Posted on 11/27/2004 2:21:03 PM PST by TEXOKIE
Here's wishing all Prayer Warriors and our beloved troops and all standing with them a belated yet very sincere Happy Thanksgiving!
I know I'm echoing many when I say we have so very much to be thankful for. High on my list are our magnificent countrymen who stood in lines throughout the nation and voted for the more difficult and rewarding path of Liberation and Morality. High on my list are the precious young men and women who have "placed themselves between their loved homes and the war's desolation" by serving in our armed forces and in our intelligence services and in the contract personnel capacities. High on my list are our allies from many nations who stand with us. High on my list are the Swift Boat Vets and all our veterans who have given their all for this nation in times past. Among them are so many of our own FReeper vets. You know who you are. Thanks. Highest on my list is the Heavenly Father we all share, for He heard our prayers and yearning thoughts in recent days, and He let His finger write in a way that continues our solid opportunities to work with Him to bring about more liberation, security, and freedom in this nation and world.
There are many challenges ahead. The amazing thing about success, is that it surely brings more to us to overcome. We have won a great Victory, but in order to seal that Victory, we must remain vigilant. The work has only begun. It is heartening, however, to know that there are so very many in this nation of like mind, and that we are no longer fully held sway by the Worm-Tongue lispings of the Main Stream Media.
The focus of this thread is all about supporting our troops and those who stand with them at home and abroad spiritually. We have stood together since the inception of the Iraqi invasion. We come together to place before our community the names of those serving, for whom we want prayers. We scan news articles and like to share them as our Prayer Warrior Field trips. Sometimes they are very serious, and sometimes they are funny, but by God's grace, they are always uplifting or a trumpet call for us to roll up our sleeves to work in our own prayer closets.
This particular thread starts during the Holiest of the seasons on the Judeo/Christian calendar. I invite and encourage all to take pauses during the hustle and bustle of shopping and parties and the great busy-ness of the season. Let those pauses, whether you are stuck in traffic, or waiting in line to pay for some holiday gifts, be dedicated to all our troops who are making the joyful madness of the season possible. While many of the prayers seen on this thread are of a decidedly Christian nature, we do state that we have great respect and reverance for our brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith and are welcome to post their devotions for our troops here if they so desire.
Many many deep felt thanks to all our prayer warriors everywhere, and may your vigil for our troops during this holiday season and on into the New Year of 2005 be very blessed.
As always, special thanks go to amom, who is our prayer list Keeper. The updated list can be found below. If you have corrections or wish to be placed on or off our ping list contact either TEXOKIE or amom. The ping list tends to be relatively low volume because of our understanding that the real heavy lifting is done in our own individual prayer closets and other worship activities. We use this thread as a place to gather and to communicate and support one another as we pursue our like-minded goals to hold vigil for our troops and those who stand with them, including their families.
We are grateful to God that for those who have been injured or taken back Home, He has dispatched angels to their care.
Dear Lord,
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me remember
Somewhere out there
A man died for me today
--As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?"
Taken from the book, "A Man Called Intrepid" by William Stevenson about William Stephenson, the head of British intelligence services prior to and during WWII. He wrote this at the very beginnings of the Battle of Britain and shared it with Eleanor Roosevelt.
STAR SPANGELED BANNER
Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
FRANCES SCOTT KEY
AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AMERICA, WE LOVE YOU!
AND OUR LOVE IS GREAT ENOUGH TO HOLD YOU ETERNALLY VICTORIOUS IN THE LIGHT!
Holly's husband, SFC Charles B. May, was deployed 25 January 2005 to Iraq for one year. I ask that we add him to our prayers, that we ask others to lift him in prayer too, and that we add his name to the prayer lists of the churches we attend.
In my reply to her I noted that I am adding her and her son Logan to our prayer list too. We all know how much that means, and we know the conditions our troops are facing in Iraq.
Thanks for letting me share Holly's request!
Good to see you too, potlatch! I'm sure everyone understands...the work goes on with the Prayer Warriors whether we are able to be online or not. It's wonderful when we can get together here, but the work goes on despite that. I truly think that all our prayers over the past couple years shall soon be bearing good fruit. What a tremendous day Sunday will be with the Iraqi election, by God's grace and the vigilance of our troops, allies and the new Iraqi security forces!
We are more than pleased and honored to add SFC Charles B. May and his wife Holly to our prayer list, HiJinx!
MERCIFUL FATHER IN HEAVEN,
We place before you not only the name, but the very life of SFC Charles B May, and Holly, his wife, who is holding vigil for him.
Father, grant Charles the gifts of courage, your protection, wisdom, discipline, health, an expansion as a witness for others the love he has of service, as well as your abundant mercy in all things. Let the fires of freedom waft before him as a harbinger of the liberation to come whenever he encounters Iraqi people. Wrap him in one of our prayer blankets woven of all the aformentioned qualities of your heart and our prayers. Assign a team of angels to him to protect and guide him while he is in harm's way.
We ask that you will surround Holly with comfort, courage, wisdom, and all the similar qualities we asked for Charles, but in measures which will equip her in her role of vigil holder. Increase the faith and closeness to your heart of this pair who are serving our nation so generously. Let each of them reach out to you and be able to tangibly feel and discern your divine Presence in their world. Let that which we have prayed for Charles and Holly also be granted to all who are in harm's way this day along with all those who are joined with them in the spiritual aspects of this fight.
We are grateful, Father for this couple and the many thousands like them who have interrupted their lives to serve not only our nation, but your own Purposes which we believe to be the furtherance of Freedom on this planet and the protection of this nation which is its cradle. Thank you for sending us such valiant souls who are willing to lay their lives down for their brothers. Help us each to do our part to support and cherish them, not only during these immediate difficult days, but also in days and years to come when some of these may yet be paying and the rest of us have gone on with our lives. Keep us mindful of the respect and debt we owe these, our very greatest treasure.
Let all be done only according to your magnificent and perfect Will.
Amen
Our Prayer for the Troops and Their Families
Heavenly Father
We thank you that we live in a country where we are free to choose.
We also thank you that there are those who would choose to leave their families behind and give their lives to fight for freedom.
We ask that you keep them in your care, give them strength and lift them up as on wings of an eagle, and bring them safely home.
For those who are wounded in battle, we ask for strength and wisdom to carry on.
For those who are missing or imprisoned, we ask for mercy, strength and courage, until their safe return to their families.
For those who pay the ultimate sacrifice with their lives,
We ask that you comfort the families and friends in their time of sorrow.
We also ask that you keep watch over the families here at home, give them strength and courage while they pray for their loved ones safe return.
Amen
This prayer is for all those military members, and their families, who are serving, those who have served and to those who will answer the call to serve in the future.
Jimm Mooney 01/17/2005
Blue Stars For A Safe Return
http://www.bluestarsforsafereturn.com
Praying for thier safe return and the families who await them. May God Bless them each and everyone.
Thank you for the link to www.bluestarsforasafereturn.com and for leading us in prayer for our troops, SafeReturn.
PRAYER REQUEST!!
Truthandlogic has requested that our Prayer Warriors put Marine (22) from OR, Bret Taylor and his folks Mike & Karen & brother Michael on our prayer list.
We are honored and pleased to do so, T&L.
For those who may have missed it, because I somehow neglected to put out a general ping on it, please read up in post 83 for a response prayer for the request submitted by HiJinx for Charles May and wife Holly.
Beloved Father in Heaven,
Today is certainly the day the Lord has made! You have taken the sacrifices of our noble young men and women and have wrought good things. The joy of liberation and the opportunity to have a voice in the affairs of their country by the Iraqis recently have inspired all of us. Part of that inspiration is the knowledge that their freedom is not free, but worth the price. Our young men and women have afforded this miracle through their blood and your own intervention and moving finger.
We place before you another marine and those who hold vigil for him. We ask the you will wrap in a swaddling blanket of your light and love and our prayers Bret Taylor and his family and all who hold vigil for him. LEt this blanket be composed of all the blessings and support that he will need at any moment. Let him be granted the gifts of strength, protection, courage, wisdom, love, honor, strength in service, healing, and mercy. Let there be a team of angels with him at all times. Help him to fulfill his vows of service in accordance to his own highest standards.
Surround Mike & Karen & brother Michael and all his friends left at home with abundant faith, and your constant Presence with them during the worrisome times. Help them to have all the strength and courage they require in order to fulfill their vigil for him.
Father, we continue to thank you for blessing this nation with such heroes. They are our greatest treasure and we pledge in our own vigil for them that we do not nor shall we ever take their sacrifice for granted. It is the most precious gift imaginable. Our Lord has told us that there is no greater gift than that a man should lay his life down for his friend. Our young men and women have been doing just that for this nation for 2 centuries. And along the way of doing that, they have liberated millions. This generation of troops have followed in those footsteps and we see the joy of the Afghanis and the Iraqis standing in line on their election days. We see the Iraqis waving their inked fingers as a mark of pride and defiance. For all of this we give you the glory and the praise and thanksgiving for sending us these magnificent young men and women who are your instruments of liberation.
Father, we ask that you will seal these victories. Do not let that which has been bought with blood be frittered away by those who have not paid nor honor that price. Grant our people the Vision and the steadfastness to stand by that Vision and stand by those who are our leaders who are the standard-bearers for that Vision. Let our leaders have more than a passing glimpse of that Vision. Let those who do not see be minimized and that their actions have not the power to dissuade our republic from walking in the Way in which we must go.
Father, we ask that you will take our prayers and submit them to the fires of your love and perfect Will. Let all be done according to only your own Will and timing. As it pleases you, bring all our young heroes home to their families. Let those of us holding vigil hear your voice of instruction so we may be with our heroes at a spiritual level at all times. Let our prayers, by your Grace, be a lever for the bringing about of the protection of these heroes and for bringing them home safely. We trust you and love you and glorify your Name in all the world.
In the Name of the One Sent, our Lord and Savior,
Amen
I am praying and agreeing with you TEXOKIE.
Dub
THanks for your prayers for our fighting men and women, Dub.
THanks for your prayers for our fighting men and women, Dub.
Oops...sorry for the double post...dont know how that happened.
Heavenly Father,
We ask you to protect and guide our soldiers and especially hold Charles and Holly May in your loving care. Amen
Proud and honored to be part of the prayer vigil thread. God has provided the words, I am but a messenger.
Also, prayer request for the families of our recently fallen soldier from La Grande SPC Mark Warren.
May God comfort the family and freinds in their time of sorrow.
Amen, Peach.
Joining you in prayers for the recently fallen SPC Mark Warren and all who have also given their lives.
PRAYER WARRIOR FIELD TRIP!!
Some of our troops from Louisiana held a Mardi Gras parade in Iraq! Put on your hiking boots, feathers, beads, and masks and go here!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1337275/posts
*sigh* One more time with the ping list!!
PRAYER WARRIOR FIELD TRIP!!
Some of our troops from Louisiana held a Mardi Gras parade in Iraq! Put on your hiking boots, feathers, beads, and masks and go here!!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1337275/posts
Hey, Texokie, how are you??
Nice to see you on line.
Prayer bump!!
I join in prayer for all our heroes and their loved ones and for the Iraqi people and others who long to be free.
So glad to see you back beautiful.We so need this thread and here is a prayer bump.
Amen and prayer bttt.
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