January 30, 2017

Praying with excerpts from Psalm 18 today:

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

Without You, we can do nothing Lord. Our warriors have truly done so much through You. We thank You for saving so many. We thank You for giving victory to many missions. We thank You that You heard their voices and rescued them from certain death.

For You alone can part the heavens and come down with dark clouds under your feet. The earth trembles, the mountains shake when You are angry. You soar on the wings of the wind. You can hide behind darkness and advance the clouds in battle. Our enemies scatter because of You.

To the faithful You show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

Please forgive us, Lord, for our terrible pride. Forgive us for thinking we can do this on our own. Please forgive us for our lack of faith, our lack of purity. We have sinned greatly, and boldly. Please help repentance to sweep across this nation, and through our military.

As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord's word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him.

Lord we pray for the refugee. Please be their shelter. Give us wisdom, courage, strength to help them. You have given us an incredible responsibility with our strength in the world--help us to rightly use it.

You Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall...
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He causes me to stand on the heights.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
You make your saving help my shield and your right hand sustains me;
Your help has made me great.

Lord, we pray for our warriors:
*please give the young recruit courage to face the day
*please help the units work together and give the leaders selfless wisdom
*please surround the outposts with your angels
*please give the mechanics a keen eye and great skill to keep the machines moving
*may the many people do their part, and above and beyond their jobs. Please give them the skills they need.
*please use the chaplains. May they be about Your business, from the Chief of Chaplains office to those in basic.
*please guard the hearts of our warriors. May their suffering bring them to You.
*please meet the lonely--in the training field, those who are deployed, the veterans in the hospitals and homes across the US. Lord, please be very real to them.
*please strengthen their marriages through the refining. Give the vets' spouses insight and endurance.
*please strengthen the bodies of our warriors. Help our wounded through their recovery. Please give the doctors the knowledge, give the nurses the patience.

For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure...
The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!

January 23, 2017

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, 

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, 

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days, 

Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. 

Ah Lord,

All of our pomp and circumstance; all of our mental gymnastics to try to figure things out, all of our straining to show might--

all of this is nothing compared to You. 

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, 

Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; 

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above 

Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

Lord, when we see our failures--our inability to bring peace, to do justice, to work hard enough, to protect even our most innocent--we realize our overwhelming need for You. 

We need Your wisdom. We need Your protection. We need Your victory.

And we certainly need Your forgiveness.

We pray for our leaders. Lord, please guide them. Give them wisdom. May they do justly. May their missions be right, and may they be successful. We pray for:

our commanders

our Chaplains, and other spiritual leaders

the office of the Chief of Chaplains

General Mattis

President Trump

We pray for the safety of our deployed, and we pray for their salvation. We pray for our wounded warriors, our tired fighters, our hurting veterans. May they be overwhelmed by Your greatness. 

To all, life Thou givest, to both great and small; 

In all life Thou livest, the true life of all; 

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, 

And wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee. 

Lord, please forgive us for the lives we have taken. Forgive us, as a nation, for creating a culture of unwanted children, for abandoning mothers, for writing You out of the story. Help us to change. Help us to be about Your business of saving, creating, loving.

It is only because of Your greatness, and Your love for us, that we have any hope.
Thou reignest in glory; Thou dwellest in light; 

Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight; 

All laud we would render: O help us to see 

'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.

Click here to enjoy Steve Green singing Immortal, Invisible

January 16, 2017

From the first slap and gasp of breath to our last faltering whisper
In the deep filling
and the choking breathlessness
You are there.
And it's the same air in this bubble You have made that You came to breathe also

Lord, forgive us when we misuse this gift
Please forgive when we use this mouth to curse and scream and complain

Help us to praise
and use our anonymous praise to Your glory and for Your purpose
as we encourage our husbands
as we raise our children
as we speak truth into our communities
as we comfort our friends
as we work in the ministry You have placed us
May we praise You!

Lord we pray that Your praises will reach all the corners of the earth
the outposts where our soldiers are
the bellies of the ships
in the skies with the planes
from boot camp to the Pentagon
from the medal ceremonies
to the quiet hospital room or single apartments of our veterans
Great are You Lord and only You can bring peace to all

Let it begin with us Lord. In our insignificance, may You work. Be with us in those tough days when it's hard to breathe at all.
We pray for those PCSing
We pray for those with sick kids
We pray for the mommas who need healing
We pray for peace and wisdom in guiding our kiddos
We pray for our marriages
We pray for our spheres of influence--from Sunday School to neighbor to business woman--
May we give You praise in all this week!

Click here to sing Great Are You Lord with Casting Crowns

You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore
Every heart that is broken

Great are You, Lord

It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
To You only

You give life, You are love
You bring light to the darkness
You give hope, You restore
Every heart that is broken

Great are You, Lord

It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
We pour out our praise
It's Your breath in our lungs
So we pour out our praise
To You only
[x2]

All the earth will shout
Your praise
Our hearts will cry
These bones will sing
Great are You, Lord
[x3]

January 9, 2017

When our hearts are heavy, when the needs are many, when the words won't come, You are there, dear Lord Jesus. And You give us the words to say. And You work outside of time, knowing our needs before we do. And You give peace when there is no earthly reason for it. 

Because You are God. You can heal all. You conquer all. You love faithfully.

And so, we pray.

We pray for our leaders. We pray for our veterans. We pray for our deployed. We pray for those in training. We pray for the families who are separated from their loved ones. 

And Lord, we pray for our children by name, and for all of our military kids, using Jeremiah's words:

Before You formed __________ in the womb, You knew him/her, before s/he was born, You set him/her apart.  (1:5)

Lord, do not let __________ forsake You, the Spring of Living Water.  Do not let him/her dig his/her own pits that do not hold water.  (2:13)

Give __________ shepherds, after Your own heart, who will lead him/her with knowledge and understanding.  (3:15)

When You call __________ and declare that You will be his/her Cure, may his/her response be, “Yes, I will come to You, for You are the Lord my God.”  (3:22)

Forgive us, oh God.  We are foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear.  We have forgotten Your holiness, and no longer tremble in Your presence.  Even the waves of the sea obey Your command; though they roar, they cannot cross the boundary You have established.  Forgive us, oh God, for our stubborn and rebellious hearts that have crossed Your boundaries and turned from You.  (5:21-23)

Help __________ to listen to Your words and not reject Your law, that disaster would be averted.  (6:19)

Lord, I pray that __________ would be a man/woman who stands for You in his/her community- who uses his/her strength to protect the widow, the fatherless, the alien and the innocent.  I pray s/he would set aside worthless and deceptive words, that his/her trust would be in You and his/her worship Yours alone.  (7:5-8)

Oh that __________ would obey You- that You would be his/her God and s/he Your son/daughter- that it may go well with him/her.  Help __________ to listen and pay attention instead of following the stubborn inclinations of his/her heart that makes him/her go backward and not forward.  (7:23-24)

Lord, help __________ to be cautious with his/her friends, remembering that we are all capable of deceit.  Let him/her not live in the middle of deception, refusing to acknowledge You.  (9:5-6)

May our family boast in You- the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth.  (9:24)

No one is like You, O Lord; You are great and Your name is mighty in power.  Who should not revere You, O King of the nations?  This is Your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like You.  (10:6-7)

You are the One True God; You are the Living God, the Eternal King.  When You are angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure Your wrath.  You made the earth by Your power and founded the world by Your wisdom and stretched out the heavens by Your understanding.  You are our Portion, the Maker of all things, including __________, the son/daughter of Your inheritance.  The Lord Almighty is Your name.  (10:12,16)

Amen!

*written by a friend, used with permission