BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 14, 2020
Pastor Jan
When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Luminous and Pure is your candle that lights our way to hope. Though our road is littered with broken promises, shattered dreams, painful regrets, and half-truths, you clear a promising path that leads to a new tomorrow. Lift your candle high, so we do not lose sight of the way to wholeness.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sometimes we are blinded by your brightness, O Flame of Love. We fear turning in your direction as we are weighed down with guilt; we wear our wrongs as a badge of our unworthiness. How odd you must find it when you see us clutching old sins, when you yourself forgot them long ago. Lift your candle high, so our inward vision might become as clear as yours.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Beam of Grace, we ask that you cast your light in the direction of those about whom we care most deeply. One by one these dear faces come to mind . . . Their anguish and unrest you know already. Still, hold your candle high this day, that each might catch a ray from your holy flame that would make their eyes shine with trust. That glimmer might be the one thing that helps them stay the course.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
And hear also these joys and petitions offered by members of our Church Street family:
- Gratitude: a hospital has safely opened & many are returning to work
- Prayers appreciated! A house closing was completed Wednesday
- A job interview went smoothly – thankful for prayers
- Thanksgiving: cancer survivor had her final radiation treatment yesterday
- Please continue to pray for 2 in our community awaiting test results
- Prayers for a grieving family who bury their mother today
- A dear pastor friend, young mother, battling breast cancer
- Continued prayers for strength for one on a long road to recovery
- Young married couple under stress with heavy work and school schedules
- Loved ones who are lonely, isolated at home or nursing facilities
- Pray for a young daughter awaiting test results for Covid-19
- Wisdom for opening of public spaces – adherence to protective guidelines
Be this our eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Even in the dark, you can kindle a spark of assurance that can last a lifetime. Small wonder you are called the Light of the World. It is to you we cling, believing that our small candles might join with yours and ignite a flame of love so broad it would envelope our world.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for a Noon Devotion Today
We hope you’ll join us today at noon on our Facebook page for a short devotion! You can view the devotions afterward on our YouTube channel or on this webpage.
All are welcome at Church Street! We believe every person is of sacred worth and created in God’s image. We welcome and celebrate the gifts God has given to all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, disability, status, economic condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religious affiliation. We respect diversity of opinion and expressions of Christian faith. We believe God loves everyone unconditionally! As God loves us, so let us love and serve in the name of Christ.
Prayer for Today – May 17
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 17, 2020
Pastor Jan
Who are you, O Lord, and who are we? This ageless question often makes its home in our thoughts. Search as we may, the full answer always eludes us. You are the one who desires to be sought, but you are always ahead of us, just out of reach. Perhaps it is enough to know you as the gravity which holds all creation together. And by your mystifying design, we are each caught up in your luminous web of grace. Hold us here forever, we pray, hold us here forever.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Impenetrable One, we can feel your love for us in so many ways, but how can we return the depth of your caring, your forgiveness, your hope, your restoration? Scripture teaches us to love you with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. We have long endeavored to be true to this teaching, but we wonder if we will reach this level of love in our lifetimes? Perhaps you think it sufficient that we are trying. May this be so. But if we miss the mark in this earthly realm, please grant that we might attain it when we reside in your everlasting kingdom.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of the Open Heart, you are open to listening to us, whether we are in want or prosperity. As this is yet another of your astonishing gifts, we know you will receive, with your characteristic care, these situations offered by members of our church family:
Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, grant that we may grow in our awe and love of you. And although you are veiled from our eyes, we know we are firmly held in your web of grace. We place all these prayers and petitions this day at the door of your heart. In your own time and in your own way, continue to work in us and through 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for worship today at 10 am!
Click here to join Church Street for Sunday morning worship at 10 am (or watch any time after 10 am on our YouTube Channel).
Prayer for Today – May 16
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 16, 2020
Pastor Jan
“Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines, though the produce of the olive fails and the fields yield no food; though the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the God of my salvation.”
So spoke the ancient prophet, O Lord, and how strong is his testament of faith! Bury the power of Habakkuk’s words deep in the soil of our spirits, we pray, that despite the present time of drought, our soul vines will remain green and full of life potential. And when your time of renewal draws near, our stems will push away the parched earth and will rise steadily upward to sing green-grace praises to you,
O God of our salvation!
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Renewing One, we know that fear lurks in the shadows, waiting to capture us unaware; and we know that we will sometimes fall prey to the dark clouds overhead, thinking they will hover forever. But in your grace, you will sift all those negative thoughts the shadows bring and will replace them with life-giving hope.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Receive now, Loving Guide, these blessings and concerns which are placed in your open hands this day. We ever feel you working in our lives:
With all the distractions that turn our attention elsewhere, we pray we would receive wisdom and strength to remain focused on you, O Divine One, for you are the key to our intense longings and the answer to every prayer. And in your mercy, accept this all-encompassing prayer our Savior 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 15
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 15, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Divine One, we pray to remember from whence we come. We have memories of our glorious church home, with its grand walls of stone and vaulted ceilings, the faith stories revealed in brilliant stained glass, and tower bells singing out the hours of our lives. We recall kneeling at the altar to receive the sacraments as choir and organ lifted our souls to celestial realms. Yes, we miss these wonders; yet all exist to remind us that there is something divine, not only in our structure; but also a spark of divinity has been placed in each of us. So in our weeks away from our church, we really carry our church within us – in our very hearts.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
God of Renewal, we pray for ears to hear and eyes to see that which is real. In a time of manufactured reality and an onslaught of distractions, we are in danger of wasting our days in hand-wringing, fruitless thinking, and misspent energy. Help us to absorb the incredible truth that we are called to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. This calling is difficult, it is true, particularly in this frightening interval. But through your Holy Spirit, we shall receive sufficient vision, strength, and power to discern those purposes that are real and to claim them as our own.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Accept, we pray, these our private confessions this day . . . For these ways in which we have disappointed you and also ourselves, we seek forgiveness. Mend us, mold us, and move us to take that fresh path that you are revealing to us. And also receive, Listening Lord, these earnest petitions that come from your beloved children at Church Street:
For the way you bring grace out of hardship, healing out of sickness, hope out of despair, and life out of death, we are humbled but ever grateful.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Although we cannot fully grasp the work you are doing within us, we know that we are being shaped for your worthy purposes. Continue that work, O Creating God, and we shall continue to offer our praise and also this prayer taught us long ago by your Son, that Greatest Teacher:
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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 14
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 14, 2020
Pastor Jan
When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Luminous and Pure is your candle that lights our way to hope. Though our road is littered with broken promises, shattered dreams, painful regrets, and half-truths, you clear a promising path that leads to a new tomorrow. Lift your candle high, so we do not lose sight of the way to wholeness.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sometimes we are blinded by your brightness, O Flame of Love. We fear turning in your direction as we are weighed down with guilt; we wear our wrongs as a badge of our unworthiness. How odd you must find it when you see us clutching old sins, when you yourself forgot them long ago. Lift your candle high, so our inward vision might become as clear as yours.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
The powers of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Beam of Grace, we ask that you cast your light in the direction of those about whom we care most deeply. One by one these dear faces come to mind . . . Their anguish and unrest you know already. Still, hold your candle high this day, that each might catch a ray from your holy flame that would make their eyes shine with trust. That glimmer might be the one thing that helps them stay the course.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
And hear also these joys and petitions offered by members of our Church Street family:
Be this our eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Even in the dark, you can kindle a spark of assurance that can last a lifetime. Small wonder you are called the Light of the World. It is to you we cling, believing that our small candles might join with yours and ignite a flame of love so broad it would envelope our world.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for a Noon Devotion Today
We hope you’ll join us today at noon on our Facebook page for a short devotion! You can view the devotions afterward on our YouTube channel or on this webpage.
Prayer for Today – May 13
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 13, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Endless Good, we remain grateful for your enduring love that neither fades nor falters. For if ever we needed your constancy, we need it in this interval of troubles. We recall Jesus’ words to those fragile souls long ago: “Let not your hearts be troubled…” Quell the apprehension that abides within us most of our waking hours, we pray, for we are unable to overcome it alone.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Love Beyond Measurement, we hear the statistics afresh each day and we are astonished by the escalating loss of health, lives, jobs, industries, institutions so vital to us. We have lost count of grieving families. We long to be out and about, but we fear that as well, for many travel about freely and unprotected, as if the pernicious virus has disappeared altogether. We long to gather in worship in the flesh, but we wonder if we might ever be able to safely assemble and embrace our friends?
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Voice of Equanimity, we believe you are ever the voice of calm in the storm and we believe your work for the good will ultimately prevail. We believe, O Lord; but help our unbelief.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Wind that Gives Us Life, send your fresh breath of ease to all hurting ones, and particularly upon these brothers and sisters of Church Street who name their concerns this day:
We are aware that the cares of this human life won’t disappear from this world altogether, but your strength can blend with our strength to lead us to a new road, a new era not yet visible.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We bring our gratitude today for your acceptance, for your forgiveness, and for your eternal promise to never leave us comfortless. For these reasons we are bold to pray in the name of your Son and our Savior:
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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 12
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 12, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Timeless One, in an era when it is unfashionable to speak of our faith, may we unapologetically share with others what your grace has meant to us. We often wonder how it is that so many exist without the hope you provide. Our spirits are inextricably bound up with yours, however, so give us the will and the words to speak openly of your everlasting goodness, when the occasion arises, sharing your divine hope with those who believe their situations are irredeemable.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Even though your claim upon us is secure, Enduring One, there are those days when we allow melancholy to creep into our thoughts; and our minds wander to how things used to be, or we forge ahead to plan a future without inconvenience or disruption. But life in this realm is lived in the meantime – in the here and now. May we take to heart the teaching of the apostle who told us to rejoice in all circumstances and to learn how to be content with things as they are.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We do rejoice that your patience never grows thin and that we might ever express our daily cares to you, no matter how massive or how inconsequential they may seem. For you, O Holy One, are ever ready to receive our petitions and handle them with reverence. So take these special situations that are on the hearts and minds of your people at Church Street, molding them to bring glory to your name:
Wrap our concerns and thanksgivings in your tenderness, we pray, and cradle us in the warmth of your love.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We thank you, Lord, that you do not love us because of our potential; rather, you treasure us just as we are. This is part of your Divine Mystery which sustains us and compels us to ever praise you and your Son 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 11
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 11, 2020
Pastor Jan
YOU BLESS US
For the life beat of our hearts
For your word that faith imparts
O Lord, you bless us.
For the beauty of the call
From the Savior of us all
O Lord, you bless us.
For your penchant to reclaim
Both the broken and the lame
O Lord, you bless us.
For your love does not require
Lists of deeds to be acquired
O Lord, you bless us.
For the healing of our pain
For the shackles you unchain
O Lord, you bless us.
For your watch-care when we roam
For by grace you call us home
O Lord, you bless us.
For eternal life implies
There’s a love that never dies
O Lord you bless us.
Amen.
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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 10
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 10, 2020
Pastor Jan
Mothering God, we are each created in the womb of your love and you have nurtured us to this day. Many were raised in loving households, as you intended, though others of us spent our early lives in homes where bitterness, resentment, and neglect prevailed. Nevertheless, you were with us even then, and in your own way, you used deprivation for our good. As a mother comforts her child, so have you comforted and cared for us throughout the years. And as we pray for mothers everywhere, we also offer gratitude for those women and men who became parents to us at one point or another. Above all, we are grateful that we are treasured members of your very own family, and that you are always waiting at the gate until we arrive safely home.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Almighty One, in the mystery of tragedy and disaster, we always look to you for an explanation to satisfy our minds and hearts. This prevailing pandemic is no different. Why? is our daily question and it surely reverberates through the heavens. Our grief runs deep, not just for ourselves, but for all whose wounds are too deep to comprehend: the ill and dying, the bereaved and frightened, the depressed and lonely, those anxious for medical results, those who worry about their safety and the safety of loved ones. We entrust all these burdens to your grace. And perhaps the answer to our nagging question is that there is no burden we face that Christ himself did not also endure.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Loyal Parent, you recognize our voices whenever we call in the night. Soothe our brow with your hand of love and listen as we whisper the secrets of our hearts . . .
May we open our souls to your grace and be born again through your mercy:
Show us, O Lord, those situations where we might join with you in bringing healing comfort to these brothers and sisters; for whatever effort we make, you will perfect it and bring forth a blessing.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
This Sabbath day, you desire that we create within us a quiet place in which we may set aside our tensions — a place where we recall that our salvation comes in returning and rest. Hold us there, in your peaceful womb of grace, where we hear only the reassuring heartbeat of your Loving Son, who taught us to pray:
Our father who are 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Join us for Worship today!
Head over to our YouTube page at 10 am this morning (or anytime after) for our Sunday morning virtual worship service.
Prayer for Today – May 9
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 9, 2020
Pastor Jan
We confess, Listening Lord, that we are happy existing within the spiritual walls we have constructed around ourselves. We are content with our own culture, our politics, our narrow views. None of these do we want to see splintered apart; yet these are the very things that hold us back from breaking into your new creation. In your own patient way, continue to chip away at the rigid surfaces of our souls until the marred remnants are all removed.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For in all honesty, All-Sufficient One, you don’t need our money or our good works. You aren’t impressed by our biblical knowledge or the fragments of our faith. The frightening truth is that you want not just pieces of us, but ALL of us. Capture the imagination of our hearts, we pray, that we might glimpse what life would be like if we surrendered all that we are, our whole selves, to you.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Great Potter, take those splintered beings that we are and re-mold us into worthy vessels, according to your will. Once reclaimed and re-shaped, we will be ready for the time when you take us off the shelf, fill us to the brim with your grace, and use us to pour out blessings and healing to others who are broken in one way or another.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
For your abundant love, we are thankful. And we know you hear the sighs of each one who is perplexed, fearful, lonely, shattered or ill. Guide them to your place of wholeness, we pray, and also receive these specific prayers offered by our church family:
Help us to see that faith never comes in a form of human devising – it comes on your own terms. It is grace that leads us to faith and faith that will lead us in the end to the Potter’s House, your own heavenly home, where all is made new:
Our father who are 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.
Prayer for Today – May 8
prayer for todayBINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Daily Prayers of the Church Street family
May 8, 2020
Pastor Jan
O Fortress of Hope, throughout these unanticipated weeks of fear and unease, we have bid farewell to so many things: to normalcy in the home and workplace, the regularity of salary, freedom of movement, the human touch, and the penetrating loss of life. We barely absorb a loved one’s death before another cherished soul is also taken from us. We daily wonder why we ourselves are still standing. The answer lies only in your mysterious Beyond. Attend, we pray, to these open wounds created by our almost unbearable losses. Grant us peace and healing, until the time we too will pass through the veil. Once there, your purposes will mingle you’re your holy wisdom and will be made plain.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
O Great Silence, in spite of our losses, your love threads itself through our days. Forgive us, we pray, when we linger too long in the valley of distress, for you are already creating a better and brighter way. You work within the prayers of others to lift us up in our melancholy moments. There are cards received that remind us we have not been forgotten after all. Empathic friends offer a listening ear, when we know they have more important things to do. And we catch sight of giant bird wings sweeping down to touch the grass, then soaring upward to the portals of heaven.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
You call us to be Easter people, so this day may we live as those who trust in resurrection, despite the challenges we face. And in your goodness, receive all the prayers which come from our hearts, and also these particular ones offered by our brothers and sisters at Church Street:
In whatever form your grace comes to us, may it be sufficient.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
No matter how our days unfold, whether with strife or with peace, may we continue to work for the kingdom; for you have told us, Faithful One, that we do not labor in vain:
Our father who are 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.
Have a prayer request?
Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.