Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of August 9, 2023
Today has been a beautiful day; a cooler day. We give you thanks, O God, for what we call pleasant weather. We have enjoyed the way ‘outside’ feels today as we have shared stories about how the winds and the tornado affected us and our neighbors just two days ago. We are amazed at the power of wind and the seemingly random selectiveness of a tornado’s touchdown. Some neighbors had holes in the roof, some have huge trees uprooted. Others only have a little debris in their yard. Make us mindful of the magnificence of your creation, O God, but also the fragility. May we as a nation and a world care about the earth, the skies, and the seas. All that you called good. A tornado in August in East Tennessee, O Lord, gives us pause.
We pray that today has been a good and productive day for those who had to tend to insurance paperwork, who waited on utility workers to come, and had to manage the regular routine. We pray for schools who are sorting schedules and students with not enough teachers and staff. We pray for caregivers who are getting loved ones to appointments and perhaps have to take a different route.
You know the storms we face, Loving God. You know there is more debris in our lives than tree limbs and downed power lines. As we see stray limbs and crooked street signs in the coming days, help us remember that there are those who are still hurting over a tornado that happened two days ago, or a conversation that happened a month ago, or a death that happened six weeks ago, or a divorce that happened twelve years ago ….
O God who can bring us so much comfort when we open ourselves to you, may we experience a spiritual calming and an assurance that you are with us this day and every day. We pray for those in our church family who have offered these requests ….
We pray for ….
- A wife as she grieves the sudden death of her husband from a tragic accident
- A member and all of her family in the death of her brother from COVID. Lord, in your mercy …
- A man having financial struggles
- A person struggling with faith when God seems ‘unfair.’
- A daughter who is having gall bladder surgery
- A friend going through a difficult time
- KUB and LCUB workers getting power back to homes; prayers of thanksgiving for safety
- All those affected by the tornado and storm
- Those in our church family who are going for radiation treatments; thankful for drugs that help with side effects. Prayers for those taking chemotherapy. Thankful for researchers who keep finding better ways to administer.
- Kindergarteners!
- A member recovering from hip surgery
- A member searching for answers to health concerns
- One who is having trouble sleeping at night because of lack of job interviews and the stress that follows
We continue to pray for ….
- All those recovering from surgeries
- Those in rehab after joint replacement surgeries
- Those who are wanting to have children
- One who is looking for meaningful employment
- Those whose grief is so deep
We give thanks for ….
- Governor Lee and his upcoming special called session
- Opportunities to keep learning. I loved Dr. Hanciles last Sunday! Thank you!
- Friends who are bringing food to a member who is going through difficult time
- A grandchild being accepted into a special program
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.
