Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
Let evening come, O God Who Calls Us to Rest. Spread your quiet shadows over your tired people who have allowed themselves to be pulled in too many directions this day. You give us permission to turn off the music of productivity and constant availability. Someone else pulls the strings and we dance; but we, having fallen in love with movement, continue to forge ahead on our own, even when the strings are loosened. Slow our minds and our steps, we pray, as we wait upon your most gracious eventide. Soothe our bodies and minds, Wise Creator, that we might find the renewal you have planned for us. We need it, we desire it, we wait for it!
May it be so, Lord, may it be so.
As we reflect upon this day just passed, may we bring to mind those instances which were bursting with rich blessing. And though, perhaps unrecognized in the moment, we now remember the kindness behind each occurrence, especially . . . . . . . . . . Ah, how mysteriously, stitch by stitch, you knit your grace into our lives! Our gratitude may come as only a whisper, but we pray you will hear every prayer of adoration, and sew those, too, into your blanket of love.
May it be so, Lord, may it be so.
In one of the bleakest eras, an angel brought greetings of great joy to lonely ones in the field watching their flocks. Your tidings, O Holy One, are as meaningful to us today as they were to the shepherds under that chilly Middle Eastern sky. We also know many who are lost and lonely, those who feel overlooked and forgotten. We confess that we can casually erase them from our minds, so forgive our arrogance, we pray. But you have not forgotten them — you know each feeble and frail one by name; they are those who hunger most keenly for your hope. Have mercy, O Lord, and give us that same gnawing hunger.
May it be so, Lord, may it be so.
Many still seek that infant born of Mary. Mark the way for those wounded ones everywhere: the starving in Madagascar and Afghanistan; the tornado-ravaged territories of our own country; those who have lost not only their homes and belongings, but their family members and neighbors. We lift prayers for those everywhere who are shaken by tragedy, victims of injustice, and those who are pummeled by the deadly virus. And again we ask for healing of the deep political divisions within our nation that are unraveling the fabric of community; we speak of peace, but our actions are not aligned with those of the Prince of Peace. Come, Lord Jesus, and set our feet back on that solid road to Bethlehem.
May it be so, Lord, may it be so.
To these petitions, we add these personal ones on the hearts of our church family, who bring their hurts, hopes, and praises this week:
- Prayers appreciated: Family celebrates birth of heathy baby boy
- Thankful husband now living in safety in rehab
- Thanksgiving for helpful friends during a family illness
- Family celebrates happy wedding of granddaughter
- Thankful UMCOR already at recovery work in disaster areas
- Member celebrates: Scans reveal no sign of cancer cells
- Family grateful for a daughter’s wedding on December 18
- Family offers thanks for safe travel to a family event
- Pray for mother recovering from lung surgery, began chemotherapy today
- Continued prayers: Mother hospitalized, recovering from fall & her ill husband recovering from Covid at home
- Healing for daughter, very ill with painful, infectious colitis
- Upholding all church families in mourning during the holidays
- God’s grace to surround a mother suffering with cancer, for renewed hope; and her worried family standing by
- Beloved friend in Nashville undergoing chemo to salvage transplant and her husband who is hospitalized with an illness
- Healing for young man suffering from PTSD
- Faithful husband struggling with memory loss
- Solace for ill brother, that he might accept a move to a safer environment
- Dear friend no longer able to tolerate cancer meds
- Healing of wife’s injuries sustained in a fall
- Strength for daughter, extreme complications from Covid
- Relieving anxiety of daughter, estranged from her ill mother
- For doors of employment to open for a talented professional man
- Patience & healing for mother following colon surgery
- Beloved husband undergoing chemotherapy
- A father longs for reconciliation with his children
- Wisdom & strength: Young mother enduring a painful separation
- Mother seeking healing of relationship with her daughters
- God’s guidance and healing for a mother with cancer diagnosis
You are our Safe Haven, our harbor amid the upheavals of our days, the Keeper of every moment of our lives. Scripture says that weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning; therefore, help us release to your care all those who are weighed down with burdens and all who are closest to our hearts. We commend each one to you, knowing that, in due time, their joy will be made complete through the coming of that Blessed Babe, your Beloved, who draws near each time we offer his most complete 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.
