BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
August 20, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
Heart of Heaven, you knew us and blessed us when we rested in our mother’s peaceful womb. Through that soothing regularity of heartbeat, you were early teaching us the language of calm, preparing us for Jesus, who taught that peace is always the road to take. We often pine for that safe and secure womb where we didn’t have to make hard decisions, where violence and bloodshed were unknown to us. So much is happening around us that we do not understand. Help us to be brave enough to ask hard questions, to speak the truth, even in fear, and to be humble enough to listen to your voice speaking through others. Continue to soften the bitter edges of our faith, we pray, until our restless hearts and your heart are beating as one.
Hear us Lord, for your mercy is great.
Unlimited God, as we recall all that you continue to do for us, we confess that our concerns are too frequently insular, as we place ourselves at the hub of our daily prayers. Yes, you invited us to cast our cares upon you, but in so doing, we tend to forget that you want to do that new thing, not only in us, but in your beloved people living here or on foreign shores. We cannot limit your concern, Lord, and where you are, we must follow. Gone are the days of isolationism: We are our brother’s keeper! Help us become the catalyst for your love and light, that they will encircle our globe, even glowing in the darkest and most forgotten places. Bless those feet that carry your brightness to unknown lands; bless those hands that reach out in your name to heal and feed the orphan; bless those arms that enfold the war-weary masses who have no home; bless those tongues that boldly speak of Christ to communities with different languages and customs. We cannot even pronounce the names of most far-away stations, but you, who exist without limits, know each village, each name and each burden. And you will not rest until all your children are safely gathered in. Thank you, Lord, for honoring us by making us part of your holy mission.
Hear us Lord, for your mercy is great.
God on the Move, we come with hearts full, recognizing the ways you have been working in our lives throughout the past five months: healthy babies have been born, weddings have been celebrated, illnesses have been overcome, your gracious Spirit has embraced grieving families; worship and praise have taken place. Your love has held your church together and has taught us resilience. We realize that without your grace, we could not have come this far. Receive, we pray, our specific prayers of gratitude from your people of Church Street, and also our petitions for your hand of guidance and healing:
- Thankful for $750 raised for Wesley House through Summer Serenade
- Gratitude: a cancer survivor is improving with present medication
- Thankful that a back injury can be healed without surgery
- Gratitude for son’s launch to college out of town
- Thanksgiving for a safe travel across the country to return to Knoxville
- Appreciation for healthcare workers & 1st responders serving at risk
- Thanksgiving: happy couple celebrated 50th wedding anniversary on Saturday
- Prayers for one undergoing vein procedure today, that it will prove effective
- Pray that a beloved wounded pet can learn to walk again
- Easing of pain for member recovering from shoulder procedure
- Husband & wife who recover from illnesses in rehab facility
- Loved ones isolated in homes & residences, for hope & patience
- Success & protection for all college students & professors
- Continued prayers: a very ill father at home & a father in hospice care
- Protection for educators, children & youth, as new school year begins
- Easing of nausea & pain for one continuing new cancer treatment
- That depression may lift for two young women
- Member with chronic illness in hospital: for healing & lifting of spirits
- Comfort and endurance for all loved ones recovering from Covid-19
- Food shortage dilemma (North Korea) that slaughter of family dogs will cease
Abiding One, every so often we feel we need to apologize for sharing our many trials and challenges with you, but in our heart of hearts, we know there is no one else to whom we can turn. Truly, your capacity to receive our prayers and to lend your mercy is a marvel. Therefore, as you accept our humble utterances today, remember that we offer them with sincerest thanksgiving for the chance to turn to you in the name of our Friend and Brother Jesus, 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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