BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
September 28, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
Heal me, hands of Jesus, and search out all my pain;
Restore my hope, remove me fear, and bring me peace again.
Holy Source of Life, we give you thanks for all the signs you offer, telling us that your Spirit’s power is working within all things. We thank you for Jesus, who stretched out his hands to heal the sick, to speak good news to the poor and lonely, who proclaimed the year of the Lord’s favor, and who invited us to take part in his healing ministry. We shrink before the challenge laid out before us, but remember the One who multiplied loaves and fishes, who satisfied the five thousand, who amplified the efforts of ordinary disciples to render extraordinary results, wondering if you might also have a way to use even us.
Know me, mind of Jesus, and show me all my sin,
Dispel the memories of guilt and bring me peace within.
O Healing Balm, as we are bearers of our own wounds and brokenness, our own soiled pasts, and recollections of our failures, we are tempted to disregard your call; but your words hang heavy in the air: “Follow me.” Perhaps it is true that you choose only broken vessels to carry your balm of healing. If that is the case, you have many fragmented souls from which to choose. Cover us again with your limitless oil of mercy, found only in your immense storehouse. Heal us, we pray, that we might then worthily carry your restorative balm to those others who have also been maimed by the world.
May this day treat kindly those who wait in hope for rescue from illness, poverty, wildfires, storm, depression and despair; and those who wait for the next paycheck, the phone call, the medical report, the end of addiction, death itself. As we are your instruments, show us those places where we might make a difference and we will make haste to carry your oil of mercy wherever you send us. And remember as well, these situations uppermost in the hearts of our Church Street family:
- Husband thankful for church prayers & contacts during wife’s illness
- Gratitude for many prayers: NICU baby now at home w/ family
- Grateful that mother has been released from hospital
- For a relative to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit
- Prayers for a sister undergoing colon surgery today
- 2 relatives with Covid-19 & also recovering from Hurricane Sally
- Friend (62) with head & neck cancer, relief for radiation burns
- Prayers: cherished sister in hospice care in FLA; peace for family members now surrounding her with love
- Mother with infection, for proper treatment & healing
- Dear friend with heart failure, for successful treatment
- One who faces cardiac MRI on Thursday, for correct diagnosis
- Member ill in assisted living, comfort for him, his wife & family
- Member suffering greatly with back pain, prayers for relief
- Prayers for a mother-to-be, that coming weeks will bring safe delivery
- Friend with kidney cancer, continuing to trust in God thru all his days
- Young daughter awaiting diagnosis for fainting episodes
Fill me, joy of Jesus, anxiety shall cease,
And heaven’s serenity be mine, for Jesus brings me peace.
Our fears are the color of darkness, Lord, but in your saving grace, you reach in, stirring up joyful blues, greens, and yellows to enliven the dusky hue. We long for the time when fear, unease, and loneliness will be no more. But till that era when heaven’s serenity lives in every heart, keep us filled to the brim with hope. And we shall remain faithful to the ministry to which you have called us, through Christ our Lord:
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.
