BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 14, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

We know you, Universal Love, as one who traverses the galaxies and skips among the stars. You rule the orbit of the planets coursing the golden glow of the sun. How could one such as you be mindful of us mere humans? Yet as the psalmist declares, you have made us a little lower than the angels. We bow in obeisance at such a holy mystery.

O Divine One, hear our prayer.

O God Who Never Turns Away, as we ponder our majestic earth you created, we realize how small the spaces which we inhabit – our confined communities, the routine commutes that define our days. Of course, we hear of life in other regions and even see unfolding tragedies regularly experienced by others. Forgive us, Merciful Lord, for living such insular lives, for not taking the plight of others to heart, for forgetting our brothers and sisters around the globe who are chained by fear, poverty, oppression. Purge us of this neglect, we pray, and also of these other private sins we now lay before you . . . Through your grace you have marked us as your very own, so give us that power from beyond that will enable us to live as the Christians we profess to be.

O Divine One, hear our prayer.

God Over All, as you have blessed us, so bountifully, we lift up your other children whose names we do not know, who live upon shores unfrequented by us. But they are your people and their wounds are our wounds: the people of Hong King who are denied free speech due to the recent passage of the Chinese Security Law; thousands of female health workers in Africa who risk their own lives to travel to remote villages to teach families how to protect themselves against Covid-19; the 40,000 persons in Somalia, Kenya & Ethiopia who are displaced because of drought, famine, and violence.

To these, we add our own prayers of thanksgiving and our pleas for help:

• Grateful for prayers: nephew now virus-free & now reunited with family
• Prayers appreciated: 23-yr old with covid is steadily improving
• Thank you for prayers: elderly aunt on hospice died peacefully on Sunday
• Thankful member is obtaining help in caregiving for very ill wife
• Healing for a young son diagnosed with Covid-19
• Prayers that virus tests for 4 recently exposed are negative
• Prayers for a wife with a mass on brain, awaiting procedure
• Healing mercies & calm for a member with recent eye damage
• Strength & courage for member recovering from serious illness
• Courage & confidence for member having job interview tomorrow
• Loved ones isolated at home & assisted living facilities
• Family members who were exposed to Covid-19 & are being tested
• Healing of friend’s father who is beginning a new cancer treatment
• Healing prayers for a frightened nephew (nurse in KY) with Covid-19 & protection for other family members who await test results
• 2 close friends newly diagnosed with virus, for relief of symptoms

O Divine One, hear our prayer.

We turn over our prayers this day to your abiding presence in the redeeming name of Jesus, 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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 10, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

“Lord whose love through humble service bore the weight of human need,
Who upon the cross forsaken offered mercy’s perfect deed.”

We are truly humbled by your great love, O Lord! Its depth is beyond our imagining. What might love such as yours cost us, we ask, if we also cry out for things to change, for justice, for better lives for those who wither away in want and poverty? Give us courage, in spite of our fear, to take the risk of stepping out of our safe zone and speaking up for truth and equity.

“Still your children wander homeless, still the hungry cry for bread,
Still the captive long for freedom, still in grief we mourn our dead.”

We pray for all whose souls yearn for something better: for a place to call home, for the table filled with fresh food; for the imprisoned, especially those innocent ones whose lives are devoid of mercy; for those mourning dreams long dead and the good health that has eluded them; for loved ones whose days ended before a proper goodbye could be uttered. Give us hope enough to lift up the forlorn, time enough to sit with those who grieve, grace enough to share our bread.

“Called by worship to your service, forth in your dear name we go
To the child, the youth, the aged, love in living deed to show.”

Forgive us, Lord, when we neglect even the smallest gesture that might mean the world to another. Remind us to stop and make time for little ones, as did Jesus, who called the children blessed. Help us encourage our youth who struggle on so many fronts in our complex society, yet who accomplish so much, and who also long for a word of gratitude, of encouragement. We also seek your blessing upon each of these we now name, that your hand would be at work in their lives:

• Celebration: daughter returns from China after a long work assignment
• Thankful that a wife’s hysterectomy went smoothly today
• Gratitude: hospital, health workers & first responders taking great risks to serve others
• Grateful for prayers: a grandfather died peacefully last night
• Easing of pain for member following extensive oral surgery
• Successful heart surgery today for a young son (Blount Co Family Promise) at Vanderbilt; courage & safety for his family who travel with him
• Prayers for a wife with a 2 cm mass on brain, awaiting more tests
• Two members seeking relief from depression
• Healing: Close friend with leukemia that is not responsive to treatment
• Healing prayers for a frightened nephew (nurse in KY) with Covid-19 & protection for other family members who are currently being tested
• Four families mourning the recent deaths of loved ones
• Physician nephew in 9^th day of isolation; his wife & 3 sons all well
• Two families in custody proceedings, grace to uphold children involved

“Hope and health, good will and comfort, counsel, aid, and peace we give,
That your servants, Lord, in freedom, may your mercy know and live.”

Dearest Friend, fix our eyes upon the present moment, not upon the final outcome of our service. Piece by piece you will ultimately gather all our efforts and fold them into your own restoration. For now, we need only remember that when we love your created world with all its intricacies and mysteries, we are loving you. And when we are serving others, we are serving 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.

Have a prayer request?

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

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 8, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

You woo us, O God, Sleuth that you are. We would find it annoying if we did not know that you seek us because you care so deeply for us. Truly, the psalmist says that there is nowhere we might flee, but you are there already. Perchance underneath our façade, we want to be known as we really are, without our makeup. And the astonishing reality is that you seem to delight in us more earnestly when we remove our masks, share our doubts, our imperfections and failures freely. Such an impenetrable moving mystery you are. Ah, but such a friend!

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Summer rains refresh us, Lord, and we are grateful for them. But the clouded canopy overhead also carries unease. Our minds wander to times past when we were happier, when our closest companions were part of our everyday lives. Suddenly it seems that we have lost so many to death that few are left who understand us anymore. Gone are their impromptu calls just to see how we were faring, the small jokes we shared, their sensitivity to our own trials. We are on the edge of emptiness, and we often wonder why we ourselves are still here. Maybe our aloneness is to teach us how Jesus felt when his closest friends deserted him, just when he needed them most. Wash us with that summer rain, Lord, and give us courage to walk with assurance and resolve until our own time of departure comes.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

There have been rays of hope these past weeks, O Pillar of Strength, as we wait for the end of the pandemic. And we are thankful that some are able to return to work and enjoy more flexibility. The specter still haunts us, however, and we dare not let down our guard. Give us prudence, we pray, to shield our brothers and sisters who are most vulnerable to the virus, to adhere to guidelines set out by health officials, to demonstrate concern and compassion. You have seen us through other dark eras and you will see us through this time as well. We now remember these particular friends at Church Street who request our prayers of intercession. Attend to each, Good Lord, and walk with them as you work within each situation:

• Grateful for the life and witness of a faithful member who died yesterday
• Thanksgiving: cherished member’s latest cancer scans were all clear
• Thankful for church staff and blessing of online worship & devotionals
• Grateful for prayers: nephew and fiancé celebrate her recovery from cancer surgery, are awaiting treatment plans
• Safety for 2 members hiking Mount Whitney in CA
• Prayers for a brother having important kidney tests today
• An elderly father in failing health and a brother with post-surgery difficulty
• Good health for young couple; may their unborn baby grow to full term
• 23-yr-old friend with Covid – isolating for 21 days – no family nearby
• Protection from virus of all loved ones working in high-risk positions
• Loved ones infected with Covid; safety for their family members
• Two families in custody trials, grace to uphold children involved
• Healing for a brother on high doses of antibiotics, no diagnosis yet
• Healing prayers and courage for two undergoing chemotherapy
• That peace descends upon our violent and fragmented nation
• For God’s work in the lives of a weary caregiver and his ill wife
• A peaceful death for an aunt (96) and for a cherished father-in-law
• Prayers for a physician in Chattanooga, recovering from heart surgery
• Healing mercies for a father with diabetes and his grieving son

In celebration and in suffering, may we continue to reach out to one another, as you, O Christ, reach out to hold us fast.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Abide in our hearts this day, we pray, for we need your nearness every hour:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 6, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Holy Friend, we offer you this unique day. May gratitude be our companion, for you have tucked away treasures in the folds of each hour; we dare not miss these blessings you have so carefully wrapped: the embrace of the sun warming our bones, eyes to behold the faces of friends, the gift of music to lift our hearts heavenward, the sound of a loved one’s voice on the phone, the ability to read the printed page, aroma of welcome rain on dry fields, memories of wonders of bygone days, the honor of working and living in your name. May all our thanksgivings join with all those praises offered throughout the world!

Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!

Loving Overseer, we pray for an understanding of what yet might be. We seek your reassurance, Lord, that your new work will become visible, even in our shortsightedness. In spite of the church’s honest efforts throughout the ages, injustice poverty, cruelty and hypocrisy are on the rise. Keep us from despairing, Gentle Savior, when our works and our prayers do not come to fruition according to our own timetables. Give us grace, we pray, to continue our work of faith, knowing that somehow, some way, you are already using our good intentions and our prayers to make a cosmic difference in our world.

Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!

Preserver of Life, we lift up to your light all who find themselves in distress, illness, adversity this day. We pray for their deliverance from their afflictions and difficulties. Especially we remember those closest to our hearts . . .  Also these friends from our own church family:

• Gratitude: a husband’s Covid-19 test was negative – prayers appreciated
• Family felt greatly supported by hospital staff during mother’s last days
• Gratitude offered for the life of a beloved mother & grandmother
• Loving couple celebrating 39 years of marriage
• Member is thankful her depression is lifting
• Thanksgiving for unborn grandson; prayers that mother & father (in Chicago) remain healthy and that mother will carry her child to full term
• Prayers for a member mourning the death of her mother on Saturday
• Protection of all loved ones at high risk of contracting virus
• Healing prayers and grace for a friend undergoing chemotherapy
• Prayers for wife recovering from injuries and strength for her husband
• A single mother in GA & a dear friend in TN in need of good jobs
• Healing prayers for nephew (physician) with Covid, & safety his family
• Please pray for a mother with Covid-19 & that her son’s test is negative
• A peaceful death for an aunt (96) & for a cherished father-in-law
• Healing mercies & courage for 2 members recovering from illness
• Healing mercies for a broken family & ill father
• Healing of a brother with heart ailment; young adult with rare malady
• Prayers for a grieving couple whose newborn son died in May

Bind our hearts together as one holy community, O Lord, and may we cling together and support one another as we travel that highway that leads to your doorstep.

Blessed be your name, O One Who Hears Us!

Revitalize us this day for faithful service, O Lord, knowing you accept us fully and that you are always pleased to hear the prayer your Son taught his disciples:

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.

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

July 2, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

This is one of those days, Lord, when in spite of summer warmth, there is a chill in the air and even in our hearts. Why these seasons of the spirit come we do not know, but when they do, we prefer sitting in emptiness rather than turning to the warmth of your words and your caring ways. Rekindle the embers of our hearts, O Flame of Goodness, that in the hours ahead, we may remember our commitment doesn’t depend upon how we happen to feel at any given moment. You will use whatever cold offerings we bring to create a spark of home somewhere. Ignite that hope in us again too, we pray.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

We know you bear the pain of your people, but there are so many burdens to be borne.  Anger and violence have permeated our streets and neighborhoods. Lawlessness increases where peace once reigned. Halls of governments are filled with rancor and distrust. We are held hostage by a virulent disease for which no cure has been discovered, and so many of your people fade away behind barriers of protection, forgetting who they are. We believe you have answers to our dilemma, O God, but we pray you would not tarry too long, for we seem to be sinking under the weight of our pain.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

O Master of Surprise, through the ages you have brought restoration when all seemed hopeless. You have always presented yourself in unexpected ways to your confused and hurting people. Give us patience and courage, we pray, to endure our present trials, knowing you have not forgotten us. And also remember these praises and pleas that are offered by members of your Church Street family:

• Gratitude: wife is thankful for unexpected financial assistance
• Thankful a member has been released from hospital & is now home
• Family so very grateful a brother is no longer on a ventilator
• A niece received a government check to help sustain her business
• Thankful for all members and families on the front lines of medical care and public safety
• Prayers that a member’s Covid-19 test is negative
• Healing prayers for nephew (physician) with Covid and safety for his family
• Member who suffered a terrible fall 9 days ago, for restoration & comfort
• Prayer for peaceful death for an aunt (96) suffering with cancer
• Patience and healing for one facing long recovery from leg surgery
• Guidance and hope to restore an ill father & to uphold a grieving son
• Prayers for a brother who may undergo a pacemaker procedure this week
• Healing mercies for a granddaughter diagnosed w/ rare intestinal condition
• Hospital worker needs relief from great stress due to the pandemic
• Continued prayers for safety: a daughter & a son working in Florida
• Healing mercies for a member now in a rehab unit

In your tender compassion, watch over our family of faith, that we may become more and more aware of your surprising grace.

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

O Fount of Wisdom, you spoke your words through the prophets and through Jesus himself, telling us we were indeed our brothers’ keeper – to speak in love and kindness to the stranger, to comfort the fallen, to feed the poor, to offer hope to the bereft. How wise you are in your teaching, for you knew that when we serve the other, our own worries subside. Astonishing is the manner in which you are transforming us!

God of Goodness, hear our prayer.

Wrap up these petitions, Faithful One, and carry them in your basket of peace; and we will rest easy, knowing peace will come in good time, and that all shall be well:

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!

Head to our Facebook page at noon to hear from new Sr. Associate Pastor Tim Best and Rev. Palmer Cantler.