Last week I came across this prayer and thought it was quite relevant to share with you.
A Prayer for Our Country
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.
I was intrigued and impressed with this prayer and its relevance in today’s world. I then learned that this prayer was written in 1892 by The Rev. George Lyman Locke (1835-1919), Rector of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Bristol, Rhode Island, for 52 years. It was written for the original version of the 1892 Book of Common Prayer for the Episcopal Church and also included in the updated 1928 and 1979 Prayer Books.
Wow! A prayer written 128 years ago is so relevant today! I would ask you to read this prayer again…….and again….and again, and listen carefully to every sentence. Each sentence is so relevant to what our country should be and has always strived to be. Yet we seem to be drifting further away from these goals every day…. I would attribute it to drifting away from this sentence – We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Are we as a country still mindful of the favor that God has shown to us? Are we still glad to do His will? We need to examine our hearts and minds and seek to return to each of these goals for our country. To do so, we must have a commitment to God, and to commit to serving our God above all else. Let us all continue to pray for our country and our leaders that they may all follow God’s will – 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.