BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
March 9, 2021
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
God of our Hearts, we awoke to your glory in the morning light, thankful for the promise of another day, teeming with opportunities to honor you. And in some ways, we were faithful to our Christian calling in our encounters; but now in reflection at day’s end, we admit our blunders, especially . . . . . . . . . Even in these embarrassing instances, our hearts may have been in the right frame, but our egos caused us to lose control. Forgive us, we pray, for listening too closely to that strident voice of arrogance that has made its home inside our heads. Erase our indiscretions from your memory, Lord, as you always do. And when tomorrow comes, may our hearts, swept clean by your Spirit, rule the day.
Maybe our arrogance is a cover-up for our feelings of insignificance. Compared to notables around us, whose wisdom and works influence major policy shifts and restore hope and health around the globe, our own efforts sometimes seem so paltry. The world is assuredly not beating on our doors seeking advice. Instead, we labor as everyday folks – the grocer, the teacher, the loan officer, the trash collector, the homemaker, the salesclerk, the retiree. Center our minds, we pray, not on our station or influence in life, but on the One who took ordinary wine and bread. And lifting them up with his blessing, these gifts were rendered transformative and sufficient to sustain the soul of every believer. So let us be about the tasks we have set for ourselves: taking a meal to a neighbor, making a phone call when illness strikes, quilting a baby blanket, volunteering at the food bank, visiting the homebound, waiting with the dying. We serve the God who takes ordinary gifts and counts them as sacred offerings for the kingdom.
Indeed, another sacred offering is the privilege of praying for one another, whether in joy or sorrow; therefore, we share with you, Caring One, these situations which hold prominent places in the hearts of your Church Street family:
- Prayers appreciated: Tests show a tumor is shrinking
- Grateful for prayers: A biopsy shows no sign of cancer
- Thankful that a missing friend has been located and is safe
- Member thankful for bereavement support
- Two with heart ailments are on the road to healing
- Gratitude for support of Stephen Ministers
- Young wife is thankful her cancer is in early stage
- Prayers for two undergoing heart procedures on Friday
- Professional seeks a good job opening
- Cherished mother in hospice care at home
- Safe delivery of a grandchild next week
- All who are in mourning
- Healing for grandson with lymphoma
- Family grieving death of mother/grandmother
- Elderly mother entering hospice care
- Beloved sister weakened by disease, hospitalized
- Guidance and courage for family of addictive son
- Ill member awaiting treatment plan
- Recovery for youngster with head injury
- Diagnosis for 6-year-old niece having seizures
- Comfort for husband: MS and breathing issues
We leave our prayers with you, Tender Friend, knowing you want the best for us. Tuck us in with your hands of love, and we will take our rest under your quilt of grace. Whatever the new morn brings, we will face it with you, always remembering to pray as we were taught even as children:
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.
