Prayers for our Troops

Some of you may know this; others may not. I have been a member of a particular military website since September 2003, and within this site, there are various clubs and groups that you can join. I am a member of the Prayer and Religious Discussion group, which was started to remind the members of trackpads.com to pray for the troops, and to do so publicly. Many of the members of this site are military veterans, current military, and military families, so it's not a stretch to think that the troops are nearly always on their minds. Having something on your mind doesn't mean that you are keeping it in prayer, however, and that is the primary purpose of this group. There is a thread on our sub-forum that is exclusively for prayers for the troops. I do my best to post there regularly, but anyone who isn't a member of that group on that website doesn't have access to the thread. Since I don't have permission to use the prayers of others, I am re-posting some of the prayers I have placed on that thread, here. Please feel free to use them or elements of them or inspiration from them as a guide for your own prayers on behalf of the warriors that ensure that we have the option to live as we choose.

Pray for, and support, our soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and coasties.

Much love.
L~


Dear Father,

Thank You for all the blessings that You give us. We know that every good and perfect comes from You alone. Thank you for the men and women who protect us. Please bless them, protect them, guide them, cheer them, and heal them. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. Make us ever mindful of them.

In Your Holy Son's Name we pray,
~Amen~

Our Heavenly Father,

Thank You so much for the protection that You've given us over the weekend. Thank You for acting on our behalf. Thank You for Your loving care, even when we don't deserve it. Please act on the behalf of our men and women who stand in the way of danger to protect us. Please guide them. Please shield them from spiritual attacks, as well as physical and mental. Please strengthen and hearten them, today. Please place Your hands on them and increase them in the way that only You can.

Forgive us for our impurities, in motive, word, thought, and deed. Please heal us and heal our land. Please help us to not repeat the mistakes of history. Draw us closer to you, as individuals and as a people. Return us to You. Put out Your call on our lives and hearts, and send a vibration through our souls. Help us to return to You. Weaken us, that Your strength may be made manifest in our weakness. Decrease us, that You may increase. Make us nothing, that You may be seen as our Everything, our All. Take from us our most precious possessions so that we may be loosed from our dependence on anything or anyone but You. Save us, Lord. That's all we need. Put the desire in our hearts, as a people, to have nothing but You. Lead us to You, because we can't make it on our own.

Thank You for Your attention to us. Thank You for Your patience. Thank You for not reacting to our unbelief and unfaithfulness the way a human would. Thank You for remembering that we are dust.

It's in the Name of Your holy Son we pray all these things.
~Amen~

Our Heavenly Father,

Thank You so much for the willingness with which our men and women in (and out of) uniform sacrifice themselves. Thank You for their decisions that have brought them to this place of service. Help them to know that their nation supports, loves, and admires them. Help them to draw strength from the value we place on them. Thank You for them and their place in our hearts and minds. Please protect and keep them this day.

We ask that Your Hand of grace and mercy be put on those who have suffered or are suffering from battlefield and combat-related injuries. Please step into their lives and hearts and heal them. You alone can heal the hurts that go deeper than flesh, bone, and blood.

Please touch our warriors who have been scarred mentally and psychiatrically. Please heal these mental wounds that so affect the way in which they live and the lives they choose. Protect their families, friends, and loved ones from the wounds that overflow into others' lives.

Please step into the lives of the men and women who choose to rebel against You, knowingly or unwittingly. Please go after them and do not let them rest until they desire you with every breath in their bodies. Pursue them and let them know that they are being hunted by a Holy God, and return them to You.

We ask your protection over our protectors. Please place them in the forefronts of our minds and cause us to always be in prayer and supplication on their behalf. Bless and encourage them and give us opportunities to support and love them.

Thank You for Your unending grace that envelops us through it all.

In the name of Your precious Son, our Savior, we pray.
~Amen~

Dear Father,

Please act today in the lives of our troops. Move their hearts and minds ever closer to you. Protect them from those who would do them evil. Shield their minds and thoughts from unhealthy influences. Give them strength of spirit and the ability and drive to move forward. Give them peace in their hearts, and let them know how very much they are loved.

Keep them in our thoughts and prayers in each moment and bless them.

In Your Holy Name we pray.
~amen~

Dear Father,

Thank You for the men and women who serve. Thank You for the blessing that they are to us. Thank You for their protection, devotion, and sacrifice. Thank You for their training and their willingness to put it to use on our behalf. Thank You for them. Please help us to be a blessing to them.

Lord, You know the needs of each one of these individuals who keep us safe and secure, and You alone know how to meet each need. At this moment, You know the needs that are pressing on my mind, and You know the soldiers and their families. You know their hearts, and You know their paths and their futures. For all three of these young men, I pray healing. For all three, I ask that You reconcile them to You. Please draw them inextricably closer to You each day. Pursue them with Your mercy and grace. Touch their lives and hearts and renew their minds. Remove the influences that keep them away from You and protect them from the attacks leveled at them. Only You can act on their behalves. Only You can guide them home. Only You can reach so deeply inside of them to heal their scars. Those around them have lived so much pain already. Please protect the ones that love them from destructive behavior patterns. Please heal their pain. Protect the children from the habits of their parents and extended families. Heal these homes. Reconcile them to You. Lord, in Your mercy, hear our prayer.

Sometimes it seems like there are no answers. Sometimes it seems like there's no way to right the wrongs. Sometimes it seems like even the best solutions are not enough. In these times, we ask Your guidance. We plead for Your grace. We NEED You to make the paths straight before us. We, Your people, ask on behalf of those we love, when they are too far gone to ask for themselves. Please honor our prayers and the spirit in which they are offered. Please make our motives pure. Please help us to see Your provision and Your hand at work. We know You are working, but we don't see from Your perspective. Sometimes we're just too small to see the big picture. Help us to trust You and allow You to make all things beautiful in Your time. Perfect Your work in us. Help us to not grow impatient when we don't see what we think we should. Help us, Lord, for we are weak. Be exalted in and through our weaknesses.

Lord, we want so badly to be a blessing to others. We want to be effective. We want to be Your ambassadors to the world, but sometimes it all seems to be so much more than what we can do. Please help us to do what You've called us to do and not get sidetracked by the enormity of need. Protect us from complacency and from being overwhelmed. Give us eyes so we may see and ears so we may hear. Guide us and give us Your Spirit and Will. You are the God of miracles. Magnify our efforts and our prayers to the point that they can meet the ever-growing needs around us. Help us to be worthy of Your name.

Please bless our warriors, today. Please protect them. Please meet their needs. Please guide them into Your will and make them walk in Your way.

We ask all these things, through Your mercy, in the name of your Holy Son.
~Amen~

Father, please hold the men and women in our Armed Forces and law enforcement in the palm of your hand. Please protect them, keep them, guide them, and touch them. Please draw them closer to you, with each task they are asked to perform. Draw them ever nearer to you, and bless their work for all that they sacrifice for others. Encourage them and remind them of the love we have for them. Thank you for them. Help us to remember them and pray for them with every breath.

In Jesus' Name,
~Amen~