Prayer for Today – August 4

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

August 4, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Jesus, I have promised to serve thee to the end;
Be thou forever near me, my Master and my Friend.
I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway, if thou wilt be my guide.

We gather this day, praying with all our church family, most of whom have sung this hymn throughout their lives. And still these simple phrases remain as meaningful today as when they were penned over one hundred years ago. Oh Christ, we do ask for your presence with us and we ask for your direction, particularly in this time of unrest. We lift up our young people as they embark upon another school term just beginning. In whatever venue, whether in virtual studies or gathered personally in classrooms, we pray that each young one might know you as a ready protector. Give them the confidence to handle whatever challenges are presented. And watch over all educators that they might exhibit wisdom, patience, and grace as they perform their duties. We also lift up all parents and guardians, those who are anxious about the coming weeks. Remind us that this difficult period of contagion will end, so strengthen all to endure with faith and hope.

O let me feel thee near me! The world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But Jesus, draw thou nearer and shield my soul from sin.

O Promised Shield, indeed there are many things that scramble for our attention these days. The incessant buzzing of newscasters is often more distracting than informative, and the reports stressed most prominently are bleak. There is the temptation for us to take the surface reports as truth, without taking the time to investigate for ourselves. Forgive us for allowing alarming broadcasts to color our attitudes, for allowing them to take the rainbows out of our skies. Yes, there is much cause for worry, but doesn’t hope also have a story of its own to tell? Shield us from giving in to despondency, when all around there are signs of your goodness.

O let me hear thee speaking in accents clear and still
Above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will.
O speak to reassure me, to hasten and control;
O speak and make me listen, thou guardian of my soul.

We are pilgrims on our journey with you, O Guardian of our Souls. There are many amusements and diversions along the highway, and we confess that we often become engrossed in pursuits that are not in our best interests. Prod us when we dawdle on the side road, when we become lazy and inattentive.  Coach us in how to listen to your voice alone, and ground us in your school of service, for we have vowed to follow obediently, to pray for each of our sojourners, and to help lift up all who are in danger of falling.

We have laid out our faults upon your blanket of mercy, knowing that you will favor us in your charity, O Merciful One; yet we also remember and recount the numerous benefits you are bringing about in our lives . . . . . . . . . . . .   Hear also these celebrations from members of our Church Street family, as well as their prayers for your divine assistance:

  • Gratitude: member recovering well from hip surgery
  • Thanksgiving: a grandson is healing
  • Prayers appreciated: sister-in-law fully recovered from virus
  • Thankful that daughter has recovered from virus, now healthy
  • Celebrating a husband’s healing from pneumonia (in Ohio)
  • Healing prayers for 3 women being treated for cancer
  • Calm for a member having heart cath today, for promising results
  • Parents carrying a heavy burden & healing of wife’s injured shoulder
  • Healing for dear friend with diabetes, asthma & Covid-19
  • Young mother with Covid-19, protection for her husband & son
  • Dear friend fighting cancer & family awaiting virus test results
  • Prayers for brother-in-law, malignant growth on esophagus
  • Job openings for members who have lost jobs due to virus
  • A way forward for adult son who is divorcing
  • For healing & protection: a father hospitalized with pneumonia
  • Prayers for researchers who seek an effective virus vaccine
  • Healing – Friend in TX with virus, safety for his caregiver sister
  • Courage & rest for daughter caring for her mother in hospice

For you are always listening, in spite of all my fear,
You always walk beside me, my comforter so near.
And Jesus I have promised to serve thee to the end,
O give me grace to follow my Master and my 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?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

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Prayer for Today – August 3

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

August 3, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Surest Hope, we confess that we call ourselves people of faith, and yet it is true that we are believers who frequently harbor doubts. Maybe we’re more like Jesus’ would-be followers than we claim. They assumed he would come down from the clouds and smash all idols in his path. They expected a Savior to depose governments that seemed deaf to their cries for help. They looked for One who would remove all the obstacles that made their lives so difficult. And when they discovered Jesus had an agenda altogether different than the plan they anticipated, many began to doubt and fall away. Even now, centuries later, our hearts are often filled with disbelief when we see how injustice, discrimination, poverty, bitterness, and many forms of evil continue to thrive. Our efforts can seem so meaningless in the face of such rivals and we want to throw up our hands in incredulity. “Why?” is the query which we have been carrying with us, particularly in these deeply disturbing days.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

O God of Impossibilities, lead us back to Jesus, the Thread of our Faith, that we might hold on for all we’re worth. Stoke our attention to all that we are already witnessing in our very midst and we will then reaffirm that you are alive and well: Broken relationships are being renewed; grave illnesses are being healed; the lonely and the grieving are not forgotten; healthcare workers and public servants take great risks to help the sick; neighbors are coming together to house and feed the poor; bright new pastors are being called to lead faith communities; new avenues of worship are being discovered; the faithful continue their financial support for your work. Your holy thread is winding itself through all such works, though it is not always discernible. A wise one once taught that doubt is really fear in disguise; so give us the boldness to grasp your strand of faith that does not fail, and we will believe anew that nothing is impossible with our God.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Your mercy truly abounds in so many forms, Good Lord, and when we quiet ourselves regularly, we may more readily perceive how your fine ribbon of goodness threads its way into so many parts of our lives. Thank you for being a Savior of such magnanimity, for you love us and accept us even in our questioning.

Receive now our thanksgivings for the ways you have lifted our burdens; and also accept these prayers for help offered by our church family:

  • Gratitude: husband & work crew safely home from high-risk region
  • Thankful that a nephew’s cancer surgery went smoothly
  • Celebrating an MRI that revealed no new cancer cells
  • Thankful that a wounded pet is learning to walk again
  • Prayers appreciated: 3 with Covid-19 are now restored to health
  • Gratitude for prayers – a family’s virus tests were all negative
  • Gratitude: son arrived safely in NYC to resume work
  • Calm for a member having heart cath, for promising results
  • Pray for parents carrying a heavy burden; healing of an injured shoulder
  • Clarity, wisdom, & guidance for a woman of strong faith
  • Prayers for brother-in-law, malignant growth on esophagus
  • Job openings for members who have lost jobs due to virus
  • Prayers for one awaiting a pathology report
  • Family member hospitalized in Ohio with pneumonia, for healing
  • For a young man’s anger to dissolve & for his growing vision of goodness
  • Young wife suffering from depression, that her darkness may lift
  • Prayers for those ill with the virus; an effective vaccine to be found
  • Safety for educators, students & families as fall term begins
  • A young nephew driving to CA, for protection & guidance
  • Pray for assistance for those experiencing financial difficulties

O Constant One, scripture says that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And whenever our doubts and uncertainties come calling, give us grace to cling to that assurance that you are working in us and through us. In Christ’s name, we 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.

 

Have a prayer request?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

Join us for a midday devotion

CSUMC member Brad Thompson will join us on our Facebook page today at noon for a short devotion – we hope you will join us!

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Prayer for Today – July 30

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 30, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Master Gardener, we know you have planted seeds of goodness within us, but for some reason, weeds have sprung up here and there, entwining themselves within the roots of our best intentions. We confess that our devotions have become as flimsy and fireless as the dandelion florets the wind carries away. Our prayer life reeks of self-interest, as predictable as crabgrass peering up from the seams in the sidewalk. Enrich our faith, Lord, giving energy to our lukewarm prayers and fervor to our casual nods of devotion. Refine our souls, we pray, that we might spring forth with new vigor, alive with the fire of faith.

God of Grace, hear our prayer.

Yes, as our Constant Caretaker, you are fully aware of the nettles that have gained a foothold in our souls; but you do not fixate about their presence. Rather, you remain focused on the healthy roots that sometimes appear dormant, but still thrive. Protect what is good within us, we pray, and nurture that which promises life and truth. And in your own time, bring forth that grain from within us, ripened by your Spirit, and separate it from the useless chaff. Then may it be ground into wholesome wheat, kneaded and baked, rendering life-giving bread, food for the journey with Christ.

God of Grace, hear our prayer.

What newness awaits all who trust in you, O Lord, for time and again you bring to fruition all that is withered and useless. Cultivate that vibrant flower of gratitude in our hearts, we pray, that we might see you behind every petal of grace that falls on our path. You are the Patient Gardener who gives us time to mature in our faith, time to correct our errant ways, time for gratitude to burst through the minute fibers of our hearts. Hear now as we sing our song of thankfulness for the ways you have strengthened and supported us through our days . . .  How blessed we are that you are our Savior in all seasons!

God of Grace, hear our prayer.

And though you know these already, we offer the requests and celebrations offered by your servants at Church Street. We thank you that our concerns are your concerns, that our joys are your joys:

  • Family celebrates a wife’s return home from healthcare facility
  • Couple thankful for a lengthy and memorable vacation in the West
  • Gratitude that a relationship is being restored
  • Three offer thanksgiving for our choirs and worship team
  • Clarity, wisdom, and guidance for a woman of strong faith
  • Prayers for brother-in-law, malignant growth on esophagus
  • Safety for husband & his crew working in a high-risk region
  • Courage for a dear friend with lung cancer, awaiting MRI results
  • Success for a nephew’s cancer surgery today
  • Safety for paramedic daughter in high-risk work in Texas
  • Strength for a daughter lovingly caring for her aging mother at home
  • For a young man’s anger to dissolve & for his growing vision of goodness
  • Young wife suffering from depression, that her darkness may lift
  • Prayers for those ill with the virus; an effective vaccine to be found
  • Safety for educators, students, and families as fall term begins
  • A young nephew driving to California, for protection & guidance
  • Safety for a young son returning to work in NYC on Friday
  • All who are losing employment & are anxious about finances
  • For an end to violence, reconciliation among our nation’s leaders
  • Prayer for negative virus test results for two at-risk mothers
  • Strength & healing for a member involved in a divorce proceeding

Lord of the Harvest, we trust in you for our strength. Grant that we may we grow straight and tall, content that you will one day peer across the fields, and counting us ready, gather us into your holy presence. Till then, we join again with all the faithful in that unending prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Programming Note: Pastor Jan’s prayers will continue next week, Monday through Thursday. Tomorrow, look for a new addition to our weekly communications – Catherine’s Corner: notes from Rev. Catherine Clark Nance.

Have a prayer request?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

Join us for a midday devotion

Rev. Cantler leads us in a devotion at noon on our Facebook page today.

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Prayer for Today – July 29

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 29, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O God Beyond Us, we offer praise that you have linked all our lives together in so many intricate ways. Grant that we might recognize the holiness of the planet you have set aside for us, and also the inestimable sacredness of each human life. You hold dreams for us as individuals, yet your vision will flourish only when your created ones live in a community of attentiveness, regard and respect. Grant that we might open ourselves more fully to that future you imagine, where accommodation is made for our differences, where tolerance is a benchmark, and where diversity enriches the whole.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

All-Knowing One, as we are so closely connected, our prayers for one another flow out to you in a steady stream. Watch over, we pray, all who carry great burdens in this uncommon era: those who have been stricken with the grim virus, those who tremble in fear and isolation, those whose family pressures have become almost intolerable, those who suffer work and financial hardships, those whose bodies and spirits are broken, and those who care for the confused and the infirm.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Mighty Healer, you are aware of all that has bruised and battered us throughout these long months, and as you have continued to supply healing grace heretofore, we ask you would minister to all who still yearn for your touch. Also receive these individual celebrations and pleas on the hearts of your people at Church Street:

  • Grateful for prayers: a wife’s biopsy reflects no malignancy
  • Gratitude: cataract surgery brought welcome vision improvement
  • Prayers appreciated: a son’s work in Florida is finished & he’s now home
  • Thankful for prayers: a gravely ill husband is gaining strength day by day
  • Gratitude: all first responders who work diligently in this healthcare crisis
  • Prayers for two broken families, for forgiveness & a way forward
  • A child involved in a custody dispute, that all will work for her benefit
  • Prayers for 2 dear friends at home, recovering from accidents
  • Strength for a daughter lovingly caring for her aging mother at home
  • For a young man’s anger to dissolve & for his growing vision of goodness
  • Strength & support for an owner trying to keep his business afloat
  • An effective vaccine to halt the spread of Covid-19
  • That yesterday’s surgery may save a friend’s eyesight
  • Friends who are losing employment and anxious about finances
  • Wisdom for leaders of our nation, that they might restore peace & order
  • Prayer for negative virus test results for two at-risk mothers
  • Strength for 3 valiant women undergoing chemo treatments

Hope of Our World, we raise up all these spoken petitions and also our unspoken ones this day, believing you will treat them with the same tenderness that marked the ministry of your Glorious Son, whose prayerful words have echoed through the ages:

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?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

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Prayer for Today – July 28

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 28, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Being Ever-Present, a pristine morning comes and you arrive on whipped cream clouds, suffusing saint and sinner alike with your grandeur. You make no distinction among your people, and we are thankful; for truth be told, we are each saint and sinner, beloved by the One who cherishes us because we are who we are. And in your love, you know we are trying to get it right! Glory to you, O Lord, glory to you!

O Love Unending, hear our prayer.

Often in the clarity of daylight, we see ourselves through a more lucid lens. And now we acknowledge that we have been so attuned to our own personal endeavors that we have neglected others who have needed our assistance. We remember the faces of those whom we hastily judged, often wrongly. And the memory of our exaggerated self-importance haunts us. Surely we have tried your patience with our prideful ways and we ask that you absolve us of all our missteps that are harmful to you, to others, and ourselves; especially remove from us the stains of these personal sins . . .  We know your mercy is limitless, O Lord, and that we are forgiven, but help us slow learners remember we are to be your reflections in this world.

O Love Unending, hear our prayer.

O Author of Goodness, our lives have been overturned by the lethal virus. Some say we are walking, as did your servant David, through the valley of the shadow of death. It does feel that way, but you are walking with us. Through the thousands in our own community, you appear in many guises: delivering mobile meals to the stranded at home, arriving for work at the hospital and healthcare facility, driving the ambulance, protecting our streets, unloading food and supplies from the delivery truck, conducting vaccine research in the science lab, calling the lonely, offering consolation to those who mourn, penning notes to the isolated. Jesus has not left us comfortless, but thanks be to you that the light of the Holy Spirit enables so many to will and to work amid the shadows.

O Love Unending, hear our prayer.

And as always, we unhesitatingly lift up these intercessions on behalf of our sisters and brothers, and also their celebrations. It is your generous hand that holds us fast:

  • Gratitude for a healthy pregnancy, expected arrival in September
  • Thankful that a mother with leukemia is responding to medication
  • Cancer survivor grateful she remained in good health during a vacation
  • A family rejoices that a reconciliation has occurred
  • Gratitude for our recent rainfall, so badly needed
  • Prayers for 2 dear friends at home, recovering from accidents
  • Prayers for young man seeking release from his anger & for his ability to see the good that is occurring in the world
  • God’s direction for a member who needs to find a new home
  • For God to help restore peace in our own country
  • Guidance for a couple considering selling their farm
  • For good news for cherished wife awaiting biopsy results
  • Continued strength for adult son, sole caregiver for his mother
  • Restoration for one with continued heart difficulties
  • Continued strength for a son helping his mother in hospice care
  • Prayer for negative virus test results for two at-risk mothers
  • Grace & courage for two undergoing new chemo treatments

It is our desire, O Lord, that all our undertakings this day be dedicated to your glory. May our thoughts, words, prayers, deeds, hopes, and dreams declare your name, whether in bold pronouncement or in silent gesture. And for those who question our incentive, we will merely point to Jesus 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.

 

Have a prayer request?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

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Prayer for Today – July 27

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 27, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

The lily blooming where none was planted; a cardinal returning to your windowsill day after day; the contours of a cloud that resemble a face you once knew and loved – all are as postcards from another world. Jesus said “I am going to prepare a place for you, that where I am you may be also.” We ask you for signs of that world, O Holy One, but you are already sprinkling them around us. Your love is beyond our comprehension, extending the boundaries of our minds. We are humbled that from that dwelling place galaxies away, you remember us with precious hints of your love. Indeed, you are our Way, our Truth, and our Life.

O Trusted Mystery, hear our prayer.

Yes, there is that home where, through your grace, we will one day be invited to join you at your table. Meanwhile, we remain in this perplexing here and now. And we often question how our meager deeds of mercy are having an impact. Our nation seems to be devouring itself; brutality and bloodshed make a mockery of the scales of justice. How did ruthlessness gain such power in our own beautiful and beloved cities? Will there ever come a time when your will is done here on earth as it is in heaven? Come, Lord Jesus, come, and bring that age where the leopard lies in concord with the lamb, where the lion and the calf rest side by side, where childlike confidence beats in every heart.

O Trusted Mystery, hear our prayer.

All-Knowing One, give to us that faith that turns to you even in the darkest hours, that faith that praises you in spite of our weakness, that faith that does not require visible evidence. And keep watch, we pray, over all who wait in hope, over those who wait in fear, and over those who feel they are invisible to the rest of humanity. Receive their prayers and also these petitions and thanksgivings from your people at Church Street:

  • Gratitude for prayers: son out of quarantine, reunited with family
  • Thank you for praying: 2 friends with Covid-19 are vastly improved
  • Thanksgiving: Isolated young woman ill with Covid now recovered
  • Family rejoices that virus tests were negative
  • Prayers for a couple making decisions about selling their farm
  • Support for two awaiting medical diagnoses
  • Recovery for those who suffer from depression
  • Prayers for two friends recovering from accidents at home
  • Healing for a grieving husband, for a vision of newness
  • Strength & courage for a wife recently admitted to healthcare facility
  • Continued prayers for one recovering from kidney surgery
  • Restoration for one with continued heart difficulties
  • All who mourn great personal losses
  • Prayers for 3 members studying for the bar exam
  • Continued strength for a son helping his mother in hospice care
  • Healing for our nation, for wisdom in fashioning a new beginning
  • Grace & courage for two undergoing new chemo treatments

Yes, Lord, we ask for many things, and we know that in your love you will give us, not necessarily what we want, but what we most need. Hold our church family tenderly in your hands in the days to come, we pray, for we are fragile beings who cling to the strong promises of Jesus, who taught us this prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Have a prayer request?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

Join us for a midday devotion

Join us on our Facebook page at noon today as Youth department intern Marcy Sullivan leads us in a short devotion about the importance of listening to one another.

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Prayer for Today – July 24

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 24, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Forgive the casual way in which we frequently speak of you, O Sacred One, as if we carried you in our hip pockets. By your pity, pardon our habit of using your name in such an offhand manner in our everyday conversations. Erase these slights, O Master, for we truly know you are the Source of All That Is. Infuse us with that deference you so deserve, and in these moments we, your servants, bow our heads and offer our silent prayers of adoration . . .

God of Glory, receive our prayer.

We know, O Lord, that your arms open wide to receive one and all, but why is your pathway so narrow? Perhaps the lane is only the width of a shoe, for we keep losing our balance and stumbling off the slim edges. The crevices on either side are threatening, the pull of earthly desires is strong, and we admit we have taken our share of falls. Help us to train our eyes on your blessed figure in the distance to hold us steady. And when we topple, which we surely will, give us strength to climb back onto that slender trail once more and head in the right direction.

God of Glory, receive our prayer.

And as we seek to do your will in all things, O Waiting One, we pray for your people who inhabit our Mother Earth, for those whose names and faces are known only to you. All creeds and colors are walking the same road to your glory. Whether early on the path or late in coming, you keep your light burning and watch for us. In whatever state we travelers find ourselves, may we all find your mercy. And we daily witness the glory of your grace working in the lives of our own community of faith, here in our small corner of the world:

  • Thankful for prayers: a sister’s heart procedure was successful
  • Member grateful – was selected to be part of important drug trial
  • Gratitude for prayers: a pregnancy is now going smoothly
  • Grateful: husband is home from hospital following kidney surgery
  • Prayers appreciated: wounded family pet now home from hospital
  • Please pray for grieving family, burying a beloved young father Saturday
  • Prayers for 3 members studying for the bar exam
  • Prayers for a grieving son whose mother died on Thursday
  • Continued strength for a son helping his mother in hospice care
  • Healing for our nation, for violence & bitterness to end
  • Close friend facing enduring weeks of harsh chemo treatment
  • Son with virus symptoms; protection for his family
  • Please pray for a family of 4, healing from Covid-19
  • Peace and healing of member with continued heart difficulties 

Loving Spirit, accept this effort of prayer, and knit us together as a strong church family, ever singing in our hearts our chorus of praise. Your melody of love is carried by the wind, touching every cherished soul. Grant us wisdom to pause throughout this day to savor that gentle breeze, to inhale your holiness, knowing it is Christ himself who breathes in us, empowering us to work in his name.

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?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

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Prayer for Today – July 23

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 23, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Ever-present One, this textured morning we thank you for the ordinary things that color our days: a roof above to protect us, the comfortable bed which offers sleep, sunlight peeping through the window, fresh fragrance of the earth, clean water from the tap, aroma of fresh coffee, food on the table, family members who understand us. Sometimes these small gifts bring a richness nothing else can satisfy. These are our treasures; yet such blessings are not to be taken for granted, for to whom much is given, much is expected.

Living Lord, hear our prayer.

O One Who Works Through Us, we live in a time of trial and a wind of discontent is blowing through our nation. We pray for the places where poverty has an iron grip, for families living everyday with financial insecurity, for those who are depressed and weary, for those who are experiencing a crisis of faith, for those who are marginalized and isolated. We thank you that your love reaches into the most lifeless places, but it is we who are most expected to deliver it. Help us to be people of peace and refuge, who offer the hand of support, and who walk that extra mile with others in need. Help us be that steadying hand that reaches out in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, while our fingers point to you.

Living Lord, hear our prayer.

Forgiving One, in your mercy, overlook our bumbling ways and our slowness in turning to you for wisdom before we hastily launch our own plans. Teach us to wait for the movement of the Spirit in all our quandaries, that our work may be for good and not for harm. Receive also, we pray, these thanksgivings and concerns carried in the hearts of your people at Church Street:

  • Prayers appreciated: member’s hip replacement was successful
  • Gratitude: hand surgery completed and points to full recovery
  • Thankful that residential decisions are made on behalf of a loving wife
  • Thanksgiving: an ill mother is responding well to present treatment
  • Grateful extensive cancer surgery is over with promising results
  • Prayers that a member is selected for a chemo trial today
  • Prayers for a sister’s calm and success in undergoing pacemaker procedure
  • Continued prayers for husband recovering from kidney surgery
  • Family mourning the death of a young father, for comfort and grace
  • Close friend facing 6 weeks of harsh chemo treatment
  • Son with virus symptoms; protection for his wife & 2 small children
  • Please pray for a family of 4, healing from Covid-19
  • A beloved father and a cherished father-in-law in hospice care
  • Calming anxiety of educators, parents & students as school openings are considered
  • Premature baby in NICU, heart condition & anxious parents

Living Lord, hear our prayer.

We know that Jesus dreamed of a world of life and beauty for all and we join him in that dream. As we ponder the present heavy problems in our world, we pray you would take the ordinary kindnesses we offer and use them as a solid foundation for that dream. Fill us, we pray, with such a spirit of love that it manifests itself in a thousand small ways in the week at hand. All these things we humbly ask in the name of the Beloved One, who gave us this prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

 

Have a prayer request?

Submit your request confidentially online, and our prayer team will be in prayer with and for you.

Devotion at Noon Today

Click here to join us on Facebook at noon for a short devotion with Sophia Thompson, a member of Church Street’s youth program.

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Prayer for Today – July 22

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 22, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Voice of Calm, we recall how Jesus commanded the waves to be still when the boat was rocked by the tumult. Fear flooded the hearts of his shipmates who felt the anger of the sea and the sting of the pelting rain. We confess that we have often revisited that story and wondered why the disciples were so terrified when their Master was there beside them. And now here today, we find ourselves in a dark-clouded tempest just as vile. Our heads are full of questions, our ears take in the anxious chatter of newscasters who are just as lost as we are, and our bodies are rigid, poised for the next lightning bolt. Rise up again, O Christ, and boldly speak your word of calm. And give us grace to listen to your word; for truly, your peace is not of this world, but it is the only peace that will see us through.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Forgive us, O Holy One, when our faith becomes shaky. But the truth is, throughout this pandemic, we have watched many of our plans and dreams disappear into the depths. Still, we know in our bones that you are a God of the Resurrection and that there is a hidden newness in our loss. So let us not count our losses, but instead enumerate the ways in which you have brought healing from pain, trust from defeat, and life from death. We count on you, O God, to steady the boat and lead us to a safe harbor. Strengthen our faith so we never let despair have the last word.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Quiet the noise inside us in these moments, we pray, as you infuse each heart with your holy stillness . . .  And gently deal with each of these persons and situations mentioned by your children of Church Street:

  • Member rejoices that a door has opened in a fractured relationship
  • Family is celebrating a son’s recent engagement
  • Members thankful for a lake vacation with entire family
  • Our graduating high school seniors who are filled with faith, hope, and promise
  • Gratitude for the life of a friend and mentor who died peacefully at home
  • Continued prayers for husband recovering from kidney surgery
  • Member having hip replacement today, for no complications
  • Family mourning the death of a young father, for comfort and grace
  • Healing for a beloved daughter undergoing extensive cancer surgery today
  • Close friend facing 6 weeks of harsh chemo treatment
  • Son with virus symptoms; protection for his wife and 2 small children
  • Please pray for a family of 4, healing from Covid-19
  • Husband undergoing carpal tunnel surgery today; father in hospice care
  • Prayers for educators, parents and students as school decisions are made
  • Insight for researchers, that a virus breakthrough comes soon
  • Prayers that a member is selected for a chemo trial on Thursday
  • Prayers for calm and successful pacemaker procedure on Thursday
  • Premature baby in NICU, heart condition and anxious parents

Thank you, O Ruler of the Seas, for your readiness to accept us as we are. And even when we feel we are being swallowed by the waves, your hand of serenity does not fail. Oh, how true the maxim: “Our hearts are restless until we find our rest in you:”

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 – July 21

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 21, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Sacred Source of Light. we come this day with grateful hearts, for even in the aloneness of social distancing you have touched us with your grace. Some of us have learned quieter rhythms for our days, some have reconnected with old friends, some households are learning about togetherness. We have found new avenues to worship, study, and pray together, to carry on most of our most important ministries. And there remain the stalwart souls who still reach out with healing hands to protect and serve us in our community. How blessed we are!

Lord of the Ages, hear our prayer.

In spite of your goodness, we must name our regrets. We ask your forgiveness for those among us with light skin who benefit from racist systems, even though we may not realize it; for those of us who think racism is someone else’s problem and not a problem for all of us; for our slowness in standing up for what is right. O God Who Continues to Hope, may we clutch tightly to your plan for creating a way of life where justice reigns, where freedom for all is the norm, where each of your beloved children receives the same opportunities to thrive.

Lord of the Ages, hear our prayer.

Our arms feel heavy with the burdens we carry. Life itself seems to test us and our challenges can cut to the core. Most particularly in this pandemic, we weep with those whose families have been scarred by illness and loss of life in our faith community and around the world. We pray for recovery for all who have lost financial stability, and generally these are the poorest among us. We pray for those whose families have been broken, for those who feel they must participate in violence to be heard, and for those who are on the brink of losing their faith. Fill us again with your new hope and vision; and as you are walking with us on that journey toward new life, teach us how to become part of your solution to the unrest that abounds.

Lord of the Ages, hear our prayer.

Hear also, Listening One, these thanksgivings and these petitions we lay before you this day, for they come from the depths of our hearts:

  • Gratitude for prayers: kidney removal surgery was successful
  • A wife is rejoicing: a biopsy revealed no cancer
  • Wounded pet is improving, please continue prayers for recovery
  • Broken family has received a ray of hope
  • Prayers appreciated: mother & daughter are virus-free, home from hospital
  • Grateful that a sister continues to heal following a stroke
  • Family mourning the death of a young father, for comfort & grace
  • Beloved daughter undergoing extensive cancer surgery tomorrow
  • Son with virus symptoms; protection for his wife & 2 small children
  • Isolated member prays her days may become less challenging
  • Prayers for educators, parents & students as school decisions are made
  • Insight for researchers, that a virus breakthrough comes soon
  • Member beginning a new chemotherapy regimen, for healing
  • Member having hip replacement Wednesday, for no complications
  • Cherished wife undergoing further testing
  • Prayers for husband undergoing carpal tunnel surgery on Wednesday
  • Tiny premature baby in NICU, guarded condition & anxious parents

Thank you for always turning in our direction, as we do know you are working on many levels on our behalf. Still, when we face daunting situations, it is often tempting to feel that all is lost. Then a voice inside us reminds us that no pain we bear is greater than that borne by your wounded Son when he walked this earth. So give us grace to live into that promise we made to trust in Jesus always, as we offer now his timeless prayer:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

 

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Devotion at Noon Today!

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