BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
January 6, 2021
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
Thus says the Lord:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
(Jeremiah 6:16)
O Holy Light That Shines Even in the Darkness, hold your lantern high, we pray, that your mighty beam will shine upon those who walk bruised, burdened, and blinded through the our broken world. Our pain is deep and we question the unease, the uncertainty, the unknown swirling around us. Our eyes fill with tears when we view the rioting and bloodshed smeared across our computer and television screens this very eve. Surely you weep with us, as you witness our nation, most blessed of all nations, responding to our disagreements with violence.
O Restorer of Peace, we too stand at the crossroads as did your people in the prophet’s time. In all our unrest, help us remember that our lives are forever intertwined. Despite your steady call for peace, we confess we are not harbingers of harmony ourselves. Too often we have allowed our egos and willful emotions to rule the day. Save us from ourselves, O Lord, removing bitterness within, that we may again be known as ones who choose the good way and walk in it, for it is the same road traveled by the Prince of Peace.
With you, O Holy One, all things are possible. And so we ask you to calm the discord so prevalent our Capitol. Where there is woundedness, bring healing; where there is ruin, bring restoration; and where there is malice, bring amity. In doing so, you will be reminding us that we are your people and you are our God.
We depend upon your watchfulness, your forgiveness, and your steadfastness to see us through all our trials, and we humbly offer our gratitude. The light of your grace is made known through these joys that are shared by your friends at Church Street. May that same grace work within these personal situations most recently expressed by our church family:
- Family celebrates nephew’s return home after a 3-month stay in hospital with Covid
- Member thankful her business is recovering
- Couple eagerly await a new baby
- Thanksgiving: One healing well from knee surgery
- Family grateful that mother has moved from hospital to rehab
- Pray for God’s presence with one having surgery tomorrow
- Rest and recovery for one with heart condition
- Healing for friend in her 7th week of hospitalization with covid
- Healing for daughter with recurrence of cancer
- Comfort for family whose mother died today
- For rapid distribution of vaccine for healthcare workers and the elderly
- Husband continuing recovery from serious heart ailment
- Strength for member coping with chemo side effects
- Prayers for educators and students this first week of school
- Courage and strength for one beginning chemo on Friday
- God’s presence with one whose medical tests were disappointing
- For chemo to further shrink pancreatic tumor
Remind us, Good Lord, that your love bridges any distance; and even in the most remote valley of fear, our cries reach the ears of your heart. So quiet our spirits this night as we slumber in the arms of your grace, for we know Heaven’s Star watches over us and Jesus prays with us:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
