Blessing of Veterans and Those in Military
Service
Almighty
God, you have inspired many of our best and brightest to serve our country
through their chosen branch of the military.
You have given them the strength and courage to stand up to injustice, to
defend human rights, and to protect our nation.
We gather today to ask your continued blessing on your sons and
daughters that have served or continue to serve your people in this
vocation.
We
commend to your gracious care and keeping all those men and women who serve
today in our Armed Forces, at home and abroad.
Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in
their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils that beset
them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may
be.
We pray
for the families of our servicemen and women.
Strengthen and provide for them day by day; amply reward their
sacrifices; care for their children; and let whatever they need always be near
at hand.
We lift
up to you our military veterans. Bless
them and their families abundantly; open your gracious hand to provide for
their needs; let them experience the honor and respect appropriate for their
sacrifices; and let your angels guard and protect them in all that they do.
We ask
your special grace and favor upon those whose service led to any infirmity of
body, mind or spirit. Surround them with
your light, grant them an overflowing measure of your healing grace; lead them
to the best treatments and care possible; and let them know your presence
upholding them all the days of their life.
We also
pray for those who have given their lives in service to their country; (pause); may your angels lead them into
paradise and the martyrs greet them on their way; may they be received with joy
into the new and eternal Jerusalem where there is no pain nor grief, neither
sorrow nor sighing, but where your Son is the great defender of all; who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
