Memorial Day

I want to share a composition of prayer with y’all this day. It comes from an interview posted in the American Family Association Journal (afajournal.org) July/August 2014 issue, “A prayer for all seasons” by Ed Vitagliano.

The American Prayer by Lt. Col Courtney L.D. Rogers (retired), Tennessee Air National Guard ...Dear Lord, We are here today to praise and glorify Your name. We thank You for the blessings You have given us, for the privilege of living in a nation that is still free to worship You in the open. We thank You for our beloved brothers and sisters in arms, who have sacrificed their lives in answer to this nation’s call, for the defense of our freedom. Lord we pray for those that are serving in harm’s way even now, all over the world. We pray You give them courage when they know fear, strength when they can go no further, clarity of vision and thought when they are enveloped by the fog of war, and comfort during those darkest times, the quiet pauses between the storms. We pray that their sacrifices are not in vain, lost to a godless and apathetic nation, for it has been declared to the world, by our own leadership, that we are no longer a Christian nation. Lord, we confess, that through the decades of our lives, we have watched as our nation was being pulled further and further away from You, and we remained silent. We didn’t want to be labeled as closed-minded. We didn’t want to be called old-fashioned. So today, Lord, we also pray for ourselves, for each other, and for all Christians here in these United States. We pray that we all find the courage, commitment and resolve to offer our time, our resources, our leadership and our lives, to answer Your call: “Restore Me. Restore Me in your hearts. Restore Me in your homes. Restore Me in your schools and at work. Restore Me in your city halls and state capitols. Restore Me in your Supreme Court. Restore Me in the Halls of Congress, the Senate and the House. Restore Me in the White House itself.” Lord, we know that without You as our guide and counselor, Our nation will never be as strong as it once was, Our people will never be as free as they once were. So as was told to King Solomon, Lord we humble ourselves before You and ask for Your intervention to help heal this nation, and to protect the Constitution that we are bound to defend. For we also know that none of the blood shed by our military brethren, past, present or future, could ever buy the freedom purchased by the blood of Your Son, Jesus Christ. And we thank You, Lord, for Your words of encouragement, left to us through the Apostle Paul. “If God is for us, then who can be against us?” If God is for us, then we will prevail. If God is for us, then we need only act according to Your will. And, Lord, today we understand that sometimes the best way to follow You is to stand up and lead. We will be silent no more. Amen.

[John 15:9-17] “...Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” On Sunday’s, Christian’s gather to remember the One who taught us to sacrifice for others. Jesus lived a life of service, spending his time on earth doing good (Acts 10:34-38), teaching truth (John 8:31-32), and ultimately giving his perfect life as an atonement for our sins (John 10:17-19). There are many memorials man observes throughout his days, but there is none so important as the one commanded by God: the Lord’s Supper (Matthew 6:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-32). Every first day of the week is Memorial Day for Christian’s as we remember the sacrifice of life by Jesus, once for all.