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.
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