Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of September 8, 2021
Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
O God of Change, you are ever calling us to look for that new thing you are doing in our world, for you are the wellspring of all life. The turning of the season is in the air, showing us a future you are calling us to enter. We enter it solely by your grace, O Lord; our steps are tentative, for we are indeed a tired people. The tumult of the world has seeped into our psyche, the pain and losses we view onscreen every day have pierced our hearts, the widening division within our own nation has strained our spirits and sapped our energy.
Even so, O Message of Hope, your voice rises in the cool air sifting through the trees. Forgive us for leading such insular lives and for believing that we might live in this realm free of weariness and suffering. Forgive us for succumbing to inner despair. Forgive us for forgetting that, as long as you give us breath, you have a mission for each of us. May the surge of your life-giving force flow through us this very day, we pray, giving us renewed strength and hope to be your hands and feet in this world you love so much.
And should we set our disappointments aside, we would remember that everything we have is a gift you have freely offered. Indeed, were we to write our thanksgivings among the clouds, there would be no room remaining in the skies! Our very lives, our health, our families and friends, our talents and service, our individual paths that have led us to you, our place within a community of faith, are all offerings from our Savior who promises never to leave us.
And as those who have been called to be keepers of our brothers and sisters, we remember those who find themselves in harm’s way, particularly all healthcare workers whose energy is worn thin, all firefighters, flood rescuers, police, and public servants who face dangers unknown to us. We lift up those who are facing illness or more medical tests, those who are lonely, afraid, bereaved, or depressed. Especially today, we pray for . . . . . . . . . Comfort them and their families who care for them. Whisper your word of hope in each heart, we pray, letting all know they are not alone or forgotten.
To each of these, O Lord, we bring both the thanksgivings and the concerns that have been voiced by your community at Church Street. We offer these, for we have confidence you are moving in and through our lives:
- Prayers appreciated, grandson’s depression is lifting
- Gratitude for prayers: dear friend home from ICU
- Appreciation for hospital workers
- Gratitude: granddaughter (8) now free of Covid
- Family thankful for unexpected financial help
- Thankful for safe visit with son out-of-town assisted living
- Thanksgiving for Stephen Ministers assisting members in crisis
- Gratitude for prayers: daughter on ventilator steadily improves
- Grateful for couple’s safe travel from Europe
- Grateful: Steady healing from knee surgery
- One thankful her covid infection is nearing an end
- Family celebrates birth of a healthy baby girl
- Healing prayers – infant with Rhinovirus and RSV
- Ongoing prayers for member with ALS
- Easing of anxiety for one who is traveling
- Healing for member’s broken foot
- Beloved aunt hospitalized with internal bleeding
- God’s comfort: family mourns death of husband/father
- Renewed vigor & healing for paralyzed grandson
- Sons mourning death of their mother on Wed
- Caregiver/friend in dire condition – Covid
- Continued prayers for family of four with Covid
- Safety for Knox County students and educators
- Prayers three members with severe pain
- Infirm cousin, lung distress due to Covid
O Voice of Heavenly Hope, even in the dimmest days, we cling to you: for you point to the light beneath the shadows, promise the harvest after scarcity, and offer the resurrection beyond the grave. It is in deep humility that we raise our heartfelt prayers to you, closing with the words your Son taught 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.
