July 5, 2021
Dear friends,
First, don’t forget to sign your kiddos up for VBS! Registration is online here, or you can grab a form at church.
Then, have a closer look at this prayer for our nation. We used it during worship on Sunday, and it’s worth keeping on hand:
Almighty God, You have given us this good land as our heritage. Grant that we remember Your generosity and constantly do Your will. Bless our land with honest industry, truthful education, and an honorable way of life. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil course of action. Grant that we, who came from many nations with many different languages, may become a united people. Support us in defending our liberties, and give those to whom we have entrusted the authority of government the spirit of wisdom, that there may be justice and peace in our land. When time are prosperous, may our hearts be thankful, and in troubled times do not let our trust in You fail; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever. Amen.1
This prayer is worth praying, not just on the 4th of July, but often. It is an important reminder of the gifts that God has given us, and it is most fitting to pray that God would guard and protect them. The last petition is especially valuable, as we learn to put our trust in God both in times of plenty and in times of want.
Be busy with such prayers as this! It is a good work that pleases God and which he will surely bless!
God bless and keep you,
Pr. Buchs
- Lutheran Service Book, “Collect for the Nation”, p. 313.
I’ll also give it to you in an older version that’s original to the 1892 American Book of Common Prayer – the older language is richer:
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 favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, 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.