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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Prayer for Today – March 19

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 19, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Believer in Humankind, the green earth outside our windows speaks of your hand of creation and re-creation. Even within the solemnity of Lent, blossoms, berries, and birds in flight paint the vivid story of your renewing grace. How welcome are these signs of eternal hope! Still, there are those among us whose burdens prevent their gazing upon your spring. Attend especially, we pray, to those who battle illness, those who care for the sick in mind and body, those who are overwhelmed with work, family, or financial pressures, the unemployed, those who cringe behind locked doors, and for all of us who are lost in one way or another. Help us to find our way back to our pure faith of former times, we pray, for indeed, you do believe in us.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lay before you this day these petitions on behalf of our church family:

  • Thanksgiving for a sister’s successful colon surgery yesterday
  • Safety for caregivers who work in nursing & retirement homes
  • Gratitude for all who serve our Soup Kitchen guests today
  • A longtime companion undergoing painful cancer treatments this week
  • Friends grieving a dear friend’s death; he succumbed to cancer Monday
  • Guidance for all whose weddings are being postponed due to COVID-19
  • Wisdom for government officials making decisions to protect the health of populations across the globe

Hear now as we recall those wonders you have brought about in our individual lives in recent days . . . . . . . .

and accept our confessions for our private misdeeds and regrets . . . . . . . .

Forgive us and free us for Christ’s sake.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

O Great Protector, let all our prayers join with all those offered to you around the globe this day; and may they be received by the whole company of heaven, and especially by our Savior 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 – March 18

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 18, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Master of Life, the ground beneath us seems to be shifting these days and we strive to regain our footing. Just when we think everything is under control, we feel ourselves slipping again, inch by inch. How unsettling it is when answers come so slowly. Still, we remember our Lord Jesus lived courageously in a time of great danger and uncertainty. He remained the calm amid the storm. Grant, O Holy One, that we might also reflect such inner calm that comes from our trust in you. For we know in our hearts that nothing can separate us from your love. And this day, may we practice courage by reciting the words of the psalmist who sang:

The Lord our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea. . . The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge! (Ps 46:1,2, 11)

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up this day to your holy gaze these particular situations expressed by our church family:

  • Gratitude from a member who recovers from successful surgery
  • A mother who worries about an ill adult son in California
  • Healing for a father grieving his broken marriage
  • All who are devising plans to help the needy in our community
  • Protection for healthcare workers who risk their lives to help others
  • Thanksgiving for safe travel of family members returning home

Hear now our private confessions and concerns . . . . . . . .

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

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Receive our prayers this day, O Eternal One, for you indeed are our Source and Center; and all these we offer in the name of our Lord 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.

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Prayer for Today – March 17

BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE

Daily Prayers of the Church Street family

March 17, 2020

Pastor Jan

 

O Holy Mystery, the prophets tell us that you search for us. And we long for you as well. We search for you, yet you often seem hidden and elusive. Perchance you know that we have sought you in unlikely places. We wait for lightning to flash when we are most in need. We fashion harried schedules, then expect to hear your booming voice break in upon our crowded lives. In this Lenten Season, and particularly in this time of inordinate stress, help us to learn that you are with us already. You abide in the shadows of our souls, and you live within the very beating of our hearts. Amid the cacophony of voices around us and our frantic pace to remain safe, may we become still and know that you are God – ever loving and ever faithful.

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.    

We lift up this day these particular friends in our church family who have asked to be remembered:

  • a young woman whose fiancé tragically perished in a fire
  • a member who sits by her dying father’s bedside
  • three women who have been widowed in recent weeks
  • our homeless friends in need of food and shelter
  • an adult son in desperate search of work

Hear now our private confessions and concerns . . . . . . . .

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

Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.

These petitions we offer this day, remembering the Son who loves us more deeply than we can understand, and it is in his name we make our 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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