BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
February 17, 2021
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
In your darkness there is no darkness.
With you, O Lord, the deepest night is as clear as the day.
(Taize chant)
Come, evening, come! The sky turns to ash and we recall wisdom’s teaching that there is a time for everything, a season for every purpose under the heavens. Your grace has brought us through this long season of Covid travail. When we were embittered, you taught us tolerance; when we felt isolated, you nudged a friend to call; when we were forlorn, you provided confidence; when our faith was shaken, you widened the hallway of trust; when we languished in illness, you created a powerful remedy. We are humbled to the core by your faithfulness. And though we could never enumerate all your acts of benevolence, we remember these most recent ways you have brought redemption to our door . . . . . . . . .
Lord of the Deepest Night, this season of Lent calls us to admit the unrepented sins that live within us, the ego that is never satisfied, the corrosive trove of guilt stored in our souls, the rugged terrain of our own character. We are called to grieve the reality of our world that doesn’t live up to your love. Burn away the inconsistencies of our words, thoughts, and deeds; and empty the residue into your dust bin of nothingness. May we be bold enough to take on the work of arduous introspection this holy season, that we will be freed from our blindness, and will come to see ourselves with the eyes of truth.
Employing all we have learned this past year, and remembering that you care so earnestly for us, Ever-merciful God, we lay before you our thanksgivings and our appeals:
- Daughter thankful for church support throughout her mother’s illness and death
- Member grateful for her Stephen Minister
- Gratitude: Hospitalized member is improving
- Appreciation for a new home
- Grateful for church’s Ash Wednesday observance
- Member seeking good housing arrangement
- Guidance for mother concerning her son’s health
- Prayers that a home may sell quickly
- Continued prayers for aunt following surgery
- For one’s white blood count to increase
- Pray for upholding our Stephen Ministers
- God’s help for a mother building a stable life for her children
- Grandson in treatment for lymphoma
- For strength to keep a holy Lent
- Grace and guidance for recent widow whose house burned to the ground
- God’s guidance for couple who may have to move
- Tolerance for one in extensive radiation treatment
- Two seeking help in managing depression
- Healing mercies for mother with leukemia
Holy Hope, as we lay our heads upon your cushion of forgiveness, tuck us in with the promise of renewal. And hear our whispered prayers in the night, that we may become fully reconciled to our neighbors and to you, for you are our hope in this world and in the next.
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.
