Prayer for Today – March 29

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 29, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

We enter the Sabbath, O Holy One, remembering that you created this day to slow us down. In you holy wisdom, you knew that when we cease our mad pace, we are more likely to behold your work in the world, to listen for your voice, and to remember that you hold each of us in the palm of your hand. You alone have appointed the days and nights of our lives, so let us join our voices with the Psalmist who proclaimed: “This the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice & be glad in it!”

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Dear and Ultimate Good, your grace is not founded upon our worthiness; for if this were so, who could stand? But there is infinite mercy in you. You know the secrets of our hearts and you count every tear. Receive now these particular petitions, as shared by our church family:

  • Gratitude for our Soup Kitchen guests – so thankful, respectful & kind during these weeks of uncertainty
  • Thankful that more virus test kits are becoming available
  • Grateful for truckers who bring our food & supplies, for their safety
  • Gratitude for our church staff & laity who carry on the work of ministry & for their protection
  • A nephew & his family in NYC
  • Safety for son & wife, physicians caring for the sick in Lafayette General Hospital in Louisiana
  • A church family grieving deeply; for prayers to sustain them
  • A dear sister whose cancer has returned & her husband with dementia
  • Our nephew & fiancé in Michigan awaiting results of COVID-19 testing
  • Protection for healthcare workers, EMT’s & medical teams everywhere
  • Solace for a grieving family: Their beloved father died Sat. in Crossville

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We know you accept all our prayers, for we join our spirits with that Greatest Spirit who prays for us in sighs too deep for words. And we offer again the prayer your Beloved imprinted upon our hearts so long ago:

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 on YouTube for Online Worship at 10 am Today!

Go to our YouTube page at 10 am (or later) each Sunday and enjoy greetings, scripture, homily, children’s moment, prayer, and beautiful music as we celebrate our loving God.

 

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Prayer for Today – March 28

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 28, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Mighty Fortress, you are the God whose mercy never fails. We sail toward an unknown shore and your word is our only chart. The winds of transition have unsteadied our course, and we confess that we are anxious. And yet, you are already aware of the storms that rage in our personal lives. You well know the tempest voices that tell us our situations are hopeless. But when we quiet our souls, we always hear your living words speaking in our hearts:

Come to me, you say, and I will give you the composure for which you search. Come to me, you say, and I will calm the waves.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up now these concerns of our church family. Keep these situations close to your heart, that each one may enter the gentle streams of your grace:

  • Gratitude for our church & the ways in which we are staying connected
  • Gratitude for a much-needed medical procedure to relieve hip pain
  • Celebrating a negative COVID-19 test
  • Thanksgiving for a son-in-law managing operations for the National Guard, who assist local governments in this time of crisis
  • Safety for a daughter, nurse practitioner, now conducting virus testing
  • Protection for a brother & his wife, medical workers in a D.C. hospital
  • A family devastated by the loss of a child, for healing mercies
  • Safety for a son & his fiancé, physicians working in Atlanta hospitals
  • A brother & fiancé awaiting results of COVID-19 testing
  • Safety for a physician nephew in ALA & for his family

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Mighty Fortress, receive our personal gratitudes . . .

And also our deepest regrets . . .

Wash us clean in the gentle stream of your grace.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Mighty Fortress, when our journey ends, we will find you are still with us, just as you promised. And on that other shore, we will humbly bow and offer again that prayer you taught us long ago:

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 Online Worship Tomorrow!

Go to our YouTube page at 10 am (or later) each Sunday and enjoy greetings, scripture, homily, children’s moment, prayer, and beautiful music as we celebrate our loving God.
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Prayer for Today – March 27

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 27, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Holy Vision, some of us walk bruised, burdened, and blinded through the ways of the world. We continue to question the unease, the uncertainty, the unknown. The apostle said that we see through a glass darkly, as through a clouded mirror; he said that ours is not to know all things in this realm. Rather, we are asked to live by faith and not by sight. And we do, though it is sometimes frightfully hard. So in these pressing times, we ask for a tender memory of your loving promise: that one day we shall all see clearly, and then face-to-face. Until that grand shadowless day to come, may we trust in your sure and certain providence.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up this day these joys & concerns on the hearts of our church family:

  • A beloved father who died yesterday, for his family who mourn
  • All chaplains working in hospitals and healthcare facilities
  • Members who suffer memory loss & for their families & caregivers
  • A cherished father (pastor) whose life is ebbing away
  • Healing of brokenness & misunderstanding within a family
  • Thanksgiving for the recent sunshine to warm our bodies and souls
  • A friend diagnosed with COVID-19, for complete healing
  • Gratitude for all taking great risks to safeguard the health of our citizens

Hear now our private confessions and concerns . . .

And also our praises for the joys you have brought about in our lives . . .

For your watchfulness, for your forgiveness, & for your steadfastness.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Holy Spirit and Keeper, blow away from our minds the gloomy clouds of fear. Breathe into us all new life and new hope, for we know you as the Saving Sanctuary to whom our friend Jesus also prayed:

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 LIVE Devotions each Monday and Thursday at NOON on Facebook!

Go to Facebook.com/CSUMCKnoxville at NOON on Mondays and Thursdays for a greeting, scripture, a short message and prayer. You’ll have a chance to interact, send prayer requests, and just connect a few times each week with your church family. See you there! If you aren’t able to join us at noon on Facebook, don’t worry – we’ll still post the video on our webpage after it’s live, so that all may benefit from this devotional time.
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Prayer for Today – March 26

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 26, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Love Ever Present, now and again in our days apart from our community of faith, there are so many things that remind us of you in penetrating ways:

A cloudy shadow on an open field, blue mountains in the distance, a certain movement of the evening breeze, an anthem of hope from our choir that begins to stir in our hearts, the memory of little feet scrambling to the chancel steps for children’s time, the deep-down conviction that you will use this interlude of uneasiness for our good and for your glory.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Spiritual Physician, just as you renewed the life of your Beloved Son, cast your gaze among us who are pained in mind, body, or spirit. We long to dance, but our bones ache; we long for voices now gone from us; we carry troubles too deep for words; we worry that our faith is weak. Yet on this side of the cross, we know that nothing is impossible with you. So move your healing hand over us this day and touch us with your renewing grace. And in so doing, you will be reminding us that we are your people and you are our God.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer. 

We now lift up this day to your mercy these situations most recently expressed by our church family:

  • Giving thanks that a brother’s COVID-19 test was negative
  • Peace for a family whose father died yesterday after a long illness
  • For a lonely mother (84) in confinement in an Alabama hospital, peace for family members who worry
  • Protection for a daughter & son-in-law, physicians on the front line
  • Gratitude for a young father’s improvement from flu
  • A child with COVID-19, safety for her family & the diagnostician
  • A stepfather dealing with stage-4 liver cancer
  • Gratitude for the work of our Stephen Ministers & Parish Health Team
  • Confined college students, concerned about coursework & graduation

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Accept all these petitions and prayers this day, O Love Divine, for they come from the very depths of our being:

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 LIVE Devotions each Monday and Thursday at NOON on Facebook!

Go to Facebook.com/CSUMCKnoxville at NOON on Mondays and Thursdays for a greeting, scripture, a short message and prayer. You’ll have a chance to interact, send prayer requests, and just connect a few times each week with your church family. See you there! If you aren’t able to join us at noon on Facebook, don’t worry – we’ll still post the video on our webpage after it’s live, so that all may benefit from this devotional time.
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Prayer for Today – March 25

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 25, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O One Who Tends our Souls, we confess that we often set our minds, not on divine things, but on human things. When we are frightened, we sometimes doubt your loving provision, and we grab far more than we need. We forget the tender plan that you have for us, and we shrink from living as your disciples. But then, you are aware of our present angst, so we are confident that you will forgive us our selfishness and will wash us clean. And in these days of unease, teach us how to set aside our own concerns and focus instead on the riveting troubles that may be entrapping our neighbors.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up this day these particular concerns of our friends in our church family who ask for our prayers:

  • Healing for a young mother beginning cancer treatments, for her family who stand by in love and support
  • Safety for all hospital staffs & healthcare workers serving the sick
  • Gratitude: an ill brother’s fever decreased yesterday, for full healing
  • Blessings upon a dear mother in assisted living, visitors not allowed
  • Easing of present burdens, that we might find a cure for COVID-19
  • Gratitude for availability of virtual church, making worship possible
  • Healing & peace for a daughter who battles trauma & insecurity
  • All military & supporting personnel assisting in the virus control effort

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Meet each of these petitions, we pray, and also those worries we each carry, at that mysterious point where your grace somehow blossoms into blessing.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Faithful One, we know you have forgotten our past and promise that tomorrow is a new day. Therefore, we now place our hands in yours and offer the prayer your Son taught us so long ago:

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 LIVE Devotions each Monday and Thursday at NOON on Facebook!

Go to Facebook.com/CSUMCKnoxville at NOON on Mondays and Thursdays for a greeting, scripture, a short message and prayer. You’ll have a chance to interact, send prayer requests, and just connect a few times each week with your church family. See you there! If you aren’t able to join us at noon on Facebook, don’t worry – we’ll still post the video on our webpage after it’s live, so that all may benefit from this devotional time.

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Prayer for Today – March 24

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 24, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O One of Infinite Mercy, the world of order and meaning that we cherish seems to be splintering apart. Shrill voices sound the alarm from daylight to dusk. Yet within this precarious era, we in your church are to stand firm; as we know it is your voice alone that claims us. So let us not trust solely in the pundits. Let us also fall at the feet of Jesus, for acknowledging our fear is the first movement of faith. And it is faith in our God that will see us through.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lay before you these particular situations that are on the hearts of the people of Church Street:

  • Gratitude for the beautiful life lived by a member who is buried today
  • A daughter & son-in-law working in the forefront of medical arenas
  • Reconciliation within a broken family
  • For Congress to pass legislation to provide financial help to small businesses & workers in our country
  • A dear elderly father in assisted living, for safety from illness
  • Patience for an ill brother waiting 6 more days for virus test results
  • Protection for healthcare workers who risk their lives to help others
  • Gratitude for technology that undergirds our sense of community

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Hear us, Good Lord, as we recall the blessings we have recently received . . .

And hear our private confessions to you, in the silence of our hearts. . .

And as you sweep away the deeds of darkness within us, plant in their place seeds of restoration, that our works might take root and flourish. We shall then loudly proclaim your name, not with our words, but with the living of our lives.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Gather up these prayers we bring this day, for we offer them in the name of the One who makes all things new, the Author of our Faith 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.

If you miss any of our worship moments or services throughout the week, head over to our CONNECT page of our website, and view all the videos in one playlist.

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Prayer for Today – March 23

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 23, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure. May your Holy Breath remind us of your abiding guidance, we pray. You sent us Jesus, our Teacher and Guide, to model for us the way of love. Grant us grace to follow your Son’s example of honoring both your creation and our neighbors. All are sacred in your sight, O Love Incarnate, so quiet our harsh voices of criticism when others are doing the best they can. Quell our impulse to find fault and place blame when we are inconvenienced by detours of illness, stymied social interaction, and altered schedules. There are mercies yet to be unearthed in this precarious time; give us purity of heart to discover them.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Breathe on me, Breath of God; fill me with life anew. We remember the hasty words that cannot be erased, the complaints uttered so often. Forgive these and other missteps, especially . . .

Also receive these offers of gratitude for your mercies which have come without asking . . .

Mend us, we pray, and redirect us toward your path of renewal.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.      

We also lift up to your arms these particular petitions on the hearts of our church family:

  • A beloved brother, an ill pastor awaiting results of test for COVID-19
  • A friend of decades who received disturbing news of a malignancy
  • All in our community who have lost their jobs
  • Thanksgiving for our youth who have hearts for caring service
  • That a nephew may enter rehabilitation for his drug addiction
  • Gratitude for all who are reaching out to others who are in need
  • A loving daughter – anxious about her father’s increasing confusion
  • Homeless & indigents in Knoxville & for those who minister to them

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Breathe on me Breath of God, so I shall never die. We know that you have heard these cries of our hearts this day, and that your Holy Breath will strengthen us to stand straight and walk by faith. We depend upon you to shepherd us along that road to your eternal kingdom:

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 LIVE Devotions each Monday and Thursday at NOON on Facebook!

Go to Facebook.com/CSUMCKnoxville at NOON for a greeting, scripture, a short message and prayer each Monday and Thursday. You’ll have a chance to interact, send prayer requests, and just connect for a few minutes a few times each week with your church family. See you there!

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Prayer for Today – March 22

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 22, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Great Observer of the Universe, we remember that Jesus said your eye notes each time a sparrow falls to the ground. And so we are confident that you know the travails and worries that afflict each of us. There are losses we have already experienced, and there are losses yet to be borne. Still truly, our pain is your pain. In the quiet of these moments, may we feel your gaze upon us and sense your ready compassion. May we come to know you as the Great Physician who places your healing warmth within our troubled hearts.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Giver of Grace, in this time of limitation, there are those among us who feel we should be doing more to help our neighbors. We feel guilty because we are not useful. But calm our need to be actively productive, and help us to know you will lead us to action when the time is right. And also remind us that no prayer we utter is ever wasted; our daily petitions are also a means of service.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

This day we offer our personal thanksgivings . . .
And also we name those thoughts and actions that fill us with regret . . .
Wash us & accept us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We also lift up to your throne of grace these particular situations expressed by our church family:

  • Prayers for a member stationed aboard ship in the Arabian Sea (USN)
  • Relief of anxiety of member (expectant mother) living in NYC, that hospitals may be safe & open at the time of her delivery
  • Safety for a daughter who just returned to China for work
  • Gratitude- a daughter & family’s safe return from a trip outside U.S.
  • All in Middle TN dealing with both tornado recovery & virus threat
  • Protection for all who work on the front lines to combat COVID-19
  • Small business owners & workforce suffering great economic stress

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Remind us that the Lord walks with us; and that nothing in all creation, either what we have done or left undone, can ever separate us from the love of God, made known to us in Jesus 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.

Join us for LIVE Devotions each Monday and Thursday at NOON on Facebook!

Go to Facebook.com/CSUMCKnoxville at NOON for a greeting, scripture, a short message and prayer each Monday and Thursday. You’ll have a chance to interact, send prayer requests, and just connect for a few minutes a few times each week with your church family. See you there!

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Prayer for Today – March 21

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 21, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Master of Time, we confess that we spend our days anxiously fretting about what tomorrow will bring; yet in truth, anxiety is the invader of the future. We cannot know what the future holds, but the Great Shepherd takes every step with us. In these present hours we are given, let us pause to breathe and ponder the gifts all around us: the neighbor who calls to check on us; the church member who lets us know he is praying for our safety; the lady wearing protective gloves who brings nourishing food to our car window; the researchers working overtime to provide a vaccine; the pharmacist who calmly answers our questions; the friends who express their love. In the quiet of the present, may we breathe in holy peace and breathe out gratitude.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

During this restless week, we have truly received personal blessings. These we acknowledge now in these moments . . .

And we also confess those thoughts and deeds that have wounded ourselves and others . . .

Forgive us, we pray, and free us for joyful obedience.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We now lift up this day to your mercy these situations most recently expressed by our church family:

  • Protection for all who must travel today
  • Thanksgiving for a sister whose cancer tests were negative
  • A diabetic sister & her husband with cancer; for wisdom & healing
  • Bereaved family members who bid farewell to a cherished son today & for his fiancée; for Pastor Palmer as she leads the memorial service
  • For results of a recent COVID-19 test to be negative
  • Safety for all healthcare & sanitation workers & their concerned families

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

O Lord, you are our Shepherd; some day we know that you will lead us once again to green pastures, and we shall also rest beside the cool waters.

Until then, hear these ancient words which continue to seal our faith 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.

 

Have a prayer request?

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

 

Join us for Online Worship this Sunday!

Go to ChurchStreetUMC.org/Connect at 10 am (or later) on Sunday and enjoy greetings, prayer, scripture, homily, children’s moment, and beautiful music as we celebrate our loving God.

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Prayer for Today – March 20

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 20, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

Holy and Glorious Creator, the beauty you have sent to us is often too much to absorb. The green and flowering landscape of spring takes our breath away. And we are blessed in so very many ways. We have access to warm water for bathing, cool water to quench our thirst, safe homes, food and clothing, technology to help us connect with family and friends, freedom to speak out, and freedom to worship our Lord. Forgive us, we pray, when we focus on our present inconveniences. Help us remember that our gifts come, not because we have earned them, but because you are the God of Benevolence. You intend, in turn, that we also become a people of grace. During these uneasy days of confinement, assist us in living lives that pour out mercy and  kindness upon others in whatever ways we can.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

This day we offer our personal thanksgivings . . .and also we name those thoughts and actions that fill us with regret . .  . Bind us and heal us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up this day to your arms of mercy these particular situations expressed by our church family:

  • Relief for a faithful member enduring great pain due to a malignancy
  • A friend recovering from knee replacement, that all may progress well
  • Those who worry about their loved ones isolated in nursing facilities
  • A family experiencing increasing distress as their business declines
  • All whose incomes are in jeopardy due to the economic strain
  • Constructive activities for young people confined to their homes

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

Constant Friend, look with favor upon each one who calls upon your name in this hour, for we know you hear even the smallest prayer said in earnest. Renew our waning spirits as we again offer these words of our Savior:

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 Online Worship this Sunday!

Go to ChurchStreetUMC.org/Connect at 10 am (or later) on Sunday and enjoy greetings, prayer, scripture, homily, children’s moment, and beautiful music as we celebrate our loving God.

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