BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
November 23, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.
As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep,
so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they
have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. Ezekiel 34:11-12
O Pursuing One, yes, we have wandered away from the hand that feeds and nurtures us. We have strayed, searching for contentment in more interesting places, in baubles that eventually lose their sparkle. We have allowed your voice to be muffled by the many pundits hawking their earthly brand of wisdom through self-help volumes. We felt this time we could make it on our own, but again we find ourselves trapped in a bottomless ravine of loneliness. In our hearts, we know to whom we belong and believe that you will not abandon your search until you locate each of your roving charges. Come quickly, Tender Guardian, for we long for your presence, we long for home.
Good Shepherd, we pray for all who have been elected to public office during this autumn of discontent. As they soon pledge their vows of loyalty and enter service in their various capacities, may they turn to you for their guidance. Lead them, we pray, in paths of worthy goals, in pursuing holy wisdom, in practicing discernment through communion with you. And ardently we pray that politicians will move beyond partisanship toward collaboration in seeking out the truth, and in working for the highest good, not for just a select few, but for all people. As your beneficent hand has greatly blessed our land, may ours be known as a country that cares, as a beacon of blessing to your world which hungers and thirsts for hope.
Jesus, we know you as the Shepherd of the Sheep who recognizes each voice, as if there were only one of us. We are touched by your attentiveness, though we confess that much of what we share with you stems from the recurrent ramblings of our troubled hearts. Silently you allow us to bewail our predicaments and our dashed hopes as long as we desire. Forgive us, we pray, when we forget to acknowledge those doors you continue to open for us; hear us now as we offer praise for your movement in our lives: . . . . . . . . . . . . . And in your mercy, receive both these praises and appeals on behalf of our church family:
- Prayers appreciated: One’s PET scan results excellent
- Grateful: Mother’s surgery went well on Friday
- Gratitude: Wife returned safely from Mayo Clinic
- Thankful that eye procedure was successful
- Thankful that a grandson is healed of COVID-19
- A pathology report showed no malignancy
- Gratitude: Husband is home following heart surgery
- Prayers for a daughter’s health, sufficient food and happiness for family
- Prayers for husband having a cardiac conversion today
- Healing prayers: Parents and grandparents in ICU
- Daughter, grandchildren, and all children affected by the virus
- Strength for one caring for former husband in ill health
- Continued prayer: That a friend’s treatments will sufficiently shrink his pancreatic tumor, preparing him for surgery
- Faithful Christian with cancer, in ICU
- Reconciling a family conflict
- Safety for all healthcare workers who serve at great risks
- Beloved husband in hospice care, wife who is grieving
- Strength for stressed brother caring for his wife who has dementia
- Prayers that our community will heed public health guidelines
- Friends and family members unable to visit loved ones in isolation
Ours is not to know all things, even concerning the workings of your healing mercies. Rather, it may be sufficient to know that every prayer uttered is worthy of your grace and is held in sacred trust in that holy realm.
Lord of Love, with all our roving through the years, we have seen you as Christ, traversing every trail to find us, reaching down to free us from the brambles, and returning us to your safe dwelling. And what would gladden your heart most of all? To see us following your example, seeking out others who are scattered on those days of clouds and thick darkness, and returning them to your fold. Strengthen us to do just that, we pray, for we wish to make you happy.
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.
