Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of October 6, 2021

Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

O Author of All Our Days, our lives seem so scattered in this modern era, and we are quick to attach our lives to strings that others pull.  Go here! they say; Do that! they advise;  Follow me! they urge. And we confess that we frequently allow ourselves to be caught up in efforts that do not enrich our souls. Teach us, we pray, to listen more closely to the calling you so tenderly place in each of our hearts, to attend to your faint voice that whispers your will for us each day.  By your grace, help us live up to our commitment to Christ, and to realign our calendars, that we would find joy in the slackened pace, in your gift of the moment. As the apostle has said, What does it matter if we gain the world, if our hearts are not beating with the love of our Lord?  

In the liturgical year, the Church now finds itself in Ordinary Time, set apart from the high holy days. What better time to consider the mundane, the repetitive tasks of daily living – dusting and laundering, cooking and straightening, scouring and sweeping? In your great wisdom, O God of Harmony, you knew that if we performed these routine, ordinary chores, we might then become better stewards of our lives. For in ordering our households, companionship, creativity, learning and laughter, conversation and enjoyment might then have room to flourish. We remember our Savior who taught that every service performed with love, no matter how humble, will not be forgotten. Give us an openness of spirit, we pray, to once again discover both the joy and the importance of simple things.

God of Healing and Wholeness, we face the brokenness of our bodies, our spirits, and our relationships; and we confess that we do falter in our faith in this time of dread, disease, and dissension. Yes, some of our misfortunes we have brought upon ourselves; forgive our blindness, we pray.  Still other adversities stalk us through no fault of our own, and in our humanness, we search for explanations, when there are no explanations to be found.  As we are made in your image, O Divine One, you understand our pain and our perplexities; so come sit with us and linger awhile as we try to fashion a plan to move forward in faith.  Dispel our doubts, we pray, as we lift up the broken parts of ourselves to your healing. 

And hear also these praises and petitions that are offered by your people at Church Street. We know you as our refuge and strength in time of trouble; yet you have asked us not to give in to fear.  May it be so:

• Gratitude for prayers: Aortic valve surgery successful
• Thankfulness for life of a beloved husband
• One celebrates a clear cancer scan
• Bereaved member sends gratitude for support of church
• ALS sufferer thankful for outpouring of financial help
• Praises that knee surgery went smoothly
• Member thankful for recent financial gift
• Family grateful for God’s presence at death of father
• Gratitude: Paralyzed grandson now able to feed himself
• Homebound member thankful for supportive friends
• One grateful for continued improvement following surgery
• Pray for a family member in deep depression
• A daughter who needs healing in her life
• Relief & healing for very ill member hospitalized
• Comfort for member whose brother died on Tuesday
• College student and family grieving death of grandfather
• Couple ask for prayers, tensions related to young son
• Continued watchcare for young mothers-to-be
• Healing for young family affected by addiction
• Recovery for cousin on ventilator 
• Courage and calm for one newly diagnosed with cancer
• Cherished daughter in rehab, for recovery from Covid
• Pray for ongoing progress of paralyzed grandson 
• Healing for member, torn tendons in foot and ankle
• Peace for best friend, aggressive cancer diagnosis

We thank you, O Redeemer, for the gift of your unfathomable love.  Grant that your loving power would sustain us as we work to re-order our lives in the days to come.  May we eschew the strong tugs of the world that lead to emptiness; but may embrace only those purposes which bring honor to you and to your 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.

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of September 22, 2021

Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

With a rich red hue encircling yesterday’s date, the calendar announced the beginning of autumn.  Oh yes, Good Lord, we have received those gentle hints you have sent our way: the shortening of days, the cool air of the misty morn, and raindrops that quench the thirst of the overworked soil.  As your good earth prepares to rest in peace, help us to set aside those dried-up mistakes and tensions that infected us throughout the summer months.  Sweep away those careless words and unhealthy deeds that marred our long strand of warmer days; may they wither away, useless as they are, to be counted as debris for your compost.  But by your mercy, we pray, store up any seeds of hope or kindness we may have sown along the way, that in some small manner, you may find them worthy of your harvest of grace.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

All praise to you, God of the Golden Leaf, for you have honored us with life itself!  The gleanings from the field bespeak the abundance we have been given – far more than we could ever ask or imagine!  You know our every need and hasten to provide what is lacking in our lives. And because of your outpouring, we are reminded of our own poverty, knowing that every gift comes from your generous heart. Even in our most unsettling days, you come with your blessed presence, strewing gifts upon our path.  Hear us now as we whisper our gratitude for these particular mercies you have brought to fruition in our individual lives:  . . . . . . . . . .  As long as we have breath, may we sing our praise to our Life-giving Friend.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Compassionate One, too frequently we forget that you have gathered us together as one human family.  And though we are spread far and wide across the planet, you long for us to work for the good of all our brothers and sisters. We may not know each by name, but their eyes of want follow us at every turn. Empty hands reach out to us for food; shrunken bodies tell the story of deprivation and disease; orphans search for parents amid the debris of war; drug-dazed victims stagger along our streets, bereft of hope. We pray for these in this hour, Lord; yet know that thousands already are working at your behest to alleviate the immeasurable pain in our world.  Upon these selfless ones, whose names we do not know, may your blessings rest.  

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

It is the old prophet Isaiah who reminds us that the bruised reed you will not break, but will strengthen and sustain.  We have experienced your strength indeed, O Lord, in our own times of trial.  And as you have upheld us, we count you as our constant counsel, who hears our cries, who knows our angst, and who answers us through the silent movement of the Spirit.  Move among us, Lord, and especially among your people of Church Street who offer these heartfelt prayers:

• Family thankful for prayers: husband’s surgery at Vanderbilt successful
• Prayers appreciated: daughter critically ill with Covid is showing improvement – please continue healing prayers
• Praises for a safe & lengthy visit with old friends in Michigan
• Gratitude for brave hospital & medical personnel
• Thanksgiving for a brother’s engagement
• One gives thanks that surgery will not be required for an injury
• Daughter offers gratitude for her father’s peaceful death
• Family appreciates messages of comfort during a bereavement
• Offering thanks for our church’s music program
• Praises for the miracle of healing of friend with Covid
• Please continued prayers for loved ones with Covid
• Dear friend awaiting aortic valve replacement
• Healing of two members suffering from shingles
• Prayers for friend: awaiting tests for return of cancer
• Cherished husband in hospice, prayers for comfort & blessing
• Uncle in chemo treatment for pancreatic cancer
• Safety for a family traveling this week
• Prayers for a Sunday School Class holding together during Covid
• Prayers for a procedure to relieve a member’s intense pain
• Member undergoing tests this week for possible stroke
• Two families whose loved ones have died of Covid
• Increased strength for paralyzed grandson
• Cousin with lung distress, Covid complications

Bind us together, we pray, for we are your children at every season, and grant peace to those who are closest to our hearts. May your grace and generosity shine in our deeds, that others may marvel at the God we serve.  And may your words of kindness and forgiveness echo in our own voices, always pointing to love eternal, as realized in the life of our Savior, 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.

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.

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of August 22, 2021

Written by Rev. Catherine Nance

O God who is our armor, our defender, and our protection, the scripture admonishes us to “hang in there and pray for all believers.” Many of us older ones are used to hearing “persevere,” but the contemporary translation “hang in there” feels more appropriate: “Hang in there and pray for one another.” So here we are, O God, many of us feeling as if we are barely hanging in and not quite holding on. But we are thankful each time we gather as the body of Christ, in prayer or in person, remembering that it is you who holds on to us. It is your strength, your armor in which we wrap ourselves that allows us to keep calm and to carry on. We long to persevere, to do the work you call us to do. Hold onto us that we might be the people of God who exhibit faithfulness and not fear.

We long for the whole world to have this feeling of being put back together, O God. Your world is aching; it is aching, consumed by disease, wildfires, storms, and violence. It would be easy for us to hang our heads low instead of simply bowing them in prayer. Hanging our heads low in weariness and, if we are honest, despair.  But you have told us to stay alert by hanging in there and by praying for each other.

We pray for those devastated and grieving as their cities are flooded; those affected by Hurricane Henri, and those in Haiti who are without shelter, those in danger and crisis in Afghanistan.  We pray for all who work in our local hospitals which are stretched to their limits; and we pray for school personnel who are exhausted after just a week or two of classes.  

And as we list our concerns, help us not to be discouraged, but faithful.  For we know that your love, your comfort and abiding presence are a greater solace. We know that your resurrection power offers hope and a certainty that we too often forget.  As we pray for others who celebrate or mourn, may our hearts be more open, more compassionate, and more understanding of each situation:  

• Gratitude offered for the long life of beloved church member
• Family celebrates a weekend wedding 
• Family gives thanks for a week of vacation
• Thankful for dedicated healthcare workers
• One thankful for recovery from Covid
• Gratitude for birth of a little nephew
• Celebration of Pastor Palmer’s ordination 8/27
• Thanksgiving for each one joining the church last Sunday
• Recovery for young grandson facing paralysis 
• Prayers for dear sister in assisted living, confused & ill
• Member needs prayers for her physical restoration
• Cherished husband with dementia in assisted living
• Blessings for a student teacher
• Dickson and Humphreys County flood victims and government officials making major relief decisions
• Hope for cancer sufferer traveling to MD Anderson
• Strength, protection for ER nurse in critical work situation
• Safety for college freshmen making a new start
• For more persons to accept virus vaccinations
• Blessings for young son leaving home
• Exhausted nurse striving to survive pandemic workload
• Safety for nephew, military duty in Afghanistan
• Family grieving death of brother-in-law
• Adult children whose mother died this week
• Upholding son caring for mother in hospice
• Prayers for one having knee replacement on August 30 
• Cousin in critical lung distress, Covid complications
• Prayers for bereaved family, death of mother  
• Continued prayers, member with ALS
• Peace for one facing new cancer scans
• Healing for member’s severe back pain and eye malady
• Mother with cancer, that new treatment may help
• Safety for caregiver traveling 2 weeks with infirm friend
• Strength for family, grandson (12) met a tragic death today
• Brother with Alzheimer’s and his caregiver wife
• Two loved ones suffering from advanced cancer

May we be moved to action, knowing that we have your resources at hand your armor of strength instead of our will; your truth instead of our misconceptions; your justice instead of our arrogance, prejudice and self-reliance. Thank you for your salvation, O Lord, that replaces the empty promises of success.  

And as we face what seems like overwhelming powers and principalities, give us the wisdom and strength to face ourselves and our own powers, to choose the path of peace in all of our living.  And may we be unified in the task of being faithful messengers of your word and your ways.  All these things we ask in the name of Jesus Christ who gave us this prayer for all seasons of life:

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.

Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family

Week of August 11, 2021

Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade

All praise to you, O Living Bread, for you gave your own flesh and blood that we might know the essence of true life. You gave your heart, mind, spirit, hopes, dreams, and concerns that we might understand the love of the Father.  Ah, the manner in which you wish to abide within us is a great mystery; yet once we have felt you in the very sinews of our souls, we never wish to live without that sustenance that allows us to thrive in this difficult world.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

Lord, we remember it was Jesus himself who wore the robe of Teacher, knowing full well the distinct challenges such a calling would bring.  Therefore, we pray this week that insight and stamina be given to all those who educate students at every level, that they might be sufficiently equipped for the ministry to which you have called them.  Bless all the young people in our church family and within our community who wait to be taught, to be encouraged, to be understood, to grow in knowledge and wisdom.  Be at work in the homes of every family, attending each young one physically and spiritually, that they might trust Christ as their Teacher and their Eternal Guide.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

O Merciful Spirit, only you can erase the bruises which our failures have left upon our hearts.  You alone know the desires and hopes buried deep inside us.  We trust that you would find within us a profound longing to live a godly and upright life.  Such a yearning, we know, cannot happen without your underlying direction.  Give us hearts to practice daily scripture reading and reflection upon your word, to become disciplined in listening for your voice, which often comes as a mere whisper.  Assist us in remaining faithful to the commitments we have undertaken this season for the sake of your church:  to contribute generously, to greet, to teach and guide, to plan, to pray, to oversee, to build and repair, to chair a committee, to feed the hungry, to visit and transport the infirm.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

We lift up those within our own church family who are in sorrow, pain, sickness, or other hardship, and also those who are close to our hearts. Throughout this week, may each receive your light of reassurance.  Steel us with courage to face our burdens, so that in the end we may be counted among your faithful:

Thanksgivings:

• Five have recovered from Covid
• Gratitude for healthcare workers going the second mile
• Gratitude for young ones who model for us the love of learning
• Praises that sister-in-law hospitalized with Covid to be released soon
• Family grateful for the diagnosis of a father’s illness
• Thanksgiving for safe and happy visit with relatives in Illinois
• Gratitude for family reunion in Arkansas
• The blessing of our church choirs
• Family gives thanks for upcoming wedding
• Couple celebrate their wedding anniversary
• Spirit’s presence with a family during a bereavement
• Member thankful for Covid healing

Concerns:

• For an increase in virus vaccinations within our population
• Strength, courage for daughter caring for ill parent
• Wisdom and safety for community in another Covid surge
• Family mourning death of cherished mother
• Healing prayers for very weak member, hospitalized
• Sustaining our understaffed hospitals and weary staffs
• Courage for grandson paralyzed in diving accident
• An end to violence in our schools and community
• Help for a mother, caregiver for ill adult son
• Safe delivery of a first grandchild
• Longtime friend in Cleveland, longterm illness
• Prayers for KCS staff and students
• God’s presence with four struggling families
• Prayers for member recovering from an amputation
• Healing mercies for member with ALS
• Hospitalized cousin, seriously ill with Covid
• Wisdom in diagnosing an intestinal malady
• Two dealing with ongoing depression, for burdens to lift
• Grace and blessings for brother with metastatic cancer

O God Who Listens, we thank you for receiving our praises and petitions this day, knowing your hand will be upon us.  Hear us now as our voices and hearts join together in offering the words of your Beloved, the Bread of Life, 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.