BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
October 8, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,
declares the Lord.
(Isaiah 55:8)
God of Grand Imagination, how intricately you have created our universe! All things are aligned so perfectly, such that when we trifle with one component, all other spheres are affected. Human thought could not have imagined nor created such blessed grandeur. And the greater marvel is that we live suspended in this delicate framework within which you have implanted your love. Forgive us, we pray, when we pretend that our thoughts are as yours.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
We confess, Faithful Father, that we don’t always understand your ways. We want to be independent and do things on our own, rather than trusting in your guidance. When we are invited to a meal, we naturally seek out the more prestigious places where the noteworthy folks are gathered; but when we glance around, we see you in the corner with the ill-clad, the foreigners, the unwashed. We overhear you telling them that they are the most valued of all the guests in the room. No wonder we squirm in our seats; for it was only yesterday that we promised we would follow you whatever the cost.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Forgive us, Merciful One, for being so closely tied to the ways of the world. You must know how deeply embedded we are in this sinful soil of earth, and that is why you continue to speak tenderly to us about growing in our faithfulness. You do not hold grudges nor remain angry for long, as mercy is at the heart of who you are. With your steady hand, pull us up from the mire, send us down that road toward trust, and we will pick up where we left off.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Keeper of our Days, we offer the joys and concerns which are experienced by your people at Church Street. All time is in your hands, so we believe you will bring your wholeness at just the right moment:
- Thanksgiving: birth of a healthy baby boy & safety for family traveling to Chicago to visit & celebrate
- One offers gratitude for the blessing of wonderful fall weather
- Gratitude: member recovering well from hip surgery
- Thankful that an older mother is adjusting to assisted living
- Thankful for chance to gather with friends in outdoor worship
- Prayers for a saint of 97 with Covid-19; comfort for distraught family
- Healing of a daughter, special ed teacher in TX with virus
- God’s peace & comfort for all grieving recent deaths of loved ones
- Pray for a grandson in college coping with psychological problem
- Dear friend with radiation burns, for continued healing
- Member with cancer diagnosis, strength for faithful husband standing by
- Healing for an older father with Covid-19 & wife who are isolating
- Strength & wisdom for adult son assisting his ill mother
- Please pray for husband who faces another heart surgery soon
- Protection from virus for daughter working at the White House
- Cherished son with PTSD related to combat, for grace & healing
- Protection: daughter still traveling to Oregon to begin work
- Healing mercies: neighbor at Vanderbilt, serious reaction to radiation
As you moved the psalmist to declare: “You have turned my mourning into dancing,” bring us all to the time when we might also join in the happy rhythm. Until that time, may we wait with trust and patience for your all-sufficient grace.
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.
Send us out now with open hearts, that we might see the new things you are doing. And bearing the love of Jesus Christ, may we walk with confidence to take that love into all the barren places on our street, in our city, in our nation, and in our world, always remembering the prayer we carry with us:
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.
