BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
October 5, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
O Morning Star, you speak to us through the fading leaves that float across the window pane, scuttling down to the cool earth, joining a thousand others. They collect much as our days, crumpled and lifeless, never to come again. These dry remnants seem to say that what is past is past, and that our failures and mistakes have no need of resurrection. As an already-barren branch dances in the breeze, you already seem to be fashioning something new. Let us watch and wait to see what new fruits you are planning for the season to come.
Loving God, hear our prayer.
As chill winds blow, we remember that Jesus taught we are to be our brother’s keeper. Bless those, Dear Lord, who have such thin jackets to ward off the brisk air. From our own storehouse, we have enough to clothe everyone in our city. Teach us to share our bounty more readily, we pray. And we lift up today those who have endured pronounced suffering throughout these long months of the pandemic. Draw near those who have lost their faith in humanity and even their faith in you; couples who have drifted apart; those who have broken down under the strain; those who have no one to speak out on their behalf; for all who are disheartened, and those near death.
Loving God, hear our prayer.
Sure and Certain Hope, shore us up when we feel overwhelmed by the needs around us, for from time to time we ourselves fall into the grip of emptiness and despair. As you have sent others to lift us up in our time of pain, let us draw near and help shoulder the burdens of our brothers and sisters. And accept, we pray, these pleas for help which come from your people at Church Street, while also receiving our praises for your faithfulness:
- Thanksgiving: a young teacher in Mexico is healthy & out of isolation
- Prayers appreciated: a cataract procedure turned out well on Friday
- Celebrating at-risk infant’s perfect check-up on Friday at Vanderbilt
- Gratitude for the blessing of church’s in-person communion services
- Gratitude for prayers: sister died peacefully surrounded by loved ones
- Thankful that a mother’s infection is much improved
- Pray for protection: daughter still traveling to Oregon to begin work
- Remember in prayer: safety for daughter working at the White House
- Prayers for wisdom & courage: 3 members taking the Bar Exam this week
- A grandson, pray that he might mature & make wise decisions
- Daughter-in-law w/ aggressive cancer, strength for her treatment
- Comfort & healing for all grieving recent deaths of loved ones
- Healing for troubled family, dealing w/ multiple health issues
- Strength & courage for husband, prime caregiver for his ill wife
- Healing mercies for a member recovering from knee surgery
- Pray for healing: parents grieving the death of their infant son
- 2 mothers in TX w/ dementia, strength for caregiving families
O Waiting One, sometimes we hesitate to bother you with our earthly concerns, but then we remember you are never too remote to hear our praise or to accept our protests and laments. Take these, along with our noisy chatter and the turmoil of our world up into your Great Silence. And rain down your peace upon us all; for it is Christ’s holy peace for which we deeply long:
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.
