Amber Congregational Church
Loving relationships that are committed to God, accountable to each other, involved in Christ’s transforming work in our world.
Praying the Psalms for One Another
Using the pamphlet "Praying the Psalms Daily" and combining it with our "2022 Amber Church Prayer Reminder" which lists all the members of the church family, we encourage you to pray for each other every day. Below is the list of daily Psalms and the office or mission and the individual for each day. Perhaps after praying for the person of the day you could call, text or email them and let them know you prayed for them.
October
1 Psalm 89:38-52 Minister – Jeff and Deb Southard
2 Psalm 90:1-17 Elders – Joelle Howlett – Danielle Mudge
3 Psalm 91:1-16 Trustees – Deb Eibert – Jordan Sanford
4 Psalm 92:1-15 Clerk – Nancy Simmons – Cathy Smith
5 Psalm 93:1-5 Treasurer – Eric and Christine Robinson
6 Psalm 94:1-23 Financial Secretary – Margaret Isensee
7 Psalm 95:1-11 Ministerial Relations Chair – Audrey White
8 Psalm 96:1-13 Worship Director – Tom and Noreen Schmidt
9 Psalm 97:1-12 Worship Services – Dorothy Herold
10 Psalm 98:1-9 Sunday School – Jen Drummund
11 Psalm 99:1-9 Bible Studies – Donna Sundwall – Kris Volles
12 Psalm 100:1-5 Youth Group – Gary Sanford
13 Psalm 101:1-8 Christian Education Director – Dawn McDonough
14 Psalm 102:1-28 Men’s Club – Roxanne Pikarsky
15 Psalm 103:1-22 Women’s Fellowship – Nancy Frost
16 Psalm 104:1-35 Supper Club – Deb O’Brien – Alyse Bradley
17 Psalm 105:1-11 Outreach Director – Barbara Webster
18 Psalm 105:12-36 CCCC – Connie Carlton
19 Psalm 105:37-45 CNY Congregational Churches – Connie Amidon
20 Psalm 106:1-12 Neighboring Churches – Angela Trendowski
21 Psalm 106:13-33 WMHR (Wayne Taylor) – Caitlin Henderson
22 Psalm 106:34-48 RBC Ministries – Laurie Just-Torrance
23 Psalm 107:1-9 His Mansion – Jodi Green
24 Psalm 107:10-22 Teams 4 Medical Missions (John Heater) – Cindy Casler
25 Psalm 107:23-43 New Hope (Kathy Jerman) – Doug and Lynn LaFrance
26 Psalm 108:1-13 Men’s and Women’s Conferences – Jenn Schultz
27 Psalm 109:1-31 Word of Life Brazil (Meredith Arnold) – George Schmidt
28 Psalm 110:1-7 Schools for Haiti (Carla Flesch) – Melanie Shelley
29 Psalm 111:1-10 Adult & Teen Challenge (Dave Pilch) – Peter Barnes
30 Psalm 112:1-10 The ShoreLight – Larry Wheeler
31 Psalm 113:1-9 Samaritan Committee – Jared Locke
Prayers for the Day – October 1, 2023
Psalm 89:38-52
Oh this Psalm sneaks up on us. From the opening description of God to the reaffirmation of his covenant promises to the bottom falling out of all the positives. This last section of the prayer is clearly the voice of the discouraged and the abandoned. “But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant” (89:38-39). The truth about God that is the primary message of the first 37 verses is now thrown out in the face of the present reality, a reality that finds God turning his back on his people. This is exactly what the earlier verses had said he would never do.
How many times have we felt the same thing? How many times has our faith been challenged by life’s painful experiences and the seeming absence of God? Oh we try to maintain our belief in what the Bible has taught us but sometimes it is so hard to reconcile faith and life.
Ten times in verses 37-45 our prayer accuses God of being responsible for all the negatives that we are experiencing. “You have…you have…you have…” And then the question, “How long? Will you hide yourself forever (89:46)? Are you going to just set back and watch your children be mocked and taunted? Aren’t you going to rise and keep the covenant that you made with us in the past?
Perhaps you have felt this way. Maybe you felt abandoned when you lost a loved one, or had a serious illness, or was betrayed by a friend or family member. Where is God now? It is important to realize that this prayer doesn’t stand alone in the Bible. It is a truthful statement of our reality, but it is not actually the right conclusion to draw with regard to God. Life’s difficulties are not his fault or his doing. This prayer ends with at least the statement of that recognition even if it may be the conclusion not of this Psalm but of Book III of the Psalms (Psalms 73-89). “Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen” (89:52). Can we pray that even if we don’t feel it?
Our Prayer Reminder has us praying today for your minister and for Jeff and Deb Southard.
Let’s pray together.
Lord, you know how difficult it is for us to maintain a steady balance in our faith. Our relationship with you seems to rise and fall depending upon the circumstances of our lives. Thank you for your patience with us and your faithfulness, and for understanding our fickle and clouded minds. Help us all to live above our perceptions and grow to know what true faith really is.
We pray this for us all but especially we are asking today for Jeff and Deb. Give them guidance and keep them personally close to yourself. We pray that you will meet their needs in every way as you draw them into a more personal and intimate relationship with you. Sustain them and steer their course in line with your path for them. We pray too for Rick and Lois as they move toward retirement and for whoever our next minister will be. Lead us all in this transition as we commit ourselves to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 30, 2023
Psalm 89:19-37
The middle section of this lengthy psalm is the affirmation or re-affirmation of the covenant. God is doing the speaking and he is making the promises. What the writer is doing is reminding himself of what God said he would do. The focal point of the covenant is his promise to King David. The story of that covenant is recorded in 2 Samuel 7. It was amazing to David at the time that God would make such promises. It was amazing to Ethan the Ezrahite who wrote Psalm 89, and it is still amazing to us who read it today. We are included in these promises for we are the spiritual inheritors of all the promises of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).
God’s side of the covenant is “choosing… anointing… sustaining… strengthening us” and placing upon us his “faithful love” (89:20-24). Indeed he says, “I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail” (89:28). And if we or our children prove to be unfaithful to him and “forsake his law…do not follow his statutes…and violate his decrees” (89:30-31), he will punish us. But he “will not take his love from us, nor betray his faithfulness…for he will not violate his covenant” (89:33-34). What a great God we serve. What a “Rock and Savior” (89:26) in the midst of difficulties and our own wanderings.
We are to pray today for our church newsletter, The ShoreLight, and for Mike Wheeler.
Let’s pray together.
How comforting it is, Lord, to see you as a covenant making and keeping God. Thank you for maintaining relationship with us even when we have not kept our covenant with you. Thank you for the promises of the past and the history of faithfulness that we can observe when we consider your ways.
We pray that you would use our little church newsletter to both inform but to especially encourage our church family to walk with you in the beauty of covenant relationship. We pray this especially today for Mike. Draw him closer to yourself. May he know your faithful love and be brought to a new appreciation of your covenant. And may we all thank you, Father, for being our Rock and Savior. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 29, 2023
Psalm 89:1-18
This is a rather long prayer-psalm, 52 verses in all. We have divided it into three sections taking only the first 18 verses today. It begins with an introduction of praise. “I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever” (89:1). We sing because God has made a covenant with us. What a wonderful word that is, covenant. It is a promise, a vow, between two or more parties that carries benefits and responsibilities. It is a great realization to know that God keeps his word and he maintains his covenant forever.
Verses 5-18 describe the God of the covenant. He is “faithful…above comparison…greatly feared…more awesome than all who surround him” (88:5-8). He “rules over all…is strong…he created and owns the heavens and earth” (88:9-13). He is “righteous and just…loving and faithful…he blesses those who have learned to acclaim him and walk in his light…he is our shield…the Holy One” (88:14-18). This is a God who can be trusted, and in a day when everything appears to be unstable what a rock to base our lives on.
We pray today for Syracuse Teen Challenge and Carole Ianuzi.
Let’s pray together.
It is so comforting to know, O Lord, that you are reliable, faithful and loving. Your concern for us is not merely that of a sunshine God who only seems to show up when times are good. You are with us at all times, never leaving, never forsaking us. Thank you that you are the designer of the covenant and that you put its vows upon yourself as well as upon us. You give us confidence and assurance in times of instability.
We ask today for all the residents of Teen Challenge. Help them as they make this new start in life free of drugs and alcohol. Meet the needs of all those who work to help them. We pray too for Carole. Encourage her to keep covenant, keep faith, and to keep her word to you and to others. Keep her strong and healthy in body, soul and spirit. We pray that all of us will come to increasingly know and depend on your faithfulness in the ups and downs of life. In his name we pray. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 28, 2023
Psalm 88:1-18
This is the only psalm that has no positive note expressed in it. The rest of the psalms may speak of trial and difficulty but there is at least some indication in them of hope or commitment. Psalm 88 is one negative expression after another. It also reads like so many situations when we are told that things will get worse before they get better. “My soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave” (88:3), “You have taken from me my closest friends…I am confined and cannot escape” (88:8), “You have taken my companions and loved ones from me; the darkness is my closest friend” (88:18).
All the way through this prayer God is the one who is held responsible. “You have…” is repeated several times with regard to the things that have occurred. These are described as “your rejection” (88:14), “your terrors” (88:15), “your wrath” (88:16). This is the kind of tragedy that our insurance industry calls “an act of God.”
And yet the superscription describes this as “a song…for the director of music.” How can this be sung by good Christian people? The redeeming aspect to this depressing cry is that in the midst of despair and disaster we still have someone to pray to. “O LORD, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you. May my prayer come before you; turn you ear to my cry” (88:1-2). The all capitalized “LORD” is that personal name for God. So even when we don’t understand and when we find ourselves in such an unexplainable and seemingly unending struggle we still pray. And because we can pray we can also have hope.
Our prayers today are specifically for Schools for Haiti and for Faith Stopyro.
Let’s Pray Together.
LORD, our Maker and Redeemer, our Provider and our Friend, we need you. We call out to you in our fear and our sorrow. We pray for ourselves and we pray for our neighbors. We pray for those who struggle with financial need and for those who have lost everything in the war in Ukraine and the storms and fires that have destroyed so much in our country from west to east. We pray that you will see us and them through to the end. Oh Lord, hear our prayer and deliver us.
We pray for those who minister in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, as they seek to provide resources and education to the children there. May their service bless these people in Jesus’ name. And be with Faith as well. Give her good health, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Protect her and use her to give hope to others who are anxious and afraid. Lord Jesus we offer ourselves and this prayer to you. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 27, 2023
Psalm 87:1-7
The superscription of this prayer-psalm tells us it is a song. This is a nice reminder that the worship of God is often put to music so that we can remember the messages. Tunes have a way of sticking in our minds and staying with us. How much better to have a psalm-song playing in our heads that some silly advertising jingle.
Psalm 87 is relatively short, and although we don't know what the tune was its message is simple. It is a birthday song. "This one was born in Zion...this one and that one were born in her...this one was born in Zion" (87:4,5,6). Whose birthday is it? Who is being born in Zion? It is the whole world, everyone from Egypt to Babylon, from Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia. It is not a physical birth that is being celebrated but a spiritual one. It is the birth that Jesus spoke of when he told the religious man Nicodemus "you must be born again...for unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Zion and the kingdom of God refer to the same thing.
So what does this have to do with us? The song we sing is one that announces to the world the opportunity for everyone to join in the singing and become members with those who believe. The church was never intended to be a closed community, but rather one that proclaims the message of forgiveness and welcome to all people. This is the basic gospel that we have been given to share with all those around us. In this day of anxiety our songs should be clear and loud.
Our Prayer Reminder tells us we pray today for our Meredith Arnold and for Nancy Barber.
Let’s pray together.
Father, this is a good prayer to remind ourselves of your status as our Father. You are not only our Creator but by virtue of the new birth through Jesus we have been born again and can rightly call you Father. St Paul wrote that if is now our privilege to call you “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15), and Jesus taught us to prayer, “Our Father, who art in heaven.” Thank you for this relational connection. Help us to not only cherish this relationship but also clearly tell others of its reality and the opportunity for them to share in it as well.
We pray that Meredith and Nancy will both be empowered to clearly present this message to those with whom they come in contact. Bless their ministries in Jesus’ name. Give them also a full sense of joy, the joy that surpasses fleeting happiness. Remind them of your continued love and fill their hearts with the music of this joyful life. This we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 26, 2023
Psalm 86:1-17
Our prayer-psalm today is a realistic cry in the midst of confusing and often difficult life experiences. It is a deliberate and intentional decision to praise God in the midst of those troubles. It starts with a cry for God to hear us in our need. Answer us, save us, have mercy on us for we are experiencing “the day of trouble.” That is the prayer of the first 7 verses. And then there is a change. Verses 8-13 give voice to the realization of who God is. “There is none like him…no deeds compare with his.” Because of this we ask him to “teach us your ways…and give us an undivided heart.” We determine to praise him. I say that this is a deliberate intentional decision because as the psalm ends it returns to the reality that life is still tough. We are still in need of his mercy and compassion. In other words, our situation does not change because we prayed, but wecan change and with his help we can live victoriously even in times of great difficulty.
We pray today for the LYFE Conference and for Laura Isgar.
Let’s Pray Together.
Lord, we cry out to you in our times of confusion. There are so many things that divide us in this country in a host of social, political, economic issues. We are tired of the all the fighting and are wearied with even trying to determine who is telling the truth. And the large glaring issues that make the news every day with a continually bombardment are followed in each of our lives by the closer to home personal concerns that may be different with each family. All of these things are causes for us to cry out to you in prayer.
At the same time, we are pausing today to praise you. And indeed we have much to be grateful for, much that we have received that we did nothing to earn. We acknowledge your character, your love, your glory, that no one is like you. “You alone are God.” Give to each of us a renewed awareness of your power and presence with us. “Give us undivided hearts” that focus our lives on you as our first priority.
We thank you for the women’s LYFE Conference and for all those that have attended from our church. Continue to bless and encourage the organizers so that this might continue to offer spiritual enrichment to so many. We pray also today for Laura. Please meet her physical, material and spiritual needs. We thank you for her participation in our church family. What we pray for her we pray for ourselves. May we walk with you with undivided hearts in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Prayers for the Day – September 25, 2023
Psalm 85:1-13
The repeated element in this prayer-song is the thought of God blessing the land. “You showed favor to your land, O LORD” (85:1). “Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land” (85:9). “The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest” (85:12). Land is a significant concept in the covenants that God made with his people. He promised Abraham a land (Genesis 12:1), and he repeated this promise to his descendants. And yet, it is clear from the outset that ownership of the land is not what God intended but rather that his people would be given stewardship over his land. Indeed, we are told that Abraham understood this when it is written about him that he never owned the land he lived in but believed that as an “alien and stranger…he was longing for a better country – a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:13-16).
So our psalm today prays that God would “restore us…and revive us” (85:4,6) so that we are able to have our sins forgiven and learn to live in the peace that God provides. It is then that “faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven” (85:11).
We are to pray today for New Hope Family Services and for Dave and Kristin Heath.
Let’s pray together.
Covenant God, the one who gives to us far more than we can deserve and who never breaks his promises to us, we thank you for your grace. We appreciate the gifts of home and land and all the essentials of life, for food and clothing, for health and education. Make us more aware of these gifts and more grateful for them.
We are reminded today of the ministry of New Hope and the children that they seek to save. Do provide for their needs and protect the children from the very unstable situation in our country which continues to not cherish human life. Bless their efforts in Jesus’ name. We pray too for Dave and Kristin. May they know your presence and provision as they seeks to walk with you in all areas of their lives. We commit all of these folk along with ourselves to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.