O God, we beseech You, watch over those exposed to the horror of war, and the spiritual dangers of a soldier’s or sailor’s life.
Give them such a strong faith that no human respect may ever lead them to deny it, nor fear ever to practice it. By Your grace, O God, fortify them against the contagion of bad example, that being preserved from vice, and serving You faithfully, they may be ready to meet you face to face when they are so called: through Christ our Lord. Amen
Amen to your prayer SandRat and to the prayers of all the others - both written out on FR and prayed privately in one accord with all the rest of us.
Dear SandRat,
Thank you so much for this prayer. ALL the prayers on this thread are balm to my heart, but this one touched me deeply and personally. It is the first prayer of what may become many which speaks of protecitng the spiritual condition of our soldiers. This is needed!
Recently the Lord has been reminding me that though the troops are in His will fighting this war, and though we honor them and owe them a debt of gratitude and any help we can give them, not all are leading lives which honor Him as Lord. So often within the troop-supporter community all our troops are referred to as ‘heroes’. Yet we who pray should not be blind. There is admirable behavior by many and there also can be some character issues in others which only can be adequately addressed through faith in Him
In 2005 the Lord gave me a vision of a canopy falling from heaven and providing a tent-like covering over our troops. It kept them safer than otherwise. He spoke to my heart that this covering would come in response to their worship (in spirit and truth).
Last year when I was wrapping some CDs in red, white and blue ribbon to ship to Iraq and Afghanistan, the white ribbon kept coming loose. I felt like the Lord was showing me that purity among our troops needed to be increased (that it was missing in some).
I believe the covering He showed me from the canopy comes in response to their worship -which entails putting God in His rightful place on the throne of their lives (and putting down any idols - habits which do not honor Him). Yes, salvation is by faith, but faith when it is authentic must lead to gradually transformed living. I pray with you in one accord that our men and women serving day-by-day would be drawn to live lives of consecration to Him where they are seeking holiness.
This will bring increase of His protection on the battlefield and swifter victory by His power in the war.