Weekly Prayer – 9/23/2026

Week of September 23, 2026

by Rev. Amber Lloyd

Faithful God,

We extol your greatness for you are an awesome God, sovereign over all creation from everlasting to everlasting. There is none like you who creates and guides, reconciles and redeems. Your children at Church Street UMC love you and lift up our praises tonight.

Heavy on our hearts today are those who grieve the loss of someone they love. God, we do not understand death. Its abrupt theft of the people we love offends us so utterly that in its wake, we are left reeling from the avalanche of emotions we cannot control. We are angry and broken.

We look to you and ask, “Why? Why them? Why now?” We feel stuck inside our pain, unable to discern which direction to walk and what decisions must be made.

We reach to you, O God, for you alone can sustain us through such darkness. You know us intimately; nothing is hidden from you. See our tears and wipe them. Hear our anguish and bear witness. Remember your children when we grieve, O Lord. Be near, hold tightly. We fear we will fall if you do not.

For our friends and family carrying the heavy burden of a cancer diagnosis and for their families who carry them, we ask for your strength.

For our brothers and sisters living through drought, famine, war, and oppression, we ask for your mercy.

And as we pray for these things, we ask that you use us to your good purposes. Make us implements of your strength and instruments of your mercy.

We lift these requests to you now, knowing you hear us when we pray…

We pray for ….

• A member who is grieving the loss of a close friend.
• A member’s friend who has been diagnosed with cancer.
• All those affected by the fuel spill in New Jersey.
• A member who was recently hospitalized after a bad fall.
• A member who is caring for their spouse.
• Financial stability for a friend, healing for their ex, and for their reconciliation.
• Safety for a member and their classmates as they travel out of the country and for the parents who will miss them.
• A member’s continued healing and recovery after surgery.
• A member who is in the hospital and their parents as they care for them.
• God’s provision for our many neighbors in Knoxville who struggle with homelessness and lack of medical care.
• A friend diagnosed with cancerous tumors on his liver with the expectation of a liver transplant in the future.

We continue to pray for …

• A young mother undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
• A friend in need of eye surgery.
• A friend’s granddaughter and her parents.
• A member’s son-in-law while he is out of the country for work.
• A friend who is caring for her sick father and facing many difficulties.
• A friend who needs healing.
• A member whose cancer treatments continue to cause fatigue and her pet who is unable to understand her illness.
• A member’s daughter, son-in-law, and new grandson.

We give thanks for ….

• The opportunity to travel and have new experiences to rejuvenate our spirits.
• A successful surgery and the skilled care of doctors and nurses.

We give thanks for Jesus Christ who tore the veil that we might enter and be reconciled to you and who taught to pray with these words,

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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