A prayer for our country on this Independence Day

Today we will proudly wear our red, white and blue. We will fire up grills, gas up boats, pack up picnic baskets, line parade routes and shoot off fireworks. Today, we will celebrate the birth of this great nation; our land of the free; our home of the brave.

Today is the 4th of July and this day symbolizes all that is good, right, and beautiful about our America. Today we sing of the purple mountain majesties and the amber waves of grain that make up our land. And today, we give thanks that we are allowed to call it home.
But. Even as we prepare for these celebrations, we can’t help but hear the news and know the truth. All is not well in our great country. And so as we gather with friends and family at picnics and lakesides; at tables and campsites could we pause for just a moment and pray for our America?

For the Bible even instructs the Jewish captives to pray for their city of captivity: “Pray for the peace of the city where I [The Lord] have sent you into exile; for when it prospers you also will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7). How much more are we called to pray for our cities of freedom?

Oh  Lord, hear our prayer …

Father,
On this day as the world watches us celebrate freedom,  may we the people pause and take that in for just for a minute. Help us, Lord, to be truly grateful for this great nation and to remember the hands and the hearts of those who have fought and who continue to fight to build her and to protect her.

And Lord, help us remember your heart and your hands, too. Hands that formed the heavens and the earth. And us. Hands that strengthen, hold and bear the scars of our sins right on their palms.

And oh Lord, could we learn not to trust so much in the people who hold the power, but come to trust in the power of the One who holds the people?

On this Independence Day, God, help us remember that our strength is not found in being the loudest voice. Remind us to listen; first to you and then to each other. Quiet the noise that keeps us from hearing your voice.

The Bible tells us this story of Elijah, an Old Testament prophet who fled for his life because he was the last Godly man left. He was anxious for many things as the future loomed ominously out in front of him.

But Lord, you sent him to the edge of the mountain and told him to listen.

There was earthquake, wind, storm, and fire on that mountain as Elijah stood overwhelmed and unsure. But the Bible is quick to tell us that The Lord was not in those things. And then this. “After the fire came a gentle whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and he went out and stood at the mouth of the cave” (1 Kings 19:12-13).

The word of the Lord; the gentle whisper of the most powerful. The Creator communing with the created. Power is given to those who know when to listen.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me” (John 10:27). Help us to push through all that distracts and shouts so that we can come to the edges of ourselves and hear our Creator whisper over us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you in with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt” (Jeremiah 31:3-4).

And then, give us the strength to turn to our neighbor, our neighbor who might be for something we are against, who might rejoice over something we protest, or march when we cheer, but who is still our neighbor, created in the image of you, Lord. And help us share that love.

Remind us on this Independence Day that you and you alone hold the ultimate power of heaven and earth in your hands.

And yet, you whisper.

You whisper love, hope, joy, and peace to those who humble themselves and bow to hear your voice. May we the people become ones who use our freedom well; ones who learn how to love you and love our neighbors. And ones who work for the good of all in this country and around the world.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers and teach us how to be your people. Teach us how to let freedom ring out as loudly and shine as brightly as the fireworks that will fill the skies of America tonight.
And teach us how to be your hands and your feet in this land you have given us. May we never get over being grateful for the way you love us. And may God bless us all, every one.

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and turn and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Amen!