BINDING SOUL AND SOURCE
Prayers for the Church Street Family
October 26, 2020
Rev. Dr. Jan Buxton Wade
Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer
and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6–7
O Listening Heart, thank you for the mysterious gift of prayer. The apostle taught us that your candle is never diminished and that you wait through the long hours for our call. But still, we frequently feel we are making a nuisance of ourselves when we arrive at your door with another basket of wants and needs. Of course, you know that our own inner light flickers when we travel the shaded roads of life, and we so need a share of your eternal flame. And how faithful you are to share your glory. Why, even today, the flame of your sunrise stoops down to brighten our spirits!
Eternal One, so much has unfolded this past year that we are anxious about what tomorrow will bring. The rampant virus has intensified throughout your created world, putting all in danger, particularly the poor and the vulnerable. We pray for these victims, and for the lonely, the hungry, the despondent, and the dying. The prophet once told us you had plans for us, plans for a future filled with hope. We hold onto that hope, Lord, for all we are worth. Knowing you are looking out for us makes all things bearable.
The evidence of your working on our behalf is solid, as miracles are being played out in all places, even within our church family. Our hearts fill with gratitude for your wonders and benefits. And as we lift up these personal situations to your care, we seek most of all that peace that surpasses all understanding:
- Gratitude: A member offers praises for God’s healing in her life
- Young father recovering from oral surgery, prayers appreciated
- Praises that tests revealed no recurrence of colon cancer
- One offers thanksgiving for her full recovery from the virus
- Prayers for strength for member raising his teenage grandchildren
- Healing prayers for a pastor ill with kidney disease and his anxious wife
- Pray for dear wife returning to Mayo’s today for further diagnosis
- Healing for best friend in North Carolina with virus; that her family is not infected
- For help to assist member embroiled in a family misunderstanding
- Healing of dear friend – young man in critical care, battling Covid-19
- Sustaining prayers for mother in hospice care, comfort for her family
- Prayers for mother with debilitating illness, wisdom for physicians
- Healing of young son with virus and protection of his family
- Teenager (18) with virus, protection for family, especially her at-risk father
- Guidance & healing: One depressed, searching for a new residence
- Healing mercies for member with lingering pain
Father of All Mercies, it was through your mercy that you gave us Jesus Christ, who came to show us the way of faithfulness, even when we didn’t understand. And through your mercy, you created ministries for us to share, and even sparked a deep desire within us to please you. And best of all, though our understanding remains partial and often faulty, you believe in us. Your goodness never ends, Lord, so we know you accept the prayers we offer this day, and that you also hear our whispered prayer taught us by your Son:
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.
