Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of August 4, 2021
Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
O God Who Opens Wide the Door, each day you draw near & call out to us, your children. “Come and be filled!” you say. At times, remembering your boundless generosity, we heed your call. We open wide our hearts & hands to receive your rich food of love, purpose and resilience. We cross the threshold at your invitation, knowing your companionship will be sufficient for every need. But at other times, we confess we are content to remain inside, tightly closing our hearts and hands around our own desires, plans, and interests. Forgive us, we pray, for those instances when we ignore your voice, when we seek that which does not satisfy. For deep down, we know when we reject your call, we are starving our very souls.
Lord, in your goodness, hear our prayer.
And still, your grace flows widely today, Benevolent One, for you have once again drawn close. As you fed the hungry on that hillside long ago, you daily break the bread of life in our midst, a reminder that we cannot live authentically without your love. We pray for those who are blinded by grief this day, for those who are ill, weak, disillusioned, those facing major life challenges. We pray for our nation, and all nations once again in the throes of a dangerous virus, and for all healthcare workers who are already over-extending themselves on our behalf. Hear the cries of all who call out in your gracious name, especially these believers within our own church community:
Thanksgivings:
- One is thankful for a negative Covid test result
- A family is recovering from Covid
- Thanksgiving for all who donated school supplies for neighborhood youngsters and teachers
- Gratitude for exceptional guidance of a health professional – A brother’s hip surgery was successful
- Family deeply thankful for clear cancer scans
- Good news for two embroiled in legal disputes
- One in depression has had some bright spots in recent days
- Grateful for prayers: a relationship is being restored
- Family celebrates a granddaughter’s engagement
Concerns:
- Wisdom & safety for our community, now facing another outbreak of Covid and serious variants
- Prayers for family recovering from Covid
- Comfort for elderly mother hospitalized
- Sustaining a weary caregiver
- For maturity in decision-making
- Healing mercies for friend with prostate cancer
- Hospitalized cousin in TX, seriously ill with Covid
- Lonely widow asks for prayers for bodily strength
- Wisdom in diagnosing an intestinal malady
- A lonely widower, for his openness to friendships
- Protection & peace for two church families relocating
- Two seeking relief from debilitating back pain
- Strength for one in ongoing radiation
Continue to nurture each of these with your grace, we pray; and thanks be to our Savior who gathers up even the broken pieces of our lives, so that nothing is lost.
Lord, in your goodness, hear our prayer.
You have filled us with abundance, Lord, with beautiful faces of children that brighten our day, with our vibrant youth who eagerly work for the disadvantaged in our community, with music and voices that penetrate our hearts, with a worship space that truly says welcome, with devoted servants whose lives model the Christian way of life, and with a rich legacy of faith which continues to witness to the sovereignty of Christ throughout our region.
Lord, in your goodness, hear our prayer.
May all our thoughts and undertakings this week be dedicated to your glory, O Lord. Let us step out into the world with the Bread of Heaven in our hands, ready to share Christ’s living grace with each one we meet. All this we ask in the name of the Son who nourishes and sustains in every hour, and 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.
