BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

August 27, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary
troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweigh them all.
II Cor. 3:22-24 

O Divine Parent, most assuredly the apostle’s words hit home to us who feel hemmed in on many levels. The months go by and we sense that we are losing ground – one step forward and two steps back. We thought we had mapped out our lives so well, only to look in the mirror and find that the passing years and all those unanticipated complications have taken their toll. Where is that sublime span of ease we had marked on our calendars? Will there ever come a time when we can kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labor? We tumble so frequently these days and find that we are not as strong as we thought. Sadly, our faces tell the tale. But could that be your voice we hear in the distance, Jesus? “Blessed are those who fall, yet rise and begin again.” Yes, it must be, for who else would applaud such plodding as ours?

Hear us Lord, for your mercy is great.

O God Beyond Knowing and Naming, you take little notice of the outward appearance, but concern yourself with the contours of the heart. What changes do you note within us at this point? Have those inner fields of mercy shown signs of new growth? Is the shallow river of compassion now widening its banks? Are the valleys of forgiveness a lush green, as weedy personal slights are being expunged? And those peaks of praise – are they becoming taller as we more frequently glorify your name? We pray these evidences of renewal are indeed taking place, though unseen by human eye. And if so, we will cease our fretting about the superficial and the fleeting.  Instead we will rejoice at the rejuvenation within.

Hear us Lord, for your mercy is great.

As always, Caring One, we remember the specific blessings you have delivered during this week at hand . . . . . . . . . . And as your mercy knows no end, we offer our thanksgivings into your keeping, and also these concerns of your people at Church Street:

  • NICU baby is getting stronger, prayers greatly appreciated
  • Thanksgiving for recent connection with an old friend
  • Gratitude: recent heart tests reflect great improvement
  • Grateful that surgery on Wednesday went well, no surprises
  • Praises: friend evacuated by fire in CO now allowed to return home
  • Prayers for member undergoing gallbladder surgery today
  • Prayers for family journeying to ALA for a mother’s funeral
  • Cherished father near death, peace & comfort for family standing by
  • Protection of daughter & husband living near violence in Kenosha, WI
  • Comfort & healing for two dealing with pain associated with cancer
  • Prayers please: one seeking help for anxiety; health, family, & work issues
  • A sister facing leg amputation; a sister seeking diagnosis of health issues
  • Prayers for two tiny babies in NICU, grace & comfort for loving parents
  • Lift up two men who need to enter treatment for addiction
  • Dear friend in ICU in Charleston, losing blood, for diagnosis & healing
  • Close friend, healing of heart issues; healing for young burn victim
  • Healing of depression for both a daughter & a daughter-in-law
  • Two husbands dealing with anxiety & depression, for healing
  • Young relative searching for new medications to halt spreading cancer
  • Healing prayers for a father dealing with health-related anxiety
  • Close friend in ICU following surgery, that healing might come

God of All, thank you for receiving our concerns and for your willingness to be at work on our behalf. Fill us with that peace that passes all understanding this day. And open wide the windows of our souls that your mist of holy peace and transformation will flow over  us, spreading out across this land, binding up bitterness, moving across the oceans, raining down love, and enfolding your cherished people everywhere, even in lands we do not know.

Hear us Lord, for your mercy is great.

Collect all our prayers, Dearest Friend, just as you gather the pleas and praises of all your followers around the globe. We entrust them to your care, knowing you will guard them as sacred longings from your children, and that they are brought to you in the name of our Redeemer, 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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