For this week’s Sunday Prayer, Tonia shares a thanksgiving prayer for our Service Members.

A Thanksgiving Prayer for our Service Members

by Tonia Gutting

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies

For the love which from our birth

over and around us lies

Lord of all to thee we raise

this our hymn of grateful praise*

Oh, yes Lord! 

For burgundy berries and golden squash and corn the color of the sun it came from,

For the smells of abundance in roasting turkey and bubbling pie,

For laughter and hugs and even shared tears,

For all the extravagant, outrageous bounty of beauty that is impractical, unnecessary, for no reason other than to drown us in love–

For all these things, we thank you.

Because your love does this, we praise you.

And because of this overflowing love that covers every detail,

We can come to you with every confidence that you will help us with every heartache.

For those Deployed

Lord, we pray for our deployed who cannot be with us now

For those surrounded by metal, camo, sand

may they find the beauty that you have sent

and may they be your instruments in bringing beautiful peace.

May their hearts be surrounded with your presence

and please keep their bodies safe.

May they see you at work and be overwhelmed with life-changing gratitude.

We pray for safety.

We pray for focus.

We pray for rest.

We ask you, Father, for success

and a quick return home.

God Be With Our Service Members

And God please be with our service members and veterans at home. May their hearts swell with gratitude in this time and may the spirits of despair and depression and suicide be squelched. May we not miss any opportunity to reach out to them. 

Because your love around us lies, may our grateful hymn of praise grow loud and strong and overwhelm the ugly evil of this world, Lord! 

Amen.

*For The Beauty of the Earth hymn by Conrad Kocher

If you would like the Planting Roots Prayer team to pray for or with you please visit our Prayer Request page.