BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Prayers for the Church Street Family

January 26, 2021

Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade

. . . Beloved,  whatever is true, whatever is honorable,

whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing,

whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence

and if there is anything worthy of praise,

think about these things.

Philippians 4:8

 

O God of Clarity, much of today was convoluted. Projects were initiated, then abandoned; simple tasks turned out to be knotted with baffling details; and throughout the hours there was a steady stream of interruptions. All these dashed our hopes of producing anything of value. Take these disordered pieces and false starts, we pray, and infuse them with some sort of meaning; and whatever effort you find worthy, may it serve your purpose in your own good time.

You have called us to walk that road of discipleship that is paved in humility. We freely admit that we have wobbled along that narrow passage that leads to the kingdom, for pride calls out from the wayside, tempting us to toot our own horns. There were those side trips of ego that lured us into criticizing others who had lost their way, and of course there were many jaunts when we insisted on having our own way. Make strong and steady our gait, Lord, along the straight and narrow. We would keep pace with Jesus, that eventually we may arrive at your door to hear your words:  “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

Noble One, in the peace of this beautiful evening, as magenta streaks on the horizon turn to ash, we do think of those things of which the apostle spoke: the pure, truthful, commendable, and that which is worthy of praise. . . . . . . . . . .  All these we celebrate and attribute to your benevolence, evidence of your holiness at work among us. Train our eyes and our thoughts to behold all that is honorable within our days and to dwell upon them. And in the spirit of thanksgiving, we turn to you with our gratitude and our concerns, praying on behalf of our friends at Church Street:

• Grateful for sunshine today that uplifted spirits
• One thankful for support of her SS class
• Son thankful for all who brought comfort in bereavement
• Couple offer gratitude they sustained only mild cases of virus
• Healing of son who entered a detox program
• Beloved mother nearing death
• Solace for member mourning death of a beloved brother
• Healing for cherished cousin, stroke victim
• Friend’s mother traveling to MD Anderson for treatment, wisdom for physicians involved
• Guidance and wisdom for our President and our nation’s leaders
• Continued prayers for three recovering from serious heart issues
• Healing: family of four positive for Covid
• Courage, guidance, and healing: A cousin’s infant diagnosed with a brain tumor, in treatment
• Strength: A mother weighed down by son’s addiction
• Healing for husband in deep depression and wife who suffers
• For wider distribution of virus vaccine
• Continued prayers: One enduring chemo
• Father mending from broken hip
• Strength for two weary caregivers
• Comfort for one whose mother died of cancer and Covid
• For insurance company to approve chemotherapy

Draw together our collective evening prayers, along with our blunders and uncertainties, we pray, and cast your coverlet of comfort upon us to heal our brokenness and to keep us warm this cold winter night. Keep your life-candle burning for us and for all whom we love, O Lord, that we might join you joyfully tomorrow – in that new day where impossibilities become possible:

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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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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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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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 7^th 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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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.

Have a Prayer Request?

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