BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
August 3, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Surest Hope, we confess that we call ourselves people of faith, and yet it is true that we are believers who frequently harbor doubts. Maybe we’re more like Jesus’ would-be followers than we claim. They assumed he would come down from the clouds and smash all idols in his path. They expected a Savior to depose governments that seemed deaf to their cries for help. They looked for One who would remove all the obstacles that made their lives so difficult. And when they discovered Jesus had an agenda altogether different than the plan they anticipated, many began to doubt and fall away. Even now, centuries later, our hearts are often filled with disbelief when we see how injustice, discrimination, poverty, bitterness, and many forms of evil continue to thrive. Our efforts can seem so meaningless in the face of such rivals and we want to throw up our hands in incredulity. “Why?” is the query which we have been carrying with us, particularly in these deeply disturbing days.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O God of Impossibilities, lead us back to Jesus, the Thread of our Faith, that we might hold on for all we’re worth. Stoke our attention to all that we are already witnessing in our very midst and we will then reaffirm that you are alive and well: Broken relationships are being renewed; grave illnesses are being healed; the lonely and the grieving are not forgotten; healthcare workers and public servants take great risks to help the sick; neighbors are coming together to house and feed the poor; bright new pastors are being called to lead faith communities; new avenues of worship are being discovered; the faithful continue their financial support for your work. Your holy thread is winding itself through all such works, though it is not always discernible. A wise one once taught that doubt is really fear in disguise; so give us the boldness to grasp your strand of faith that does not fail, and we will believe anew that nothing is impossible with our God.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Your mercy truly abounds in so many forms, Good Lord, and when we quiet ourselves regularly, we may more readily perceive how your fine ribbon of goodness threads its way into so many parts of our lives. Thank you for being a Savior of such magnanimity, for you love us and accept us even in our questioning.
Receive now our thanksgivings for the ways you have lifted our burdens; and also accept these prayers for help offered by our church family:
- Gratitude: husband & work crew safely home from high-risk region
- Thankful that a nephew’s cancer surgery went smoothly
- Celebrating an MRI that revealed no new cancer cells
- Thankful that a wounded pet is learning to walk again
- Prayers appreciated: 3 with Covid-19 are now restored to health
- Gratitude for prayers – a family’s virus tests were all negative
- Gratitude: son arrived safely in NYC to resume work
- Calm for a member having heart cath, for promising results
- Pray for parents carrying a heavy burden; healing of an injured shoulder
- Clarity, wisdom, & guidance for a woman of strong faith
- Prayers for brother-in-law, malignant growth on esophagus
- Job openings for members who have lost jobs due to virus
- Prayers for one awaiting a pathology report
- Family member hospitalized in Ohio with pneumonia, for healing
- For a young man’s anger to dissolve & for his growing vision of goodness
- Young wife suffering from depression, that her darkness may lift
- Prayers for those ill with the virus; an effective vaccine to be found
- Safety for educators, students & families as fall term begins
- A young nephew driving to CA, for protection & guidance
- Pray for assistance for those experiencing financial difficulties
O Constant One, scripture says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And whenever our doubts and uncertainties come calling, give us grace to cling to that assurance that you are working in us and through us. In Christ’s name, 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 midday devotion
CSUMC member Brad Thompson will join us on our Facebook page today at noon for a short devotion – we hope you will join us!
