Lord Jesus, in Holy Week–

we realize how un-holy our lives are.

Help us to take up our cross

and follow You on the road to Golgotha–

the place of the skull,

the place of death

where selves die.

As we realize how pathetically weak we are

we see how amazingly strong You are.

Lord Jesus,

I, my people, our warriors, our country,

we have run away from You–

“My feet were nailed for you.”

Our hands–we’ve used them in sin,

we’ve chosen not to help,

we’ve hurt people in our anger.

“My hands were pierced for you.”

We’ve turned our back on You,

we’ve chosen our own rules,

we’ve decided to believe our own lies to avoid bowing to You.

“My back was whipped to stripes for you.”

Lord, we can hardly stay focused for more than 5 minutes on You;

our minds wander,

chasing after the winds of our hearts.

“My head bore a crown of thorns for you.”

We don’t love You enough Lord,

our hearts are far away,

we try to protect them in comfort.

“My heart was pierced for you.”

Thank You Jesus.

Thank You.

Thank You for loving us so much.

Help us to bear our crosses,

to love You enough to sacrifice,

to value You more than anything–

even if it hurts.

Lord, break our wills,

break our hearts,

break our pride and self-sufficiency,

whatever it takes to make us see

for You are worth everything.

We pray this for ourselves,

for our husbands,

with some fear, we pray this for our children.

You’ve given us the strongest military in the world,

but don’t let us lose our soul;

do what You must to bring our soldiers to You.

Move amongst our deployed and those at home in this time.

For those who are broken, for our veterans, we pray You will heal them.

May they find true rest and comfort in You,

not drugs, or meds, or alcohol, or relationships, or adrenaline or, or, or…

May our chaplains and chapels and our Christian warriors be joyous guiding lights, including the Chief of Chaplains’ office.

Out of a deeper understanding of Your sacrifice, grow our love for You.

Lead on, Lord–through the PCSes, the illnesses, the child raising, the career choices, the daily choices of how to live these lives You have given us–and to live them abundantly!

Amen!