Weekly Prayers for the Church Street Family
Week of September 22, 2021
Written by Rev. Jan Buxton Wade
With a rich red hue encircling yesterday’s date, the calendar announced the beginning of autumn. Oh yes, Good Lord, we have received those gentle hints you have sent our way: the shortening of days, the cool air of the misty morn, and raindrops that quench the thirst of the overworked soil. As your good earth prepares to rest in peace, help us to set aside those dried-up mistakes and tensions that infected us throughout the summer months. Sweep away those careless words and unhealthy deeds that marred our long strand of warmer days; may they wither away, useless as they are, to be counted as debris for your compost. But by your mercy, we pray, store up any seeds of hope or kindness we may have sown along the way, that in some small manner, you may find them worthy of your harvest of grace.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
All praise to you, God of the Golden Leaf, for you have honored us with life itself! The gleanings from the field bespeak the abundance we have been given – far more than we could ever ask or imagine! You know our every need and hasten to provide what is lacking in our lives. And because of your outpouring, we are reminded of our own poverty, knowing that every gift comes from your generous heart. Even in our most unsettling days, you come with your blessed presence, strewing gifts upon our path. Hear us now as we whisper our gratitude for these particular mercies you have brought to fruition in our individual lives: . . . . . . . . . . As long as we have breath, may we sing our praise to our Life-giving Friend.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Compassionate One, too frequently we forget that you have gathered us together as one human family. And though we are spread far and wide across the planet, you long for us to work for the good of all our brothers and sisters. We may not know each by name, but their eyes of want follow us at every turn. Empty hands reach out to us for food; shrunken bodies tell the story of deprivation and disease; orphans search for parents amid the debris of war; drug-dazed victims stagger along our streets, bereft of hope. We pray for these in this hour, Lord; yet know that thousands already are working at your behest to alleviate the immeasurable pain in our world. Upon these selfless ones, whose names we do not know, may your blessings rest.
Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
It is the old prophet Isaiah who reminds us that the bruised reed you will not break, but will strengthen and sustain. We have experienced your strength indeed, O Lord, in our own times of trial. And as you have upheld us, we count you as our constant counsel, who hears our cries, who knows our angst, and who answers us through the silent movement of the Spirit. Move among us, Lord, and especially among your people of Church Street who offer these heartfelt prayers:
- Family thankful for prayers: husband’s surgery at Vanderbilt successful
- Prayers appreciated: daughter critically ill with Covid is showing improvement – please continue healing prayers
- Praises for a safe & lengthy visit with old friends in Michigan
- Gratitude for brave hospital & medical personnel
- Thanksgiving for a brother’s engagement
- One gives thanks that surgery will not be required for an injury
- Daughter offers gratitude for her father’s peaceful death
- Family appreciates messages of comfort during a bereavement
- Offering thanks for our church’s music program
- Praises for the miracle of healing of friend with Covid
- Please continued prayers for loved ones with Covid
- Dear friend awaiting aortic valve replacement
- Healing of two members suffering from shingles
- Prayers for friend: awaiting tests for return of cancer
- Cherished husband in hospice, prayers for comfort & blessing
- Uncle in chemo treatment for pancreatic cancer
- Safety for a family traveling this week
- Prayers for a Sunday School Class holding together during Covid
- Prayers for a procedure to relieve a member’s intense pain
- Member undergoing tests this week for possible stroke
- Two families whose loved ones have died of Covid
- Increased strength for paralyzed grandson
- Cousin with lung distress, Covid complications
Bind us together, we pray, for we are your children at every season, and grant peace to those who are closest to our hearts. May your grace and generosity shine in our deeds, that others may marvel at the God we serve. And may your words of kindness and forgiveness echo in our own voices, always pointing to love eternal, as realized in the life of our Savior, 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.
