BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

Good Friday, April 10, 2020

Pastor Jan

Today we pause to remember your sacrificial love, O Savior of the World, even though the message of the cross is difficult to take. We struggle with your teaching that strength is found in weakness, for we are weak ourselves; and we have long envisioned a mighty Savior who would create a world without strife, without injustice, without pain, without fearful illness. But we remember you said faith the size of a mustard seed is sufficient, so we turn to you this day, O Suffering One, with our fragmented faith, for you alone have the words of life eternal.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Wounded One, on that darkest day, the sky turned black and purple. We wonder how an innocent and righteous one had so few defenders – for only three or four brave ones huddled close at the foot of the dreaded cross. Some say the torrents that drenched the earth that day were really the tears of angels. May our own tears mingle with theirs, O Lord, for deep down we wonder if we ourselves would have had the courage to remain faithful, or would we also have run away? Could we have witnessed such agony?

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

In spite of our tentative ways and our sporadic commitment, your apostle reminds us to pray without ceasing. And so we humbly place the praises and longings of our own hearts, and also these sincere petitions from our church family, at your feet:

• Gratitude: brother in VA, ill with cancer, tested negative for COVID-19
• Gratitude for a sister who sits daily with her grieving brother
• Thankful that close relatives in NYC remain safe and healthy
• Appreciation for all who are donating blood to benefit virus victims
• Strength for brave, yet weary healthcare workers who serve so nobly
• Prayers for a friend in Birmingham whose father died suddenly, and the bereaved family cannot gather to hold a service
• The unemployed and the under-employed, for financial relief
• Four worried members who cannot visit loved ones in assisted living
• A family grieving the imminent death of their longtime canine friend
• Peace and healing of a family member with cancer, facing surgery soon
• A sister awaiting radiation treatment for stage 1 lung cancer
• All who are depressed and lonely during this time of confinement

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

O Sacred Head Now Wounded, we bow to you this day, as it was you alone who brought hope out of devastation, triumph out of sorrow, life out of death, and who also 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.

Good Friday Passion & Chorales, Today at Noon

Join Church Street on YouTube at noon for the story of Christ’s Passion. Presented by Terri Ward and Edie Johnson.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 8, 2020

Pastor Jan

O Astonishing One, you come to us in surprising ways. We ask for success, but you teach us acceptance. We ask to be loved, but you ask us to love others. We long for the easy road, but you offer detours and challenges. Somehow you know what is best for our growth in faith. So we reach out our hands today and place them in yours, knowing that your faithfulness never falters and that, in spite of unexpected byways, you are traveling with us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We recall the loud Hosannas we offered just a few days ago — so the world might hear of Jesus’ glad arrival. Yet we remember his ride to Jerusalem ended in unimaginable suffering. In the days ahead, we pray for courage, lest we desert, as did those first disciples. For resolve to stay the course, we trust in God as our strength and the Holy Spirit as our comfort.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

O Suffering Servant, at this half-way point on your own path of anguish, we turn to you with our own concerns. You know our situation is bleak, and too many are in pain throughout the world. We pray for our brothers and sisters everywhere, particularly those who unselfishly serve the ill, grow our food, deliver needed supplies, stock our shelves, and those working for a cure for this deadly disease. Hear also these petitions from members of our own church family:

• Gratitude to a family making cloth face masks for others
• Gratitude: a friend’s COVID-19 test was negative
• Thank you for praying – a friend with a GI infection is much improved
• Gratitude for friends who helped us greatly during our bereavement
• Prayers for a dear sister who had to move her husband in hospice care in a local facility; she is not allowed to visit him
• A healthcare worker is overworked & stressed; the long hours & lack of rest are depleting her energy; prayers for time apart and renewal
• A worried husband whose work projects have been cut
• Courage, strength, and healing for a family member, cancer diagnosis, facing surgery in these uncertain circumstances
• Brother in VA, ill with cancer and may have been exposed to COVID-19

Even as we offer these situations on our hearts, help us to know, Caring God, that you are already cutting a trail through our thickest fears.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Holy One, may your own grace and tenderness be made known through each of us, as we rededicate ourselves to reaching out to help the hurting ones in our community, for this is the way of your Son:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 7, 2020

Pastor Jan

Come, Holy Spirit, and visit us in our homes, workplaces, or wherever we find ourselves this day. May your personal touch be upon each one caught up in this mysterious virus malady and turn our thoughts to you as our Anchor. As your Son showed authority over wind and wave, bring peace and calm to each one who is troubled or in danger, we pray. Brush away those burgeoning clouds of dread and despair that hang too close above us. May we hear again those words you spoke so clearly in the presence of your first disciples: “Peace be still!” And it was so.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Especially, Gracious Lord, ease the hearts of those who suffer this day, and particularly accept these concerns and gratitudes offered by members of our church family:

• Gratitude: physician friend in Brooklyn hospital remains virus free – continued prayers requested for her & her weary colleagues
• Gratitude for members of our Armed Forces, the National Guard, and their leaders as they help America through this crisis
• Thank you for praying – a daughter’s spine pain has disappeared
• Prayers for academic success of students in online learning situations
• Prayers for a nearby friend, diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor
• Traveling mercy for a bereaved couple; prayers for a grieving husband
• Prayers for a member who feels God is leading her to a new ministry
• Safety for and blessings upon all healthcare teams & first responders who risk their lives to offer healing to others

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

With the quiet breath you yourself breathed into us, in these moments of calm, we now reflect upon our most recent regrets . . .

Forgive us, O Merciful Father, wash us clean, and remember our sins no more.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Thank you, Most Holy God, for gathering us into a beloved community, for your blessings too numerous to count, and for hearing our prayers, as we offer them in the name of Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 5, 2020 (Palm Sunday)

Pastor Jan

O Lord of All That Is, through this Lenten season we have made our weary way. Many times, however, we confess we have lost our direction, entangling ourselves in the brush by the roadside. But just when the shadows have become their darkest, we see the figure of our Savior in the distance. He rides not a great steed, but rather, he sits upon a lowly donkey; and we know this image itself is his message of humility. So we ourselves kneel and ask for pardon for all those times we have thought too highly of ourselves. We follow Jesus’ lead toward the road of return, but this time we do so with unpretentious and unassuming hearts.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

“Hosanna!” the people cry. “Lord, save us!” Today we join our voices with all those who are weighed down by private sorrow and all who are unable to pray for themselves. We ask that you hold each one fast and sustain each in their suffering. Also receive both these prayers of gratitude and the pleas for courage and guidance from our church family:

• Thank you for prayers – a sister’s heart surgery went well, continued prayers are requested for her 2-week recovery
• Gratitude: A COVID-19 sufferer is now healed & returns to work Monday
• Gratitude for prayers, a mother died peacefully today and is in heaven
• A family gives thanks for prayers during their week of bereavement
• A member is grateful her physician son remains healthy in Middle TN
• Strength and safety for a physician friend in Maimonides Medical Center Brooklyn
• All the unemployed, anxious and depressed workers in our city and state; available counseling for those who are contemplating suicide
• A beloved mother in lockdown in a nursing facility, that she might remain healthy; peace for her daughter who worries about her
• Prayers for all healthcare workers throughout the world; may they receive protection and blessings for their sacrifices
• Calm for a daughter-in-law most fearful of contracting COVID-19

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Lord, you know that we can be an angry and critical people, particularly when our needs are not swiftly met. But on this holy day, we do not raise a clenched fist. Instead, we raise the palm branch, the symbol of hope, triumph, and salvation; all these shall come to us in due time from the hand of your Blessed Son:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

April 3, 2020

Pastor Jan

O Love Everlasting, your well indeed is deep and you never tire of offering your children living water. You hold out the cup of acceptance, not to the strong and self-possessed alone, but most assuredly to the weak, to the vulnerable, the disenfranchised, the poor, the hungry, and all of us fretful ones who live behind locked doors. You know that we fear the unknown, but these 40 days of introspection are meant to give us a true longing for you. Stretch out your hand, O Generous One, and we shall drink from that cup of living water until we never thirst again.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Your grace comes to us as quietly as the dew — so silently that we often take it for granted. Forgive us, we pray when we fail to recognize your pulsing life in creation, in the laughter of a child, in those who care for us, in the stranger who gives us a kind greeting, the one who brings us our mail, the one who stocks the grocery shelf, the one who brings our meal to the curb. Praise be to you, O God, for those drops of goodness that enrich our days.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

And in that same goodness, receive these petitions from our church family:

• Praises that a friend with COVID-19 is now well
• Gratitude for all health professionals who set aside personal safety to help others – prayers for their strength & courage & peace
• Gratitude for remote worship, devotionals, phone calls, notes, & everything keeping us connected as a congregation
• Someone is thankful for a much-needed monetary gift
• Prayers for a sister having delicate heart surgery tomorrow, for her anxious family
• Safety & strength for a longtime friend who is alone, ill, & needy
• Reassurance for a member, soon having tests for an unknown malady
• Prayers for a young wife in D.C. who presents symptoms of COVID-19
• A couple enduring difficulties request prayers
• Prayers for a daughter to find relief from spine & leg pain
• A family moving to a new home across town, that all might go smoothly

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

All these prayers we cast upon that Great Stream Renewal, your Beloved Son 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.