May 19, 2019

Praying with verses from Isaiah 12 for our deploying warriors this week:

Lord,

When our warriors turn to face the battle,

like You turned to face the cross,

may they feel Your presence.

When they sacrifice their time, their comfort, their desires--

a small glimpse of Your example--

give them the courage needed.

For You Lord are the source of all strength to carry burdens

the source of all love that makes us brave enough to sacrifice

the source of all hope of a greater good.

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and defense;

He has become my salvation." 

Thank You Lord! Thank You for great strategies, great equipment, great training.

But all of that is nothing compared to having You as our strength and defense.

We can do nothing without You.

"With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

In that day you will say: 'Give praise to the Lord, proclaim His name;

make known among the nations what He has done,

and proclaim that His name is exalted."

For those who are deployed or deploying, Lord may they turn their eyes to You.

May fear turn to joy in anticipating seeing You work.

May the hard times bring an intimacy with You like never before.

And when those stories of being saved come, may we praise You as ruler of circumstances and battles.

"Sing to the Lord, for He has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,

for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

With this confidence in You our leader, we pray for our warriors. May their missions be right and successful. Please be with their loved ones and be the grace between them as they say goodbyes.

We pray for those who have lost their warriors. Lord hold them close.

And we pray for those who continue to fight personal battles. May suicide never be an option. May our veterans be surrounded with care.

Thank You Lord for all the victories already given. We will follow You.

May 5, 2019

Lord, we were not made for this.
We were not made for separation
for fear
for war.
We have fallen so far in this world.

Yet You still reign in our brokenness
You still comfort in our loneliness
You still triumph in our tragedies

You alone can turn mourning into dancing
You alone can make our hardest times into our best times
You alone can redeem the time

Thank You Lord!
We turn our eyes to You
We pin all of our hopes on You
You are the One who commands time
You are the One who can delay planes or speed ships
You are the One who can send storms or clear skies
You are the Almighty.

And so we pray confidently for our deploying warriors.
We pray for all who love them.
May the time of separation be a time of leaning--hard--into--You.
May the quiet nights be a time to pray as never before.
May the struggles with dishwashers and employers and sassy, hurting kids be a time to grow our faith in You.
May the helplessness be a place where we can fully know Your control.
Redeem this time Lord. Make it worth it as only You can do.

We pray for our vulnerable warriors Lord. Give them the emotional courage they need, and surround them with Your people. May suicide be thwarted in all of our ranks.

No matter where You have placed us today Lord, may we grow in our faith and shine our lights.