A Prayer for the 4th

"Lord, we live so far from the Garden, we have forgotten the smell of its freshness and we no longer remember its peace.  Our leaders are too eager to wave the sword and too slow to offer the olive branch.  Everything around us seems so full of conflict and chaos.  The world You created and called good is afflicted with wars and injustice and suffering.  We have forgotten how to live in Your presence and we have forgotten how to live with one another.  Lord, have mercy.  Lord, forgive us.  Help us, Lord, to see a different path and give us the courage to walk it.

Lord, we ask for You to raise up leaders who are different than so many of the ones who stand in those places today.  Raise up leaders who want to serve instead of being served.  Raise up leaders who know they cannot do what needs to be done alone and then make them unafraid to ask for help from You.  Raise up leaders who know they are a cog in the wheel and not the wheel.  Raise up leaders who will work for peace, and justice, and equality for all.

Lord. we are thankful on this day to be a part of the creation You have put in place and we are thankful for the country in which we live.  We confess our nation does not have an unblemished past, nor does it have a perfect present,  but it is where You have put us.  It is our home and we pray for its protection, its future, and that it would live according to the potential it has to be an advocate for what is good for all who live on this earth, even our enemies.  Forgive us, Lord, for those things we have done to disappoint.  Have mercy upon us for not doing better.  Guide us, Lord, that we might be the people You envisioned when You called us into being.  In the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit we pray.  Amen."