Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of June 8, 2022
Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
O Loving and Creating Spirit, we gaze at your enchanting world, observing your mysterious Vine of Newness working its way through every living thing. What a testament to Who you are! Christ’s announcement, “Behold, I make all things new!” reverberates within our very beings as we drink in the explosive beauty you display so liberally. Enshroud us with those green tendrils of grace this day, we pray, that we might nourish that fresh growth until its fruit ripens deep within us. Then, someday we might also stand as resilient witnesses who know they have no life in themselves apart from that rich and verdant Vine.
Lord of Life, hear our prayer.
We do confess and lament, Holy Life-Giver, that we are part of that which continues to desecrate the peaceable kingdom you created. We cherish what we have, yet we do not want to share. We prefer the convenience of living in a throw-away culture, neglecting our responsibility to refrain from polluting and wastefulness. We pray for peace, but harbor personal grudges and do not work for concord within our own families and communities; nor do we risk lifting our voices on behalf of the voiceless. Spur us on to become the living ambassadors of the resurrection we claim to be.
Lord of Life, hear our prayer.
We long for your healing and holy comfort for friends, family, and neighbors in need this day. Sustain all caregivers, we pray, for they are your very own anointed. May those who are hurting somehow feel your presence and companionship through your servants who offer tender support. May all who are grieving and isolated find rest in your very own corner of comfort. And knowing that all life begins and ends in you, we turn to you with these prayers on behalf of our church community:
- Gratitude: Holy Land leaders now home safe, free of Covid
- One grateful for Vanderbilt eye exam & news that vision impairment may be arrested
- Celebration of the work & witness of our Youth Choir & their leaders
- One offers thanks for prayer support during her 8 months of chemo
- Prayers appreciated: June 3rd surgery was successful
- Family grateful for safe extended vacation to visit family
- Thanksgiving for successful & renewing Annual Conference
- Gratitude for the extensive ministries & missions of the UMC
- Member grateful for prayers: A job with benefits has been obtained
- Thanksgiving: Cancer meds are still being tolerated by member
- Please pray for cherished wife in heart failure
- Prayers for all pastors in transition this season
- Safe delivery for mother & newborn to be delivered this weekend
- For an end to the destruction of Ukraine & the terror thrust upon its people
- Complete healing for youngster who suffered a head injury
- Dear friend with cancer; husband with bouts of depression
- Young friend who mourns the loss of her unborn child
- A new position needed: Adult son in unhealthy work situation
- Safety & good health for CS Master Arts travelers in Europe
- For reliable caregivers to be found to help an infirm husband
- Prayers for cherished mother at Mayo for heart exam
- 10-yr-old niece undergoing very serious spinal cord procedure on Friday
- Increased funding at all levels for treatment of mental illness
- Guidance for a young husband seeking new employment
- Pray for all young people making transitions this season & their families
- Young couple very much desiring children
- Comfort for a good friend in final stages of cancer
- Elderly husband who is ill at home, wife who offers care
- Healing of broken relationships within two families
Lord of Life, to all these prayers, we add the truth of ourselves. Keep us aware of the tangible signs your newness all around us. And give us the courage to live as Easter people, called to live into the fresh forms of ministry you are creating. Open our eyes, ears, hearts, and hands to joyfully serve our Risen Christ, who taught all disciples 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.
