Veteran’s Day: If My People…

Lord,

We bow before You in humble thanksgiving for Your gifts of power and strength, fortitude and might! We claim the riches of Your glory and the fullness of Your grace that come through the indwelling of Your Spirit within us. We pray for our nation to remain firm and steadfast in the knowledge of Your truth and the promise of the victory that is ours through Christ, who loves us.

I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man… to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. — Ephesians 3:14-16, Ephesians 3:19

[I pray for fellow believers] that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. — Colossians 2:2-3

When we stand together as a nation united under God, willing to defend the rights that have been given to us, we will be blessed. The freedom we so enjoy comes with the responsibility — of every citizen — to defend that freedom. God can also use His people in this land to share His love and offer encouragement to neighbors. May His Spirit be our Guide as we go forward as His people and as Americans who need to guard our land.

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When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. — Matthew 6:6

Time and again, the Bible urges us to go to God in prayer and reminds us that He has promised to listen to our prayers and answer them. Since our nation’s very first days, God’s work in this country has been both invited and sustained by the prayers of His people. Throughout history the persistent, prevailing, intentional, and never- ending prayers of God’s people have made a difference in this nation, a difference that we won’t fully know this side of Heaven.

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Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever. — Psalm 136:1-3

I don’t think we could adequately thank the Lord for the work our forefathers did to establish this nation on Christian principles and with protection for the freedom to worship God. We are still blessed today to be able to worship God and to thank Him for this and many other freedoms. May we willingly and boldly defend the precious rights we enjoy, the rights to attend the church of our choice and to elect the leaders of our country.

Excerpted with permission from If My People by Jack Countryman, copyright Jack Countryman.

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Your Turn

Today in the USA, it’s Veterans Day, a day to celebrate the courage and sacrifice of our veterans. It began as Armistice Day to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I.

“To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations.” — President Wilson

After World War II, Raymond Weeks, a WW2 veteran, came up with the idea of expanding Armistice Day to become a celebration of all veterans — an annual National Veterans Day. It became law nine years later on May 26, 1954.

Today, raise Old Glory up the flagpole and pray for our veterans who have served our nation! Please join the conversation on our blog and share your thanks for the veterans in your life. We would love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily