Evening Prayer – February 23

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 23, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

O Perfecting One, at twilight time, we remember how you came to us in surprising ways in the daylight hours.  You didn’t give us what we wanted; instead, you gave what we needed. We aimed for success, but you began teaching us acceptance.  We wanted to be admired and appreciated, but you kept asking us to love even those we do not like.  We longed for an easy road with no snags, but you presented detours that challenged our own capabilities.   It seems that when we prayed that we might grow in our faith this Lenten Season, you took us seriously.  We really did mean it, Lord, so in the tomorrows that come, help us set aside our sniveling and get on with business — Jesus’ business — of perfecting our souls.

Steadfast One, in our Christian journey, we confess that there are times when our feelings resonate with the psalmist who said: “I am like an owl in the wilderness, like a little owl of the wasteland, like a lonely bird on the housetop.” It isn’t that we feel abandoned necessarily, but it seems that the good we do is so insignificant in a world that threatens to implode.  We feed one and twenty more hungry ones take his place; we sit at the bedside of the ill friend, only to find three others have died alone in the night; we help stabilize one family, when across town entire neighborhoods are being torn apart by violence. We know that nothing is impossible with you, O God, so come to us in our weakness.  Reassure us that your desire is for us to stay the course and serve as best we can as long as we can.

Thank you for making room in the shaded hours for our honest conversations. Even when we have no words, the apostle reminds us to pray without ceasing.  And so we humbly place the praises and longings of our own hearts at your feet . . . . . . . . . . and also these sincere petitions from our church family:

  • Seven offer gratitude for recent vaccinations
  • Gratitude for prayers from member recovering from surgery
  • Member grateful for a beach vacation
  • Thanksgiving: Evidence that cancer treatments are effective
  • Celebrating upcoming opportunity for in-person worship
  • Gratitude for the gift of an exquisite day
  • Prayers for all children who struggle with learning and are behind academically
  • Prayers for a good pathology report
  • All working to address gun violence in our city
  • Family members in North Carolina, suffering with Covid
  • Healing for young husband with Covid
  • Prayers for adult son to become more responsible
  • Continued healing: Mother recovering from a stroke
  • Grieving family who lost a newborn
  • Our schools and administrators at every level
  • Prayers for one in radiation treatment
  • Guidance for adult children, need guidance in caring for elderly mother
  • Member having knee surgery Thursday
  • Two seeking new work opportunities

May the Re-Creator, the One who makes all things new, enter our souls this night, granting us a restorative rest. And with morning light, may we arise refreshed in spirit, ready to walk that more demanding trail that awaits all true friends of Jesus:

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 22

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 22, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

O One Who Tends our Souls, your magnificence beams upon us each day, but in spite of your gifts of wonder, we confess that we often set our minds, not on divine things, but on human things.  We scramble for the paper goods and seize every dairy item in sight at the grocer’s when someone whispers “snow!”  And should we get wind of an increase in gas prices, we race to join the line up at the pumps.  Anxiety is contagious, and when we catch that fever of uneasiness, we grab far more than we need, doubting your loving provision.  Forgive us for allowing ourselves to become tangled again in that knot of fear that has plagued us all our lives.  Teach us to trust during this season, Holy One, and write the apostle’s words upon our hearts: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

O Divine Parent, surely we are an embarrassment to you when we shrink from living as your disciples. And given the many times we have wounded you, it is astonishing that you put up with us at all.  Particularly we recall these personal slights we have inflicted upon you and upon others this day: . . . . . . . . . . We humbly open ourselves to your forgiveness, trusting that you might show us how to claim that power of which the apostle speaks.

These have been days of unease for many of your people, Comforting God, and those trapped by riveting troubles. Be with all those who are trying to recover from deadly winter storms and send willing hands to assist with reconstruction. Give hope to the afflicted, we pray, that they may not give in to despair.  You hear the cries of all whose hearts are unsettled, who bear pain of body, mind and spirit.  Energize our own community that we might bring the evil assaults on our young people to an end. Touch each one, we pray, whose names we now whisper  . . . . . . . . . . . . And also attend to these requests that spring from the souls of our church members:

  • Thanksgiving for prayers: Second chemo treatment completed
  • One offers gratitude for an unexpected financial gift
  • Family celebrates the birth of healthy baby today
  • Prayers appreciated: Young mother’s surgery went well
  • Sister-in-law’s surgery was successful Friday, grateful for prayers
  • Six express thanks for church’s help with vaccinations
  • Pray for countless children who are behind academically
  • Guidance for second grader with learning difficulties
  • Healing: Brother and wife suffering with Covid
  • Healing for young husband with Covid
  • Guidance for mother concerning her son’s health
  • Those struggling with recent bereavements
  • Continued healing: Mother recovering from a stroke
  • Grieving family whose newborn lived only a few days
  • Families devastated by shooting deaths in our city
  • Prayers for one in radiation treatment
  • Comfort and guidance for adult children seeking ways to best care for their elderly mother
  • Prayers for a job opening for a professional man
  • Healing for a young grandson
  • Resolving gun violence in Knoxville
  • Pray for our educators and students at all levels

O Breath Within Our Breath, quiet our souls in the evening hours as we take our rest in your enduring love. Meet our worries and our fears at that mysterious point in the night when your grace somehow blossoms into blessing. All these prayers and petitions we leave with you, in the name of our Redeemer, who taught us to pray in this way:

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 18

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 18, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

You gotta walk that lonesome valley,

You gotta walk it by yourself;

For nobody else can walk it for you.

You gotta walk it by yourself.

(Woodie Guthrie)

Creator of Darkness, this morning we had only begun that long Lenten walk toward Jerusalem when we found ourselves already dreading the journey.  We know you want us to widen our hearts, but we fear there will be too much pain involved. Most days we are pretty comfortable just plugging along, yet you are trying to teach us the ways of humility.  Thread your fingers through ours, we pray, and walk with us until we are brave enough to travel that lonely road of introspection on our own. Keep your candle burning in the distance, though, lest we lose our way again.

Under sunless skies, Lord, we headed for home today, only to find our failures and inadequacies were traveling in the car with us; they entered the front door and are even now occupying the most comfortable seats in the house.  One by one they seem to mock us.  Well, they know it is their season to openly present themselves, so we shouldn’t be surprised. But have mercy, we pray, that as we own each of our defeats and failings, they may not linger too long, but will find the back door and disappear into the mist, never to be seen again.  Their brothers and sisters will also visit, but we will deal with them on other days.

Give us that fresh start tomorrow, we pray, that we may be unencumbered.  And how do we know we are freed from what is past?  We walk by faith and not by sight, as do our friends who offer their thanksgivings and their concerns to the One who is ever faithful:

  • Thanksgiving: A home has sold and loan is absolved
  • A senior living facility is reopening for visitors the 22nd
  • Elder member sends gratitude that he is remembered by the church
  • Thankful for work of Parish Health Team in procuring vaccinations
  • Gratitude: For a clear follow-up cancer scan
  • Family grateful for short vacation
  • Courage for both husband and wife diagnosed with ALS
  • Healing: Brother and wife suffering with Covid
  • Guidance for mother concerning her son’s health
  • Those struggling with recent bereavements
  • Young mother undergoing surgery Friday
  • For one having chemo treatment Friday
  • A solution for member anxious about housing
  • Prayers for our Stephen Ministers
  • Families devastated by shooting deaths in our city
  • God’s help for mother building a stable life for her children
  • Prayers for young sister-in-law undergoing mastectomy Friday
  • God’s guidance for couple who may have to move
  • Tolerance for one in extensive radiation treatment
  • Healing for a young grandson
  • A solution for the gun violence in Knoxville

Guardian of our Souls, enfold us in your arms of mercy this night and may we join all your children who will know the tranquility only you can give. Draw in our individual and collective prayers shared this eve, that your love may be known to each one who longs for closer communion with your Son, the Christ, 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.

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Evening Prayer – February 17

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 17, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

In your darkness there is no darkness.

With you, O Lord, the deepest night is as clear as the day.

(Taize chant) 

Come, evening, come!  The sky turns to ash and we recall wisdom’s teaching that there is a time for everything, a season for every purpose under the heavens. Your grace has brought us through this long season of Covid travail.  When we were embittered, you taught us tolerance; when we felt isolated, you nudged a friend to call; when we were forlorn, you provided confidence; when our faith was shaken, you widened the hallway of trust; when we languished in illness, you created a powerful remedy.  We are humbled to the core by your faithfulness.  And though   we could never enumerate all your acts of benevolence, we remember these most recent ways you have brought redemption to our door . . . . . . . . .

Lord of the Deepest Night, this season of Lent calls us to admit the unrepented sins that live within us, the ego that is never satisfied, the corrosive trove of guilt stored in our souls, the rugged terrain of our own character.  We are called to grieve the reality of our world that doesn’t live up to your love.  Burn away the inconsistencies of our words, thoughts, and deeds; and empty the residue into your dust bin of nothingness.  May we be bold enough to take on the work of arduous introspection this holy season, that we will be freed from our blindness, and will come to see ourselves with the eyes of truth.

Employing all we have learned this past year, and remembering that you care so earnestly for us, Ever-merciful God, we lay before you our thanksgivings and our appeals:

  • Daughter thankful for church support throughout her mother’s illness and death
  • Member grateful for her Stephen Minister
  • Gratitude: Hospitalized member is improving
  • Appreciation for a new home
  • Grateful for church’s Ash Wednesday observance
  • Member seeking good housing arrangement
  • Guidance for mother concerning her son’s health
  • Prayers that a home may sell quickly
  • Continued prayers for aunt following surgery
  • For one’s white blood count to increase
  • Pray for upholding our Stephen Ministers
  • God’s help for a mother building a stable life for her children
  • Grandson in treatment for lymphoma
  • For strength to keep a holy Lent
  • Grace and guidance for recent widow whose house burned to the ground
  • God’s guidance for couple who may have to move
  • Tolerance for one in extensive radiation treatment
  • Two seeking help in managing depression
  • Healing mercies for mother with leukemia

Holy Hope, as we lay our heads upon your cushion of forgiveness, tuck us in with the promise of renewal. And hear our whispered prayers in the night, that we may become fully reconciled to our neighbors and to you, for you are our hope in this world and in the next.

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 16

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 16, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Designer of the Filmy Moon, the Evening Wind, and the Quiet Stars, somewhere out there you are watching, you are listening.  And though some may think it foolish, we know you have dreams we may each fulfill in the span of years we are granted. Cloak us in your silent love as darkness descends, that we may again receive your assurance that we are treasured just as we are . . . . . . . . . . Breathe in us, Spirit Wind, as we tarry now in your calming silence . . . . . . . . . .

Upon your Word and promise we have built our faith, though our patterns of behavior reflect otherwise.  We confess that we are a fretful people and are not too good at waiting.  We think we need to do it all ourselves rather than trusting in you.  Unfortunately, our efforts too frequently are botched by our race for hasty solutions.  Why is it that we operate on the assumption that we know best?  Forgive us, Faithful One, and share that patience embedded in your heart with us, your frail flock.  Without it we will doom ourselves to living in that somber room painted in shades of false pride.

As Jesus sought your counsel in aloneness, he also knew you as the God of Community.  He therefore sought the company of the unwashed, the sinner, the frightened, the proud, the weak, the undeserving, and invited all to dine with him.  And as he looked around the table, he found faces just like ours.  To them and to us he offered his comfort and hope.  How blessed we are to have been called into this blessed communal life where you are ever the Accepting Host, where our togetherness discounts none, but uplifts all.

As part of your Church Street community, we bring you our joys this day . . . . . . . . . . and we covet your forgiveness for our missteps . . . . .  . . . . Renew us for your service and hear the prayers of all who rely upon your goodness and mercy:

  • Member thankful depression has improved
  • Prayers appreciated- aunt’s breast surgery successful
  • Member grateful- financial burden being lifted
  • Thanksgiving for volunteers assisting with vaccinations
  • Appreciation to the Parish Health Team for assistance in securing medical help
  • Comfort for member struggling with grave illness
  • Prayers for a good housing arrangement
  • Courage for one diagnosed with ALS
  • For one’s white blood count to increase
  • Grandson in treatment for lymphoma
  • Prayers for healing ill loved one
  • God’s guidance for couple who may have to move
  • Upholding one in radiation treatment
  • Two seeking help in managing depression
  • Cherished mother recovering at home
  • Parent seeks God’s help in creating a stable life for her children

Quiet the bumps in the night, Gentle Keeper, that we, and all whom we love, may rest in peace. And when morning comes, we will remember that yours is the lasting peace that will carry us through every test tomorrow may present.  Receive these, our earnest prayers offered in the name of 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.

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Evening Prayer – February 15

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 15, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 

I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.

Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed,

for his compassion never fails.

(Lamentations 3:19-21)

 

Why is it, Lord, that you sometimes seem so distant?  We know in our hearts that you want the best for us, and there are many days when your love comes cascading down in torrents.  But then, there are times of prayer when you are nowhere to be found and we encounter only emptiness.  Maybe we’ve grown accustomed to thinking Jesus is our very own. Perhaps we forget that we don’t have you in our hip pockets, and when our fears come calling you may just be attending to another in more desperate straits than ours. Help us hold on even when the wells of our souls threaten to run dry.  You will not leave us comfortless for long.  There is that undercurrent of holy grace moving beneath the foundation of the universe that carries us home, even when we scarcely feel its progression.

Breath of Mystery, what do we do when we feel our pleas have not been heard, when our expectations are not met, when aloneness seems our fate?  We may remember that Jesus also experienced hollow interludes – times he was misunderstood, when others deserted him, when he fell on his knees in the agony in the garden.  He managed his fears by never giving up, by continuing to pray and by moving ahead.  Maybe we can just enter the emptiness and learn from it. Then through our service to others, we will release our assumptions concerning the availability of the Holy, and will even discover a new depth of trust.  We pray, Lord, it may be so.

Spirit of Gentleness, with all our flaws and failings, even in our doubts, you cherish us and count upon us to act as your very own disciples.  Only One is perfect, else we would have no need of a Loving Savior.  Therefore, let us recommit ourselves to the work as we have promised, through our prayers, presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness in Christ’s name.

You come to us on your own terms, O Lord, so in your own way and in your own time, we ask you to attend to these thanksgivings and petitions offered by your disciples at Church Street:

  • Thanksgiving: A mother recovering from stroke
  • Gratitude to God: A relationship is being renewed
  • Six thankful for church assistance in obtaining virus vaccinations
  • Gratitude: Daughter recovering well from surgery
  • Thankful that a family member now has health insurance
  • Gratitude for a wonderful gift from a friend
  • Prayers for three families dealing with addictions
  • Courage for one diagnosed with ALS
  • Grandson healing from lymphoma
  • God’s guidance for couple who may have to move
  • Courage for one enduring radiation treatments
  • Three seeking help in managing depression
  • Frail friend with pneumonia
  • Healing mercies: Aunt recovering from mastectomy
  • For one’s white blood count to increase
  • Cherished mother recovering at home
  • Parent asks for prayers for her two young sons, and for God’s help in stabilizing and managing the family
  • Continued prayers for healing of heart ailment

Move among us and through us this night, Unwavering One, as we take our rest in you. Gather the longings and prayers of our hearts, and those in the hearts of all your people, that our dreams will be of you and your compassion that never fails.

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 11

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 11, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

As the sun disappears behind the heavy clouds, our prayers of thanksgiving rise to you, Loving God. Looking heavenward, our hearts teem with abundant gratitude for even the smallest things which, in our haste, we may have taken for granted:  the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, sufficient food in the pantry, the meal lovingly prepared, the word of honest appreciation directed our way, camaraderie of co-workers, the pet who adores our companionship, friends who know our flaws but love us still, the face of a smiling child, a shimmering earth washed by cleansing showers. Your ever-flowing grace revives our trust in you.

O Faithful One, some far-off wind seems to call us home to you at eventide. Even in our extended virus struggles, we have found that you are breathing in us and for us.

And in your wisdom and mercy you have brought about the medications that are addressing the deadly virus that has stalked the earth these many months.  Always a step ahead, you are planning even better days for your people. Grant that the lessons we have learned this past year will stir us to work within your plan, ever in the pattern of Jesus.

Forgive us through your mercy for whatever wrongs we have done this day, particularly these that still sting in our memories  . . . . . . . . Strengthen our souls and our will through the night hours, we pray, that tomorrow we will be more intentional in our service to you. O Wounded One, heal us. O Enlightened One, transfigure us. O Refining One, sweep through us — for Christ’s sake.

We place our current gratitudes and struggles into your outstretched hand, particularly . . . . . . . . . . .  and also these offered by our brothers and sisters at Church Street:

  • Thanksgiving: A beautiful new baby
  • Couple eagerly await a new birth
  • Ten thankful for church assistance in obtaining virus vaccinations
  • Grateful for a more favorable oncology report than expected
  • Member burying her cherished father tomorrow
  • Couple grappling with sad news
  • God’s help for one in need of solid job
  • Courage for one facing cancer regimen
  • For medications to improve a friend’s depression
  • Frail friend with pneumonia
  • Prayers for friend, weak and confused
  • Healing for two in cancer treatment
  • Beloved mother recovering at home
  • Continued prayers for healing of heart ailment
  • Close friend given six months to live
  • Healing grandson with lymphoma
  • For a friendship to blossom
  • All who mourn recent deaths of loved ones
  • Family struggling with son’s addition and PTSD

O Watch in the Night, as your eye is on even the sparrow, we know you will keep us and all whom we love in your gaze through the dark hours. Accept all these, our earnest pleas, for we lay them at your throne of grace in the name of your Risen Son, whose resurrection song still plays in our hearts:

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 10

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 10, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

As you have etched your signature in holy shades of light and dark across the sky above us, you have engraved your name upon every living part of your creation. Even as you answer to many names, we know you as the One Who Is, the One who will stand with us till time is no more. We praise you that your autograph glows in the stately stretch of the heavens this eventide — a silent signal that you linger close. If we failed to acknowledge you or caused you pain in these hours past, please forgive us. We pray you would never erase that treasured mark of ownership we are honored to wear.

Heart of Truth, the newscasters twist their sirens to their most alarming levels, keeping us anxiously poised for the next catastrophe.  It is all we can do to keep from being swept up in despair. Help us instead to tune in to those voices that share stories of your goodness: the sick are being healed, the wounded are being delivered, medications are being distributed, the hungry are being fed, neighbors are helping neighbors, isolated ones are not forgotten, your work is being done.

How comforting to know that your humble disciples still walk the earth, bearing the truth of your benevolence.  Thanks be to God!

O Bringer of New Life, even in the bleakness of winter, you invite us to believe in what can still be. Give us courage to move forward, even when we are tired and stressed, when we are restless and confused, even when our challenges seem insurmountable. Receive our private concerns, we pray, that we may know your wisdom, especially in . . . . . . . . . . And as it is your good pleasure to receive our prayers, we offer these on behalf of our Church Street family:

  • Seven offer gratitude for virus vaccinations
  • Thankful for prayers: A mother’s health is improving
  • Gratitude: One’s depression is lifting
  • Couple grateful for a vacation
  • Member thankful to be released from hospital
  • Prayers for a good job opening in the area
  • Upholding a family saddened by recent news
  • Courage for one with newly diagnosed cancer
  • Frail friend with pneumonia
  • Close friend given six months to live
  • One desires guidance in beginning a friendship
  • Upholding two members in cancer treatment
  • Comfort for family: Death of father
  • Healing: Husband in deep depression
  • Strength for family coping with son’s grave emotional problems
  • Member recovering from major illness
  • Friend suffering physically and emotionally
  • Continued healing for heart patient
  • Grandson with lymphoma

As we rest tonight, Lord, enlarge our hearts that we might love more deeply and serve with greater intensity in the new day to come. And as we sleep, we place ourselves, all whom we love, and all who bear your love to others into your keeping, for you Lord, only make us dwell in safety.

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 9

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 9, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Your evening sky, Creator of Rest, becomes the color of silt and we anticipate the silent grandeur with which you close each of our days. As we gaze at your soft glory, let us enter the closet of prayer and commune with you in that place of quiet where words are unnecessary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

There is the beautiful aspect of widening darkness makes all things appear equal: There is no one more lofty or wise than the other, both mansion and hut are sheathed in raven, overgrown fields appear as lovely as manicured lawns, all skin tones blend into the color of earth. Only in the shadowed hours do we let down our guard long enough to see with the leveling eyes of God.

With morning’s light, however, inequities again will starkly reveal themselves; so give us new energy to take up the cause of the disordered, the poor, the hungry and misunderstood, the ill and the disenfranchised. Give us the will to respect all of your blessed creation, tending it with the love of the Father.

O One Who Beckons, thank you for calling us to be part of your labor for justice and mercy. We join our hands with all believers everywhere who know you as the Source of all Goodness and who pray without ceasing for your will to be made manifest in all our lives. Receive now both the praises and the struggles lifted from the Church Street family:

  • Homebound members thankful for church contacts
  • Young couple celebrate the birth of a new daughter
  • Praises for all who are helping with virus vaccinations
  • Gratitude: Souper Bowl donations for the hungry exceeded expectations
  • Thanksgiving for end of lengthy recovery from back surgery
  • Prayers for a good job opening in the city
  • Upholding a family saddened by new challenges
  • Courage for one with newly diagnosed cancer
  • Close friend given only six months of life
  • Upholding member in cancer treatment
  • Comfort for daughter and family in the death of father
  • Healing: Husband in deep depression
  • Strength for family coping with son’s grave emotional problems
  • Pray for mother recovering from brain bleed
  • Friend suffering physically and emotionally
  • All who are grappling with grief
  • Continued healing for heart patient

O One Who Dreams With Us, may we take in your bracing night air as we rest upon your cool sheets of peace. Refresh us with sleep tonight for the work that tomorrow holds. Shelter all whom we cherish, we pray, and all your beloved who long for the nearness of Christ:

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.

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Evening Prayer – February 8

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

February 8, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

O Evening Host, you call us with slashes of orange light seeping through the darkening horizon; your invitation beckons us home again into the enfolding freedom from our daily routine. Here in this calm closing, you offer breathing space to remember how you have carried us through the hours and how you are opening windows and doors to free us from our tensions. May we enter these moments in quiet reflection . . . . . . . . . . For your gift of this day of living under your glorious sun, we bow in gratitude.

Fortress of Forgiveness, we are a rushed people, and in our haste, our words have punctured suggestions made in earnest and ideas that showed promise. Our unkindness and lack of grace blindsided even those closest to us. For the ways in which we have failed you, our sisters and brothers, and ourselves, we ask for holy pardon, especially for . . . . . . . . . . . .  We also pray you would show us how to pardon those who have caused us pain, particularly . . . . . . . . . .  Perhaps if we picture your candle of grace shining above each one who has hurt us, we would see that their own struggles are no different than our own.

As you work through us to further your own purposes, we ask that you would infuse our national leaders with you new vision, granting that the groundwork they lay will support a system where all have ample opportunity to thrive in this good land you have given us. Discipline us to pray daily for our leaders at every level, as we also pray for our fellow pilgrims across the world, for ourselves, and for each of these Church Street friends whose situations are already known to you:

  • Gratitude for the life and witness of a cherished colleague
  • Ten offer gratitude for virus vaccinations
  • Thanksgiving for minimal side effects of chemo
  • Family grateful that father’s illness has stabilized
  • Many express thanks for communion worship
  • Gratitude: Family of four healed from Covid
  • Thanksgiving for vaccinations for family members in UK and Missouri
  • Thankful for answered prayers of wider vaccine distribution
  • Courage for one with newly diagnosed cancer
  • Dear sister depressed from isolation
  • Prayers for two in treatment for pancreatic cancer
  • Comfort for family, husband killed in accident
  • Healing: Husband in deep depression
  • Healing for one suffering leg pain
  • Pray for mother recovering from brain bleed
  • Discernment for one making weighty decision
  • Strength for friend very ill physically and emotionally
  • Families mourning recent deaths of loved ones
  • Continued healing for heart patient
  • Healing for one whose cancer has spread

We conclude our prayers, Holy One, looking forward to your healing touch of sleep. Watch over all who are closest to our hearts, we pray, and with the dawn, may we place our steps in the footprints of Jesus as we walk his road to heaven:

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.

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