November 28, 2016

O Come Emmanuel

Lord be with us, and be with our children.

For the little ones growing in the womb, we ask for health and growth. May their birthdays bring joy. O Come Emmanuel

For the babies and the tired mothers, we pray for Your rest and peace. O Come Emmanuel

For the busy toddlers with their wide-eyed curiosity, we ask for safety and patience. O Come Emmanuel

For the school kids, Lord we ask for Your help with skills and challenges. Lord be their confidence, not in their abilities but in being a child of You. May they awaken to Your presence.
O Come Emmanuel

For the teenagers, Lord, for driving and friends and tests and life passions--O Come Emmanuel! Be with them. Give them patience in the journey. Help them trust in You. Help us parents trust in You. Do not let us make happiness an idol. Help us all to be mission-oriented for You. O Come Emmanuel!

For the ones who have left the home, Lord we pray they would not forget what they have been told. Help them to find their way. O Come into their lives, Emmanuel.

And for the military child, O Come Emmanuel we pray. Be the home-base for the traveller. Lord, be the friend for the new kid. Be the identity for the one in transition. Be the protecting parent when we fail. Lord they so need You to be real in their lives. O Come Emmanuel.

Lord we thank You for these blessings. We thank You for helping us make this military family life work. We thank You for great adventures, for close ties to each other. We thank You for working in the lives of our children, in spite of our best efforts, above all our fears.

We pray for the men and women of our military, all somebody's child. Lord please keep them safe. May their hard times be the gateway to when they meet You. O Come Emmanuel.

We pray for the veterans and their personal battles they continue to fight. Lord, may the spirit of suicide be restrained. We ask for Your mighty heavenly army to wage this war. Open the eyes of our veterans to see God with them. O Come Emmanuel.

For all our Christian leaders, from the Chief of Chaplains office on down, may this season's message be loud and clear. O Come Emmanuel!

We can bring these requests because You love us enough to call Yourself Emmanuel--God with us. You desire to be with us--how astonishing is that! And as little ones long for Christmas, so we long to be with You. Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen.

November 21, 2016

Ah Lord God,
If it weren't for the resurrection, and the cross, and the birth, there would not be much thanks giving! But because of Your love
because of Your sacrifice
because of Your mercy
we give thanks. Thanks that has no end. Thanks that can never be fully expressed.

We thank You for the military wife's life, and Your special blessings on it.
Thank You for new homes and new adventures.
Thank You that we get to see so much of Your world.
Thank You for fast, dear friends.
Thank You for brave children who see with a different perspective since they have such experiences.
Thank You for memories and special times even when traditions have to be broken.
Thank You for brave men who face the war. Thank You for protection that brings most home.
Thank You for happy cheers over football games.
Thank You for tables of abundance.
Thank You for courage to face the days without our spouses sometimes.

Forgive us Lord, when we cry for more.
When we don't trust Your will in new orders.
When we think we can't do it any more.
When we grow bitter, ignoring Your mercy.

We pray for us, Lord.
Please keep our eyes turned on You.
May each new assignment be a new mission field to serve You.
Please give us strength for the day. We pray for the momma of sick toddlers. We pray for the lonely woman. We pray for those struggling to smile through chronic pain. We pray for those whose marriages are miserable.
We pray for the teachers to have patience. We pray the business woman will find a way. We pray the nurses will have endurance. We pray the female soldiers will be able to balance home and career.

Lord, as we try to keep the home running, please give us wisdom. May we live in the grace You offer.

Because of Your great mercy, we can ask these things.
Please help Americans come together. Draw us all closer to You.
May our leaders have courage and integrity, including Washington D.C., the Pentagon, the Chief of Chaplains' office.
Please keep our warriors safe. Guard their hearts. We pray against suicide. Lord, may they know Your mercy.

Thank You Lord, Thank You.
May we never lose the wonder of Your mercy--



Click here: Let's sing Mercy! with Matt Redman

I will kneel in the dust
at the foot of the cross,
where mercy paid for me.
Where the wrath I deserve,
it is gone, it has passed.
Your blood has hidden me.

Mercy, mercy,
as endless as the sea.
I'll sing Your hallelujah
for all eternity.

We will lift up the cup
and the bread we will break,
remembering Your love.
We were fallen from grace,
but You took on our shame
and nailed it to a cross.

May I never lose the wonder,
oh, the wonder of Your mercy.
May I sing Your hallelujah.
Hallelujah, Amen.

November 14, 2016

The little girl splashing in a Florida puddle

The little boy sliding down a hill in Alaska

The little boy pulling a fish up in California

The little girl throwing leaves in Maine—

Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good;

for His steadfast love endures forever!

Let the docking sailors say

His steadfast love endures forever

Let the pilots flying into the sunrise say

His steadfast love endures forever

Let the waking soldiers say

His steadfast love endures forever

Let the families at home, waiting and praying, say

His steadfast love endures forever

Out of my distress I called on the Lord

the Lord answered me and set me free.

Lord we pray for our hurting warriors. Please help them through this spiritual battle. Please stop the suicides. Please bring them to You.

We pray for the families of our fallen. God please hold them close. Please help them through the immediate arrangements.  Surround them with Your people, and may they find Your hope in the midst of their pain. Heal their hearts through the coming years.

The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?

The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

Lord please send your angel armies to protect our deployed. From the skies over Syria, to the waters in the middle east, to the mountains of Afghanistan and the front lines in Iraq, Lord please keep them safe. Guard their hearts.

We also ask that You would make clear to them the spiritual battle. May their difficult times bring them closer to You. 

It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Lord we pray for the leaders of our military. Please give them wisdom. May they be people of integrity and truth. We pray for the Chief of Chaplains office and all our Christian members. May we be the best witnesses to Your salvation.

We pray that the conflicts requiring our military will end. We pray for a way out of all the tangled webs. We pray for a way forward in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria.

The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.

Lord we pray we will be shining lights in our military communities. Orders and houses and neighbors and schools—all are in Your hand. Plant us and use us where You would have us. And help us to get there—paperwork and places bought/sold/rented and flights and driving. Lord we need You.

Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous: The right hand of the Lord does valiantly, the right hand of the Lord exalts, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

Lord thank You for salvation! We will sing of our hope in You no matter the circumstances. We will trust in You. Thank You Jesus!

I thank You that You have answered me and have  become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

Thank You Almighty God for successful missions. Thank You for safe trips. Thank You for great technology.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

Lord we pray for the mood in our ranks, for the tenor in our troops. May their be unity and hope.

The Lord is God, and He has made His light to shine upon us.

Thank You God for bringing us this far. 

You are my God, and I will give thanks to You; You are my God; I will extol You.

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever! --verses from Psalm 118

November 7, 2016

Lord, God!
This land--
grasslands dotted with cattle
prairies bursting with grain
waters teeming with fish
trees drooping with fruit
fields full of lettuce and strawberries and carrots and cabbage and on and on it goes

How You have blessed us!

Shelves of books
and pencils with paper
and rows of desks
and bright minds awakening
and time and peace to think

How You have blessed us!

gardens of flowers
halls of paintings
cameras capturing myriads of beauties
colors and textures draping children

How You have blessed us!

Irish literature
British music
German drive
Native quietness
Puerto Rican flamboyancy
all living side by side

How You have blessed us!

multiple places of worship
loosed tongues
choices in destinies
no fear
peace

How You have blessed us!

Great men
Great women
through the ages
loving all the way to bleeding for this land, these people

Grace, grace--God's grace!

Sins forgiven
hearts stirred
doors opened by sacrifice
and gospel-tellers sent out to the whole world

Grace You have given, Grace You have allowed us to share

And now we come to another crossroads
a touch stone for our history
a time to look to You.
A time to ask for Your forgiveness again.
To plead for wisdom.
To plead that You would continue to bless
for Your NameSake--
America, the leader and defender of the Christian world.
We see the gifts You have given.
And we see the responsibility. And we see our failures. And our weaknesses.
We see how much we need You.

Thy will be done!

Lord break our pride. Make us humble, for that is the only way to unite us.
Heal our land.
Forgive us of our sins, have long-suffering for us.
Heal our land.
We ask for Your wisdom and strength to govern ourselves.
Heal our land.
Show us our hurting people and how to truly help them.
Heal our land.
Give us an appetite for the truth. Give us the courage to use it. May it be shouted from the rooftops.
Heal our land.

Thank You for our public servants. We pray for their protection.
Thank You for our churches and chapels. May the words of their mouths and the actions of their hands be acceptable to You, from the Chief of Chaplains to the local Sunday School teacher.
Thank You for our military. May our leaders be following You. Please keep our warriors safe. Please keep the spirit of suicide away.

You have blessed us so
Please heal us
we trust in You!

Save us, Lord our God, and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. --Psalm 106:47

October 31, 2016

Lord, it's pretty easy to despair when looking through our eyes at the vast field of devastation surrounding us. We see failure, squandered blessings, hopelessness, growing evil, divisions, helplessness, deceptions, loneliness...the list goes on.
But You created the earth out of nothing. And as Martin Luther said, You still create out of our nothingness.
And when we see insurmountable odds, You see Your design.
And when we see lost causes--
death--
You have just begun.

Lord we pray for our soldiers.
We pray for those facing the front lines again.
We pray for those slogging through ISIS's destruction.
We pray for those in the hills of Afghanistan, discerning friend and foe.
Lord give them peace. and courage. and strength. and wisdom.
But most of all, God, may they feel closer to You than ever.
Give them eyes to see You.

We pray for our sailors in waters that have unseen boundaries.
We pray for our airmen flying through unfriendly zones.

We pray for our military members in training everywhere.  We ask for Your breath to blow. We ask for revival. We ask for stone-hard hearts to be broken. We ask for dead spirits to come alive. We pray for truth to be shouted loud and lies to be lost. We pray against the enemy's hand in our military members' lives and in their families.
May Your chapels be stirred. May Your servants be bold, all the way up to the Chief of Chaplains. May love and joy and hope overflow.
Use us to reach the sinners
may we help in saving the lost. We pray for those we love who are straying from You.

Lord please hold back the spirit of suicide
of despair
of addiction
of violence
of fear
of self-sufficiency
of jaw-set rebellion
of utter loneliness
in our warriors and our veterans. Lord unleash Your army against these demons.
We pray for the ones we know fighting these.

We ask for peace that can't be explained, joy that knows no boundaries, love for all that can overcome all. We ask for patience as we wait on You. Deepen our faith. Drown us in grace.

You are the only one who can make things good and right again. You are the only one who can change hearts. You are the only one who can bring the dead back to life!

Thank You for Your mercy
because of that, we call out to dry bones to come alive!

Click here to shout out with Lauren Daigle, "Come Alive"!

Through the eyes of men it seems
There's so much we have lost
As we look down the road
Where all the prodigals have walked
One by one
The enemy has whispered lies
And led them off as slaves

But we know that you are God
Yours is the victory
We know there is more to come
That we may not yet see
So with the faith you've given us
We'll step into the valley unafraid, yeah

As we call out to dry bones
Come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts
Come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes
Let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones, come alive

God of endless mercy
God of unrelenting love
Rescue every daughter
Bring us back the wayward son
And By your spirit breathe upon them
Show the world that you alone can save
You alone can save

As we call out to dry bones
Come alive, come alive
We call out to dead hearts
Come alive, come alive
Up out of the ashes
Let us see an army rise
We call out to dry bones come alive

So breathe, oh breath of God
Now breathe, oh breath of God
Breathe, oh breath of God
Now breathe

October 24, 2016

God of the Heavenly Armies
open our eyes, let us see Your warriors.
Too often we only see the enemy, and our wounds, and our weakness.

Help us to see Your glory! Help us to remember Your strength and power! Help us to know the battle is in the spiritual world. Lord let us hear the sound of chariots in the trees in our lives.

We pray for those on the front lines of our battles--our warriors and our chaplains. Lord may they be on Your side, fighting in Your power.

Onward Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before!
Christ the royal Master leads against the foe;
forward into battle see His banner go!

Lord may our Chaplains today spend time seeking You.
May they be encouraged in the fight.
May they dream great visions--ones that scare them in trying such big things, ones they know have to be fulfilled by You.
Lord give them the words, and the actions, to reach those You have entrusted to them.
Give them courage in standing up for what is right.
Please keep our deployed chaplains safe, and surround their families with a hedge of protection.

At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee;
On then Christian soldiers, on to victory!
Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise;
Brothers, lift your voices loud your anthems raise!

Lord may all those around our chaplains be effected by their joy, their confidence, their strength in You.
May their fight be effective against the enemy's arrows. Lord, may our chaplains and Christian warriors be able to reach out to the suicidal veterans. May they see You and hope in Your soldiers.

We pray for our soldiers on the front lines in Iraq, our sailors in the unfriendly waters, our pilots over Syria. Lord please protect them. May the afflictions bring a new knowledge of You. For all of our deployed we ask for safety. Please bless their families with peace.

Like a mighty army moves the Church of God
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided; all one body we!
One in hope and doctrine, One in charity!

Thank You Lord for our Christian soldiers, for the unity of the body You have given us. We pray for our chapels:
*May they reach hurting people for You.
*May they care for each other and be known for their love for all.
*Help them to deal with the resources, policies, persecutions.

We pray for healing for the people we love: for the brother having surgery on a brain tumor, for the young man with Krohns, for the grandmother with heart problems. We pray for our sisters who are so overwhelmed they can't breathe. We pray for the husbands who have lost their confidence and joy in their jobs.

Onward, then, ye people, join our happy throng;
Blend with ours your voices in the triumph song.
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King;
This thru countless ages men and angels sing.

And so Lord, with this great body You have provided and sustained,
send us out this week.
Make us Your witnesses.
Put us in Your army.

October 17, 2016

Lord--perfect parent--thank You for our children. What amazing things--beautiful eyes, awesome smiles, funny perspectives, great potentials. How You have blessed us! How You have blessed them.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right  well. Psalm 139:14

God we ask for healing for the sick children that only You can provide.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Isaiah 40:29

Father God, above all, may they know You. Whatever it takes, Lord, make them miserable and lost without You.
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30

Lord please guide their steps. Lead them in the way they should go. Help them to not be overwhelmed by the tasks, but to see Your power in their lives.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; and He delighteth in His way. Psalm 37:23

We ask for direction in their lives. Help them to see the closed doors as part of Your plan. Help them to find their way in serving You. Be with them through the tests and grades and applications and choices.
For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6

And may they have the courage to do Your will.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Deut 31:6

Please surround them with encouraging friends. May they reach their generation for You.
Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22

Please help them get through this culture and still be clean before You.
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 4:23

We ask that You will keep our children safe from the enemy.
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Psalm 32:7

May they be surrounded by reminders of You. May they be hunted down by You!
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Psalm 91:12

Father God may they have true joy in their day today.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:12

Lord, may they grow in You!
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen 2 Peter3:18

From the toddler struggling to obey 'no' to the young adult choosing college classes, Lord we place them on the altar before You. We especially pray for the extra hurdles the military child has-- grief compounded with the loss of friends in moves, fear as parents deploy, adjusting to change constantly.

We pray for us as parents and leaders--from the Chief of Chaplains office to our homes. May we never cause them to stumble in their walk.

We pray for safety for our deployed. For wisdom in those making decisions that place our warriors in harm's way. And we pray for our veterans who have fought the fight. Lord, be with them in the war for their soul. May they not give in to despair.

All your children look to You! Amen.

For more scriptures to pray, check out praying scriptures.com