BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
March 3, 2021
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
through my groaning all day long. . . .
My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.
I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”;
and you forgave the guilt of my sin.
(Psalm 32:3-5)
Loving Parent, the poet spoke of the need to see ourselves as others see us. But more than that, we long to know how you, Holy One, see us. As we reflect in evening shadows, we admit we sometimes think too highly of ourselves and act accordingly – lording it over others, pretending we have the solution to every situation. On the other hand, at times we feel we are inept, inadequate, completely unaware of any personal gifts worthy of notice. Surely in your eyes neither of these states is accurate. Forgive us for both our grandiosity and our wallowing in self-pity. Grant us, Lord, a glimpse of your own perception of us, that we might acknowledge our sin and open ourselves more widely to the Spirit’s working in us and through us.
Enduring Truth, whatever is true in us causes us to see a world that is so in need of healing. Your love is omniscient, but there are places where your love is invisible. We know that whole populations are being killed, scattered and enslaved, while few take notice. Greed has seeped into our relationships with other nations and we step on the backs of the poor to satisfy our personal desires. Thank you for those who have taken on the brave beauty of your holy work, who tear down the wall between the haves and the have-nots, who labor for those who dream of life outside the ghettos. May we ever see with the eyes of truth, and pray you would give courage to our convictions, that we might also use our individual gifts to join those who travel your road of justice. Our steps may be small and sometimes wobbly, but you will show us how to run and not be weary, how to walk and not faint.
By you great mercy, bind our hearts, Lord, with all those who are hurting everywhere. Freedom is meant to be shared, so let us spend the time you give us to break the bonds that shackle troubled souls. Receive these prayers of thanksgiving for the personal ways you have upheld us . . . . . . . . . . and accept these praises and pleas that are offered by the people of Church Street:
- Gratitude for prayers: Back pain is easing
- Thanks for encouraging news regarding financial help
- Prayers appreciated: Ill member now eligible for vaccine
- 2 couples thankful for church help obtaining vaccine
- Thankful: severe headaches have improved
- Thanksgiving for educators at every level who labor despite the challenges
- One gives thanks for clear cancer scan
- Thankful for the Christian witness of longtime cancer sufferer
- Pray for dear friend in ICU, multiple injuries from car crash
- Upholding an exhausted caregiver
- Prayers for one having Whipple surgery Thursday and his surgeons
- Member having delicate cancer surgery on Friday
- Easing anxiety of new mother-to-be
- New mother with high blood pressure
- Upholding one with lymphoma
- Friend with pancreatic cancer and his caregiver wife
- Colleague on ventilator with Covid
- Mother struggling with family finances
- One grieving the end of a relationship
- Comfort for one enduring radiation treatment
We make a pallet beside your own bed this night, Lord, knowing that your deep peace will carry us safely upon the sea of merciful sleep. We will arise with joyful hearts, ready to meet you on the other side of daybreak to continue our service in the 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.
