Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of July 24, 2024
Written by Rev. Tim Best
Caring and loving Lord,
You are our good shepherd and bring hope to us when we are lost and scared. We are grateful for the ways you have sought us out with your tender mercy this week. When we feel lost and alone, remind us of your abiding peace and steadfast presence. Hear us as we offer our prayers and praises, trusting that you will search for us in need and tend to us in our security.
After weeks of stifling heat and dry conditions, we rejoice over simple gifts such as rain and a refreshing breeze. We are reminded of the simple and beautiful ways you have made your creation. The cycle of seasons makes us think of the cycle of our lives and our community. As summer continues, may we find delight and joy in the long days, warm evenings, and all the special features of the remaining days of summer.
We rejoice for the moments of rest and renewal some of us have enjoyed this summer. We pray for those that are weary and in need of rest. Help this church family to be a safe haven for those who are wearied by the world and those who feel lost. When we care for others, may we be reminded always that it is you who has first cared for us. May this church family be a source of rest and renewal within our community.
We pray that you would seek out those who are hurting, alone, grieving, or are in any sort of trouble. Make your love and presence known to them. When suffering overwhelms us, may you sustain us by your gracious presence. Help us care for one another in our suffering, rejoice with each other in our delight, and sustain each other with our prayers.
As we come to the end of our day, may we trust in you to care for us through the night guide us into the good future you have for each of us. As we trust in your love to care for us and for our community, we offer the following concerns up to you:
We pray for …
- The soul of friend’s grandmother.
- A member’s nephew who has been told he has 3-6 weeks to live; prayers also for her sister, his mother, who is going through her own health struggles.
- Those who are yearning to feel the assurance of God’s presence and goodness in the midst of so much violence in our world.
- A friend who is having a double mastectomy next week. Prayers for her husband who fell last week shattering his humerus. Surgery is this week.
- One who is taking the Bar Exam at the end of this month. Prayers that she feels God’s peace and wisdom over her. Praying that God’s will be done.
- A mother and father in the death of their 30-year old son; a sister in the death of her brother.
- Our government officials.
We continue to pray for ….
- Daughters who are dealing with their mother’s ongoing health issues.
- Couples who are wanting to start a family.
- All of the men and women in the military.
- Those who are caring for family members who have dementia.
- A husband whose cancer is continuing to grow.
We offer prayers of thanksgiving for ….
- For a sister who is responding well to cancer treatments.
- Parish Health Ministry Team volunteers.
- Tim Ward and Edie Johnson as they approach their last Sunday. God bless them!
Having named our needs and our longing for your kingdom, may we be so bold to pray that prayer the Jesus taught us…
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.
