Memorial Day Prayer

Father, we thank you for the freedom you have given to us, and for the price that was paid by Christ so that we could live free. We remember today. The cost of it all. The great sacrifice for freedom.

We thank you for the brave men and women who have fought, and continue to fight, so courageously for our nation. We ask for your covering and blessing over them and their families. We pray that you would be gracious and encircle them with your peace. We pray for your great favor and goodness to be evident in their lives.

O Lord, we weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. Comfort these moms and dads, children and spouses who have lost loved ones during their military service as only You can. You have collected all their tears in a bottle. Help them feel Your strong presence, see Your tender hand all around them and hear Your voice directing them in these dark circumstances. Draw them daily to Your Word to process their pain and grieve with hope. Spur the body of Christ around them to be Your hands and feet and to meet their practical needs.

Thank you, Lord, that You are the defender of widows and father to the fatherless.  Bind up their wounds and heal their broken hearts. You are good and You do good and we pray that even in their pain they will see Your goodness sustaining them through pain. Restore to them the joy of your salvation and sing over them a new song. Amen.

Adapted from prayers by Debbie McDaniel and Lisa Apello