
  • Continued prayers for beloved mother w/ virus & worried family
  • Upholding member in great stress, broken family relationships
  • Wisdom & focus for member taking 4-day intensive course
  • Complete healing of 2-yr-old son who had leg surgery recently

Song of Heaven, thank you for making time for us and for welcoming our communion with you. As you have carved out a place in our hearts for yourself, help us to carve out a portion each day to meditate with you. May your music play on in our lives, enabling us to share your grace, hope, and joy in the time that we are given:

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.

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Prayer for Today – October 13

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 13, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

O Great Physician, once a leper came to Jesus and said: I wish to be made clean.” Today we come before you with that same prayer in our hearts, for we carry many burdens and require renewal: There are the cruel words we spoke, the upheavals we may have brought about in our lives, the relationships we have failed to mend, the damage we have inflicted upon your creation, the part we have played in the world’s unrest, our fear of the future and our fear of those who are different. Lord, we lay our burdens down at the foot of the cross, believing that, as you cleansed the leper, you would also purify us.

God of Mercy, hear our prayer.

Good Lord, as you have emptied us of those timeworn burdens, we stand ready to receive all those things which your cross represents. We ask to be filled with the compassion, kindness, wisdom, courage, strength, forgiveness, and joy that were so deeply rooted in our wounded Savior. And because of your merciful healing, may we make this day a continuous prayer of praise to you. Should we find challenges in the hours to come, may we see them as opportunities to live out our recommitment to you and as testimony to your reclamation.

God of Mercy, hear our prayer.

Constant One, we ask for your loving care for all who are in need, and these special ones who are close to our hearts . . . . . . . . And watch over these friends and loved ones who have asked to be remembered in prayer. These we share with the One who bore the greatest of life’s burdens for our sake:

  • Grateful for prayers: daughter in TX & husband recovering from virus
  • One sends gratitude for prayers for her during her Bar exam
  • One celebrating medical news that chemo is not necessary
  • Thankful that a hospitalized mother is greatly improved
  • Member facing a second kidney surgery, for pain relief & healing
  • Prayers for guidance for a member making a weighty decision
  • Healing prayers for broken family, for reconciliation, for children
  • Continued prayers for older parents who recover from virus
  • Courage for wife seeking leniency of the court; healing for husband
  • Healing mercies for family – virus victims isolating at home
  • Mother w/ leukemia, for stamina & ability to continue chemo
  • Continued prayers for beloved mother w/ virus & worried family
  • Upholding member in great stress, broken family relationships
  • Wisdom & focus for member taking 4-day intensive course
  • God’s peace & comfort for all grieving recent deaths of loved ones
  • Healing of young couple recovering from virus at home
  • Healing of beloved wife diagnosed tumor, courage for caring family

Spirit of Newness, kindle within us that new light of hope that never dims, that our spirits might somehow brighten the days of our overburdened brothers and sisters. whom you have asked us to comfort. Remembering your grace and glory, we offer the ageless prayer taught us by our Redeemer:

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.

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Prayer for Today – October 12

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 12, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

O One of Many Names, you have called us to be members of your blessed community. With our different origins and backgrounds, with our varying skin tones and physical appearance, with our mixed languages and dialects, we sing your praise. You stand at the threshold of this new day, with your waking words upon your lips: “Arise and shine for your light has come!” Indeed, may we answer in solidarity with your church universal: Blessed be you, O Creating and Re-creating God! How marvelous that the Light of the World seeks us out to worship and to serve in solidarity with all who call him Lord!

Loving God, hear our prayer.

We confess we are procrastinators. We spend so much of our time waiting for the perfect moment, that we often miss the chance to help another when their need is greatest. We worry about offering the right words, forgetting our mere presence is what is most longed for. We are frequently so wrapped up in the stresses of our own lives that we have little time to inquire about your hopes and dreams for us. O God of Second Chances, forgive us. Cure our persistent perfectionism, and widen our vision that we might understand that often the moment to act is “now.”

Loving God, hear our prayer.

Savior of All Nations, shower your mercy upon all who are in adversity across our globe, especially those caught up in flooded parts of France and Italy; people on the shores of Kamchatka, Russia whose waters are polluted; African villagers who have little access to virus testing; the starving victims of famine in Yemen. Next to these sufferings, we place the burdens (and joys) of your people at Church Street:

  • Prayers appreciated: daughter arrived safely in Oregon
  • One is grateful for recovery from virus – her confinement is over
  • Gratitude: our music program & ministers that continue to bless all
  • Thankful that a hospitalized mother is greatly improved
  • Grateful for prayers, one w/ radiation allergy now at home
  • Wonderful news: a family member is pregnant with twins
  • Mother w/ leukemia, for stamina & ability to continue chemo
  • Continued prayers for beloved saint (97) w/ virus & worried family
  • Healing of a daughter, special ed teacher in TX with virus
  • Wisdom & focus for member taking 4-day intensive course
  • God’s peace & comfort for all grieving recent deaths of loved ones
  • Healing of young couple recovering from virus at home
  • Healing of beloved wife diagnosed with tumor, courage for caring family
  • Healing for an older father with Covid-19 & wife who are isolating
  • Protection from virus for daughter working at the White House
  • Prayers for husband facing surgery & multiple stresses in family

Loving God, we know you have engraved your name upon all hearts, and all souls are under your care. Thank you for accepting our prayers.  And as members of your own community of faith, we recognize your blessings seeping through our lives. Regardless of the highway we may individually be walking, may we offer your grace to all whom we meet, always remembering the Son 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.

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Prayer for Today – October 8

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

October 8, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
(Isaiah 55:8)

God of Grand Imagination, how intricately you have created our universe! All things are aligned so perfectly, such that when we trifle with one component, all other spheres are affected. Human thought could not have imagined nor created such blessed grandeur. And the greater marvel is that we live suspended in this delicate framework within which you have implanted your love.  Forgive us, we pray, when we pretend that our thoughts are as yours.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

We confess, Faithful Father, that we don’t always understand your ways. We want to be independent and do things on our own, rather than trusting in your guidance. When we are invited to a meal, we naturally seek out the more prestigious places where the noteworthy folks are gathered; but when we glance around, we see you in the corner with the ill-clad, the foreigners, the unwashed. We overhear you telling them that they are the most valued of all the guests in the room. No wonder we squirm in our seats; for it was only yesterday that we promised we would follow you whatever the cost.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Forgive us, Merciful One, for being so closely tied to the ways of the world. You must know how deeply embedded we are in this sinful soil of earth, and that is why you continue to speak tenderly to us about growing in our faithfulness. You do not hold grudges nor remain angry for long, as mercy is at the heart of who you are. With your steady hand, pull us up from the mire, send us down that road toward trust, and we will pick up where we left off.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Keeper of our Days, we offer the joys and concerns which are experienced by your people at Church Street. All time is in your hands, so we believe you will bring your wholeness at just the right moment:

  • Thanksgiving: birth of a healthy baby boy & safety for family traveling to Chicago to visit & celebrate
  • One offers gratitude for the blessing of wonderful fall weather
  • Gratitude: member recovering well from hip surgery
  • Thankful that an older mother is adjusting to assisted living
  • Thankful for chance to gather with friends in outdoor worship
  • Prayers for a saint of 97 with Covid-19; comfort for distraught family
  • Healing of a daughter, special ed teacher in TX with virus
  • God’s peace & comfort for all grieving recent deaths of loved ones
  • Pray for a grandson in college coping with psychological problem
  • Dear friend with radiation burns, for continued healing
  • Member with cancer diagnosis, strength for faithful husband standing by
  • Healing for an older father with Covid-19 & wife who are isolating
  • Strength & wisdom for adult son assisting his ill mother
  • Please pray for husband who faces another heart surgery soon
  • Protection from virus for daughter working at the White House
  • Cherished son with PTSD related to combat, for grace & healing
  • Protection: daughter still traveling to Oregon to begin work
  • Healing mercies: neighbor at Vanderbilt, serious reaction to radiation 

As you moved the psalmist to declare: “You have turned my mourning into dancing,” bring us all to the time when we might also join in the happy rhythm. Until that time, may we wait with trust and patience for your all-sufficient grace.

Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.

Send us out now with open hearts, that we might see the new things you are doing. And bearing the love of Jesus Christ, may we walk with confidence to take that love into all the barren places on our street, in our city, in our nation, and in our world, always remembering the prayer we carry with 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.

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