Evening Prayer – January 20

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 20, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Blessed One, night tiptoes in softly across the fields and the city streets, altering both the landscape and the perspective of anyone wise enough to notice. Change is in the air, though in our weakness, we struggle against it. Observing the shaded clouds drifting by, we realize how stagnant our spirits have grown during this past year of pain and loss. We have all been injured in one way or another, and when we are bruised and broken, we cling to the familiar.

God of Wide Horizons, lift us up above our own personal interests, we pray, and spread our concerns wider than ourselves. Take away our complaining mantras and turn them into fresh, life-giving songs. And by your grace, lend us your courage, that we might step outside the predictable to discover the less-traveled byways, leading to new beginnings.

If this historic day has taught us anything, it is how expansive is our nation, how diverse are its people, how precious is our form of government, how complex are our challenges, and how vital is your holy guidance. As a mother blesses a son when he departs from home, as a father prays for a daughter to make the right choices, so do you, Loving Parent, long for us to make wise choices and you pray we will bless others as you have blessed us. Grant us courage to live out the promises we made in our hearts during today’s momentous Inaugural Ceremony, that we might become in truth “One Nation Under God.”

Accept these evening petitions, Faithful Father, and cover with your compassion each of these friends who lay their praises and their wounds at your feet:

  • Gratitude: A hope-filled Inauguration Day
  • One celebrates receiving a virus vaccination today
  • Thanksgiving: Vaccinations arrive at a nursing facility
  • Gratitude for our nation and a peaceful transition of power
  • Grateful for prayers: Employer with asthma and Covid much improved
  • Prayers for distraught mother and her son with addictions
  • Healing of older sister, diagnosed today with Covid
  • Upholding one with serious heart issues
  • Protection and holy guidance for our President and Cabinet
  • Prayers for outgoing President and team members
  • Healing of nerve damage following surgery
  • Prayers for young member suffering from Covid
  • Widening of vaccine distributions
  • Two young mothers in need of employment
  • Recovery for cousin suffering effects of major stroke
  • Healing for brother hospitalized (Covid)
  • Strength and courage one facing chemo
  • Shrinking of a pancreatic tumor
  • Help for a sister, exhausted with caregiving
  • Strength for one enduring chemo side effects
  • Comfort for a member who is seriously ill
  • Recovery for husband with Covid

There are times when we forget who we are and whose we are. But throughout the sleepy hours as we take our rest, you will assure us that we are your chosen ones who belong solely to you. Cover us and all whom we love with your mercy, that we might rise tomorrow to become the channels of blessings we have pledged to be. For Christ’s sake, we make our prayers:

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 – January 19

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 19, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord;

and the people whom he has chosen as his own.

Psalm 33:12

Good and Holy God, we come to you in prayer with our souls wide open, seeking your mercy and your grace. You have blessed us greatly and have dealt with us kindly all our days.  Words fail us as we bow in gratitude for our families, our friends and neighbors, and all who care for us, for our church, for the privilege of worshiping you freely, and for the miracles of our very lives. As the deepening shadows blanket our corner of the universe, we reflect upon the personal gifts you made possible this day just past  . . . . . . . . . .   May our prayers of thanksgiving join with all those hearts beating with praise for your goodness. Though we are undeserving, you have chosen us as your own!

All-Knowing One, our country now stands on the threshold of a new era. Tomorrow the inauguration of our recently elected President will bring celebration, hope, and excitement for millions. But on the other hand, there will be multitudes who remain anxious, saddened, angry, and fearful of the future. May your spirit of cooperation and respect color this sacred ceremony and permeate the heart of each participant and attendee. May your holy protection cover all, melting hearts of stone and holding back the hand of violence. We cannot predict what twists and turns may be ahead for us; but as we are all bound together through the enduring love of Christ, we lean upon his wisdom and grace to help us build a future that mirrors that love.

Faithful Guardian, we lift up our new President, who will pledge to protect and defend the rights of all citizens, especially the weak and most vulnerable among us. Concomitantly, may we pledge to rise above our private politics to seek the larger vision of your will for our nation most blessed. And confident that you accept every prayer offered in earnest, we make these intercessions on behalf of your people of Church Street:

  • Thanksgiving: Mother released from hospital today
  • One celebrating birth of a healthy nephew on Sunday
  • Member thankful for upcoming visit with her aging parents
  • Grateful for prayers: Granddaughter recovered from virus
  • Gratitude: Two friends recovered from the virus
  • Thankful for husband’s release from hospital following surgery
  • That equanimity will reign throughout the Inauguration
  • Protection and holy guidance for our incoming President and Cabinet
  • Prayers for employer with asthma and Covid
  • Speedy distribution of the virus vaccines
  • Two young mothers in need of employment
  • A cousin suffering from a major stroke
  • Healing for brother hospitalized (Covid)
  • Strength and courage one facing chemo
  • Help for a sister overwhelmed with caregiving
  • Upholding one: Chemo treatment tomorrow
  • That trial meds may bring comfort to a member
  • Recovery for husband with Covid
  • Comfort and direction for all who mourn

Our prayers must often seem as babblings to you, Loving Lord; our trite words may even break apart and scatter upon the floor.  But still, we know you want to take our hand in friendship and listen when we call. So gather us in, we pray, and we shall lie down in peace and take our rest, remembering the words of the Abiding One who said: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

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 – January 18

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 18, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Mountains have a dreamy way

of closing up a noisy day

In quiet covers, cool and grey.

(Leigh Hunt)

O God of Presence, the greyness settles in across our beloved mountains and calls us home, much as the farmer leads his herd into warm stalls at dusk.  Thank you for calling us to set aside our temporal pastimes and turn our thoughts to the eternal.  May we welcome your invitation to silence an often blustery day, recalling the overlooked gifts these past hours have presented . . . . . . . . . . All praise be to you for the goodness that colors our lives!

O One Who Summons, today our nation has honored your modern prophet, Martin Luther King, Jr., one who freely sacrificed his own health, comforts, and his very life to show us a better way. Although we may not be as gifted as he, you have summoned each of us to live into your dream: Where we find hearts fearful, may we impart courage.  Where there is distress, let us speak of peace with love. Where impossibilities close every door, let us open windows of imagination.  And where distrust thrives, may we plant reconciliation. Alone, O Lord, our efforts would be hollow; yet through your power, all things are possible.

Our earthly pilgrimage takes us along rough terrain, but as Jesus entered the world as one of us, he also traveled those craggy byways and suffered setbacks beyond our comprehension. The Blessed One asks no more of us than he asked of himself. So as we bear our trials and our temptations, remind us that you are with us as we make every limping step.  You are even near enough to hear these private longings of our hearts . . . . . . . . . . . and also these praises and petitions of your children at Church Street:

  • Prayers appreciated: Wife requires no surgery
  • Family celebrates the birth of a new baby
  • Member offers praises for her new home
  • Two offer thanks for their vaccinations
  • Thanksgiving for an unexpected gift and visit
  • Gratitude: Sister-in-law hospitalized with Covid is much improved
  • Gratitude for successful heart surgery; continued prayers for complete recovery
  • Prayers for insight and humility for our nation’s leaders at this critical juncture
  • That equanimity will reign throughout the inauguration
  • Prayers for employer with asthma and Covid
  • Healing mercies for a cousin following a major stroke
  • Family grieving death of a mother from Covid
  • Speedy distribution of the virus vaccines
  • Upholding dear sister, isolated and very depressed
  • Sister overwhelmed with caregiving
  • Two who endure chemo side effects
  • Young mother who needs employment
  • Healing of one recuperating from heart surgery
  • Comfort for family of a pastor who died on Thursday
  • Healing: Husband seriously ill with Covid
  • Prayers for a good lab report for sister
  • One awaiting approval for chemo meds
  • Friend:Healing of wounds from car wreck
  • Granddaughters recovering from Covid

Bundle all our prayers, Sacred One, and fashion them into a pillow of grace. And upon it we will take our rest, knowing you will keep us and all whom we love in the security and eternity of your embrace. We close our eyes in awe and thanksgiving this night with the prayer of Jesus upon our lips:

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 – January 14

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 14, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Portal of Life, even before our birth, your gentle rapping was taking place upon the door of our hearts; and as time passed, that rapping came to us in the form of a nudge, a whisper, a vision of some presence beyond ourselves.  And as your calling unfolded, we placed our souls in your care, trusting that yours was the authentic foundation on which to build our lives. You have never failed us, Living God, and we remain humbled by your constancy.

In the January stillness, the night sky speaks to us.  What might lie behind that doorway to heaven, we wonder? We know there is energy there, and a life-giving force that ordained and sustains everything within that astonishing, celestial sphere. And even above that vast plain, stretching billions of miles, you are there, Shining One, concerned with even our fleeting thoughts and dreams. Yes, we are puzzled when we reflect upon the intricacies of your love; but we rejoice that we finally answered your knock and opened the door to our destiny.

We are only one speck in your grand universe, Sacred Designer, yet through your grace it was upon this earth that Jesus chose to dwell, showing us how to live as people of God.  His life gave witness to your own unwavering love, while we have fomented dissension, disquiet, and distrust in recent days, especially in our own land.  Have mercy upon us, we pray, and forgive our errant ways.  Wipe away all our missteps, especially . . . . . . . . . . Clear our vision and unite us in your wisdom, that we might be among those who build a future free of arrogance and suspicion.

In your mercy, receive these silent prayers of our hearts . . . . . . . . . . and also these praises and concerns offered on behalf of our friends at Church Street:

  • Prayers appreciated: A broken leg has mended well
  • One in isolation is thankful for prayers
  • Gratitude for prayers: New meds seem to be working well
  • Thankful that vaccinations taking place at a nursing facility
  • Insight and humility for our nation’s leaders, that they may look to God as their model in serving others
  • For help to arrive: Sister overwhelmed with caregiving
  • Prayers for successful heart surgery Friday
  • Sustaining one enduring chemo side effects
  • New employment for young mother
  • Healing of one recuperating from heart surgery
  • That vulnerable couple may obtain virus vaccines soon
  • Healing prayers for wife and mother at Mayo’s
  • For a peaceful transition of power in nation’s capitol
  • Healing: Husband seriously ill with Covid
  • Prayers for a good lab report for sister
  • For insurance to approve a chemo drug
  • All grieving the deaths of loved ones
  • Friend: Healing of wounds from car wreck
  • Prayers for ill granddaughter and another being tested for virus

As darkness covers the earth, may we take our ease, cradling our hearts in the great mystery of your love that binds every prayer in the cosmos together. Grant us, and all whom we cherish, a peaceful night, we pray; and tomorrow, with your help, we shall rise to love, to forgive, to show mercy, to make peace, and to share the good news of Christ, who opens the door to eternal 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.

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Evening Prayer – January 13

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 13, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast!
Let us all in thee inherit; let us find that second rest.
Take away our bent to sinning; Alpha and Omega be,
End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty.
(UMH 384)

Loving Spirit, we know that you weep when your people are deeply divided, at war with each other and within themselves; your tears fall when voices of hatred and disrespect breed instability. It seems that violence is buried deep in our bones and even makes its home in the little grey cells of our minds. Why else would we be so quick to harm and so slow to bring healing? Forgive us for failing you and one another. May our own tears join with yours until they flow into your great stream of justice and mercy. Take away out bent to sinning, we pray, and set our hearts at liberty.

God of the Starry Silence, the daylight hours whisper their goodbyes. They have been your sacred gift to us, as is this lengthening span of darkness.  Let us reflect upon the unmerited joys that you have sent our way:  . . . . . . . . . .  And grant that the good we may have done in the earlier hours give witness to your own generosity emerging through us, your human vessels. Even in the ebony hours, you gaze clearly through the window of our souls. With each passing night, we pray you might observe growing integrity, humility, and faith within.

And despite the thinness of our faith, we entrust to you all those persons and situations that are uppermost in our hearts, especially . . . . . . . . . . And in this interval of silence, we also share both the celebrations and the worries of our church family, knowing your loving Spirit is only a breath away:

  • Prayers appreciated: Friend released from hospital
  • Gratitude: Recovery from surgery has gone well
  • Thanksgiving: One’s depression has lifted
  • Member grateful – released from rehab
  • One offers thanks for continued healing from pneumonia & virus
  • For help to arrive: Sister overwhelmed with caregiving
  • Prayers for wife facing serious surgery and for worried family
  • Peaceful resolution to our nation’s bitter divisions
  • That holy wisdom may guide our country’s leaders
  • Co-worker who died from virus and his family
  • Healing -husband seriously ill with Covid
  • Courage for one beginning chemo
  • Three children grieving the death of their mother
  • Friend recovering from serious car wreck
  • Healing for teenage granddaughter with Covid
  • Family grieving sudden death of father
  • A father depressed due to isolation
  • Two healing from serious heart conditions
  • For new meds to slow the growth of one’s cancer
  • Courage and strength for one facing major surgery Friday
  • Healing for one enduring cancer treatments
  • For new employment: Young mother stunned by her layoff

Alpha and Omega, into your hands we commend ourselves, for you created and redeemed us. This night, may your grace enter every troubled breast, giving peace and rest. And tomorrow may we rise to walk that straight path you will be fashioning for us as we sleep. We ask all these things in the name of our Savior, who bears the love that never fails and 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 – January 6

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 6, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Thus says the Lord:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
    and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
    and find rest for your souls.

(Jeremiah 6:16)

O Holy Light That Shines Even in the Darkness, hold your lantern high, we pray, that your mighty beam will shine upon those who walk bruised, burdened, and blinded through the our broken world.  Our pain is deep and we question the unease, the uncertainty, the unknown swirling around us.  Our eyes fill with tears when we view the rioting and bloodshed smeared across our computer and television screens this very eve.  Surely you weep with us, as you witness our nation, most blessed of all nations, responding to our disagreements with violence.

O Restorer of Peace, we too stand at the crossroads as did your people in the prophet’s time.   In all our unrest, help us remember that our lives are forever intertwined. Despite your steady call for peace, we confess we are not harbingers of harmony ourselves.  Too often we have allowed our egos and willful emotions to rule the day.  Save us from ourselves, O Lord, removing bitterness within, that we may again be known as ones who choose the good way and walk in it, for it is the same road traveled by the Prince of Peace.

With you, O Holy One, all things are possible.  And so we ask you to calm the discord so prevalent our Capitol.  Where there is woundedness, bring healing; where there is ruin, bring restoration; and where there is malice, bring amity. In doing so, you will be reminding us that we are your people and you are our God.

We depend upon your watchfulness, your forgiveness, and your steadfastness to see us through all our trials, and we humbly offer our gratitude. The light of your grace is made known through these joys that are shared by your friends at Church Street.  May that same grace work within these personal situations most recently expressed by our church family:

  • Family celebrates nephew’s return home after a 3-month stay in hospital with Covid
  • Member thankful her business is recovering
  • Couple eagerly await a new baby
  • Thanksgiving: One healing well from knee surgery
  • Family grateful that mother has moved from hospital to rehab
  • Pray for God’s presence with one having surgery tomorrow
  • Rest and recovery for one with heart condition
  • Healing for friend in her 7th week of hospitalization with covid
  • Healing for daughter with recurrence of cancer
  • Comfort for family whose mother died today
  • For rapid distribution of vaccine for healthcare workers and the elderly
  • Husband continuing recovery from serious heart ailment
  • Strength for member coping with chemo side effects
  • Prayers for educators and students this first week of school
  • Courage and strength for one beginning chemo on Friday
  • God’s presence with one whose medical tests were disappointing
  • For chemo to further shrink pancreatic tumor

Remind us, Good Lord, that your love bridges any distance; and even in the most remote valley of fear, our cries reach the ears of your heart. So quiet our spirits this night as we slumber in the arms of your grace, for we know Heaven’s Star watches over us and Jesus prays with 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.

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Evening Prayer – January 5

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 5, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

 

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim his handiwork!

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal his truth.

This unspeakably beautiful evening, we gaze at the heavens, as did the psalmist of long ago. What a mysterious twinkling umbrella you have placed above us, Great Designer, giving us your peace in the silent movement of the stars and planets. Our day has been too crowded with both the urgent and the mundane, still you have slipped in here and there, so serenely we didn’t notice.  But now under the gray-blue sky, we remember the ways in which your grace found us . . . . . . . . . .  For each of these points of light, we are profoundly thankful.

Unseen Friend, grant us pardon for not drinking in the love you so freely offered us this day. We stepped aside when we should have acted, we spoke bitter words, we set ourselves before others, we took you for granted, we were blinded by busyness. Bathe us this eve, and cleanse us of our selfish aims, especially . . . . . . . . . . Pierce us this night with the purity of the Bethlehem star, we pray, that a bit of its luster will shine through our actions tomorrow.

O Lord of the Night, there are many concerns we carry with us, for truly, you have created us to be a compassionate people. We lean on you, knowing you will catch us when our loads become too heavy and we stumble in the darkness. We turn over our inmost cares to you, especially . . . . . . . . . . and also these situations that have overtaken your children at Church Street:

  • Family celebrates an infant’s release from hospital
  • Grateful for prayers: One in rehab is now free of addiction
  • Member thankful for prayers: Depression and anxiety have departed
  • Gratitude for prayers: Member is tolerating infusions well
  • One sends gratitude for all who are praying on her behalf
  • Prayers appreciated: Aging parents are finding support
  • Courage for one involved in legal dispute
  • An aunts and an uncle ill in hospital with Covid
  • Comfort for family whose father is in rapid decline
  • Upholding wife facing further medical tests
  • For all vulnerable ones to be vaccinated soon
  • Continued prayers for two recovering from serious heart ailments
  • Healing mercies for hospitalized mother
  • Strength for member enduring chemo side effects
  • Prayers for educators and students this first week of school
  • Courage and strength for one beginning chemo this week
  • Three family members recovering from Covid
  • For chemo to further shrink pancreatic tumor
  • Healing of wife in ICU with Covid

We pray that you accept these words we offer and receive all our prayers for which there are no words. As you wrap us in sleep this night, whisper to us your words of courage, that we may be bolder in bearing the story of your love through our words and deeds. We trust in the truth of the Light of the World, and pray as he 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.

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Prayer for Today – November 26

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 26, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

O One Who Calls Forth the Dawn, rise within us today. You streak the sky with hues of mauve and lavender, blue and gold, announcing yourself as the Master of the Universe.  How can we overlook your arrival when just outside our door you have planted astonishing messages of hope: each twig and leaf, each blade of grass, each stone and shrub shine with your effervescent glory. All these you send to remind us that now is the time to set aside our fears and doubts, our failures and misdeeds. All creation is made alive and new each morning through your vibrant love. Truly this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

O Maker Worthy of Celebration, a thousand thoughts of gratitude dance in our heads and we wonder: “How shall we name all your mercies?” Shall we begin at our birth, offering thanks for those who nurtured us out of the goodness of their hearts? Or perhaps we might recall those who taught us to read and write, to sing, who helped us find our own gifts, those who modeled sincerity and grace, who stood by us even when our decisions were poor. Moreover, we could praise you for the unspeakable wonders of creation, for the privilege of living in this country, the honor of voting, your sustaining hand that guided us throughout the decades. And beyond these are your ceaseless love, endless grace and unmerited forgiveness that have marked our days. Ah, even our calculators cannot quantify those infinite favors!  Instead, we shall celebrate your measureless grace by dancing to the tune of the wind today, by embracing the world, and by bowing to the Holy Mystery that gave us life itself.

O God Who Opens Wide the Door, this very day you call out to all your children. “Come and be filled!” you say.  We do pray for those who are unable to respond: for those who are too ill or weak to answer, for those who are so abused their ears remain closed to even the voice of kindest love, for those so blinded by grief that they cannot imagine goodness. You understand their reticence, knowing the bitter twists that characterize every banquet. There will, however, come that time when loss and suffering will dissolve, when all will be secure enough to respond, and all will feast at your table. Until then, we pray, look kindly upon all hurting hearts and hear of these situations mentioned by your people at Church Street:

  • Family thankful that hip surgery yesterday was successful
  • Grateful that a neighbor is supplying my Thanksgiving meal
  • Gratitude that a father with brain tumor has died and no longer suffers
  • Thankful for those continuing their pledges to our church
  • A friend in ICU is regained consciousness after many weeks
  • Healing prayers for a brother on ventilator in Chicago, effects of COVID and for his family members who are all infected
  • Safety and guidance for all educators and staffs
  • Restoration for a husband and father recovering from heart surgery
  • Shrinking of a friend’s pancreatic tumor
  • Family grieving the death of a beloved aunt
  • Son & wife undergoing invitro fertilization, that they may have a healthy child
  • Beloved wife facing a long road to recovery, strength for her husband as primary caregiver and their daughters
  • That the virus vaccine may me made available soon
  • Premature newborn in NICU at UT Medical Center and for mother recovering from surgery
  • Prayers for wisdom, strength and guidance for a couple who are taking immediate custody of a newborn
  • Protection and safety for all who are traveling this holiday
  • A nephew in Nashville who is homeless
  • Healing of a teenage daughter
  • Healing of close friend in ICU with COVID pneumonia
  • Blending of two families as a wedding approaches

You offer us this one day to do your bidding, Lord, and as we move through the hours ahead, may we be firm of foot and quick to open doors for those who feel shut out. Acknowledging our total dependence upon your mercy, we humbly offer all our prayers in the name of Jesus, our Unchanging Friend:

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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Prayer for Today – November 25

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 25, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

Morning Star, in the light you have placed within us, we see clearly the world in all its discord, and we are well-acquainted with the disharmony in our personal lives. You have spoken of your bright dream for the world as you would have it:  a place of peace and plenty, a place of health and fitness, a place where equality and justice hold sway, a place where each child is valued and cherished. We whittle away at the discrepancy between your dream and this realm’s stark reality, and we confess that we become discouraged at our slow progress. Help us to focus, however, not only on those shadowy situations we have not rectified, but to give thanks for what has already been accomplished through your strength and blazing purity. You have called us to work for the kingdom you envision, so if we remain faithful to this aim, that is all you ask. It is as the apostle taught: if some of us sow the seed, while others water, then you, O Bright Star, will give the growth.

O God of Tender Heart, when we remember those in our very midst who suffer this day, there is a deep ache inside. We see in the mind of our hearts those who are lonely, but who cannot have visitors. We remember those with dreaded illness, but we dare not sit with them. We picture friends who are in mourning, but we cannot offer personal comfort. We depend upon you, O One Who Suffers With Us, to take each hurting soul under your wings, and give them your comfort until we might safely minister to them ourselves. And Lord, in addition to these, we pray for ourselves, that during this time of contagion, we may become as ardent in our prayers as Jesus.

And we now turn over to you these celebrations of your goodness and also the yearnings of your people at Church Street.  And as we pray for each, may your light of tender grace penetrate every soul:

  • A husband in critical care following a fall and brain surgery has regained consciousness – family and medical teams grateful for prayers
  • Family celebrates the birth of a healthy baby boy
  • Thanksgiving for a very successful UMW bake sale
  • Thankful: A son with kidney stone is home from hospital
  • Prayers appreciated: Knee surgery went very well yesterday
  • Healing prayers for a brother on ventilator in Chicago, effects of COVID and for his family members who are all infected
  • Comfort for family whose father died yesterday of COVID
  • Prayers for a Christian friend having surgery early today
  • Solace for family mourning death of their mother
  • Prayers for peace and protection for a mother & special friends
  • Prayers for a daughter’s health and happiness for family
  • Protection and safety for all who are traveling this holiday
  • A nephew in Nashville who is homeless
  • Healing of a teenage daughter
  • Healing of close friend in ICU with COVID pneumonia
  • Blending of two families as a wedding approaches
  • Healing prayers for husband recovering from heart surgery
  • Strength for one caring for family member in ill health
  • All medical workers and all ill with COVID
  • Continued prayer: that a friend’s treatments will sufficiently shrink his pancreatic tumor, preparing him for surgery

Bless all your children everywhere who bow in prayer this day. May our collective prayers become one blanket of blessing covering our universe. And underneath its holy warmth, help us to breathe calmly and take our rest in peace, knowing that we serve a God who neither slumbers nor sleeps. All these things we ask for Christ’s sake:

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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Prayer for Today – November 23

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

November 23, 2020

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep,

 so I will seek out my sheep.  I will rescue them from all the places to which they

have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. Ezekiel 34:11-12

O Pursuing One, yes, we have wandered away from the hand that feeds and nurtures us. We have strayed, searching for contentment in more interesting places, in baubles that eventually lose their sparkle. We have allowed your voice to be muffled by the many pundits hawking their earthly brand of wisdom through self-help volumes. We felt this time we could make it on our own, but again we find ourselves trapped in a bottomless ravine of loneliness. In our hearts, we know to whom we belong and believe that you will not abandon your search until you locate each of your roving charges. Come quickly, Tender Guardian, for we long for your presence, we long for home.

Good Shepherd, we pray for all who have been elected to public office during this autumn of discontent. As they soon pledge their vows of loyalty and enter service in their various capacities, may they turn to you for their guidance. Lead them, we pray, in paths of worthy goals, in pursuing holy wisdom, in practicing discernment through communion with you.  And ardently we pray that politicians will move beyond partisanship toward collaboration in seeking out the truth, and in working for the highest good, not for just a select few, but for all people. As your beneficent hand has greatly blessed our land, may ours be known as a country that cares, as a beacon of blessing to your world which hungers and thirsts for hope.

Jesus, we know you as the Shepherd of the Sheep who recognizes each voice, as if there were only one of us. We are touched by your attentiveness, though we confess that much of what we share with you stems from the recurrent ramblings of our troubled hearts. Silently you allow us to bewail our predicaments and our dashed hopes as long as we desire.  Forgive us, we pray, when we forget to acknowledge those doors you continue to open for us; hear us now as we offer praise for your movement in our lives:  . . . . . . . . . . . . .   And in your mercy, receive both these praises and appeals on behalf of our church family:

  • Prayers appreciated: One’s PET scan results excellent
  • Grateful: Mother’s surgery went well on Friday
  • Gratitude: Wife returned safely from Mayo Clinic
  • Thankful that eye procedure was successful
  • Thankful that a grandson is healed of COVID-19
  • A pathology report showed no malignancy
  • Gratitude: Husband is home following heart surgery
  • Prayers for a daughter’s health, sufficient food and happiness for family
  • Prayers for husband having a cardiac conversion today
  • Healing prayers: Parents and grandparents in ICU
  • Daughter, grandchildren, and all children affected by the virus
  • Strength for one caring for former husband in ill health
  • Continued prayer: That a friend’s treatments will sufficiently shrink his pancreatic tumor, preparing him for surgery
  • Faithful Christian with cancer, in ICU
  • Reconciling a family conflict
  • Safety for all healthcare workers who serve at great risks
  • Beloved husband in hospice care, wife who is grieving
  • Strength for stressed brother caring for his wife who has dementia
  • Prayers that our community will heed public health guidelines
  • Friends and family members unable to visit loved ones in isolation

Ours is not to know all things, even concerning the workings of your healing mercies.  Rather, it may be sufficient to know that every prayer uttered is worthy of your grace and is held in sacred trust in that holy realm.

Lord of Love, with all our roving through the years, we have seen you as Christ, traversing every trail to find us, reaching down to free us from the brambles, and returning us to your safe dwelling. And what would gladden your heart most of all? To see us following your example, seeking out others who are scattered on those days of clouds and thick darkness, and returning them to your fold. Strengthen us to do just that, we pray, for we wish to make you happy.

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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