Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Praying with America



When we view the blessings with which our country has been favored, those which we now enjoy, and the means which we possess of handing them down unimpaired to our latest posterity, our attention is irresistibly drawn to the source from whence they flow.

Let us then unite in offering our most grateful acknowledgments for these blessings to the Divine Author of All Good.


James Monroe, 
5th U.S. President
Message to Congress, 1818


I am re-posting these Independence Day prayers from 2009. Click here. And I offer this prayer For our Country from the Book of Common Prayer. I'm challenged to put aside my cynicism, savor the archaic language and pray with deliberation, line by line...


Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our 
heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove 
ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will.
 Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and
 pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion;
 from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend
 our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes 
brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue 
with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust 
the authority of government, that there may be justice and 
peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we
 may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness,
 and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail;
 all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer
Prayers for National Life, page 820