Loving God - Creating Hope - Changing Lives
Prayers take many forms and purposes during the year.
The following prayers are offered on the occasion of civic holidays in the USA.
The following prayers are offered on the occasion of civic holidays in the USA.
Prayer for New Year's Day
From New Years Hymns , 1749, by Charles Wesley
(see this link for more)
Sing to the great Jehovah’s praise! All praise to Him belongs, Who kindly lengthens out our days, Demands our choicest songs: Whose providence has brought us through Another various year, We all with vows and anthems new Before our God appear.
Father, thy mercies past we own, Thy still-continued care, To thee presenting through thy Son Whate’er we have, or are. Our lips and lives shall gladly show The wonders of thy love, While on in Jesu’s steps we go To see thy face above.
Our residue of days or hours Thine, wholly thine shall be, And all our consecrated powers A sacrifice to thee; ’Till Jesus in the clouds appear To saints on earth forgiven, And bring the grand sabbatic year, The jubilee of heaven.
From New Years Hymns , 1749, by Charles Wesley
(see this link for more)
Sing to the great Jehovah’s praise! All praise to Him belongs, Who kindly lengthens out our days, Demands our choicest songs: Whose providence has brought us through Another various year, We all with vows and anthems new Before our God appear.
Father, thy mercies past we own, Thy still-continued care, To thee presenting through thy Son Whate’er we have, or are. Our lips and lives shall gladly show The wonders of thy love, While on in Jesu’s steps we go To see thy face above.
Our residue of days or hours Thine, wholly thine shall be, And all our consecrated powers A sacrifice to thee; ’Till Jesus in the clouds appear To saints on earth forgiven, And bring the grand sabbatic year, The jubilee of heaven.
Prayer for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Gracious God, you create us and love us; you make us to live together in a community. We thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all your children who have been filled with your vision for our lives and who have worked to make bring your vision into reality.
Fill us with your vision. Guide us to live by your vision, working to build the beloved community where everyone is welcomed, all are valued, power is shared, privilege is no more, and all your children know wholeness and well-being. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Gracious God, you create us and love us; you make us to live together in a community. We thank you for Martin Luther King, Jr. and all your children who have been filled with your vision for our lives and who have worked to make bring your vision into reality.
Fill us with your vision. Guide us to live by your vision, working to build the beloved community where everyone is welcomed, all are valued, power is shared, privilege is no more, and all your children know wholeness and well-being. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Prayer for President's Day Dearest Lord in Heaven above, May our voice be heard today, For we speak as a nation united, And to you we humbly pray... Please bless our country's Presidents, Of the past, future and present, For their mightiest endeavors, All for this land they represent. May your love be with those Who since have passed away, With those who are yet to come And with he who leads the nation today. Grant our present and future leaders With your blessings from above So that they may follow your lead With kindness, compassion and love. Please deliver them from evil And bestow upon them the courage they need And the strength of will to lead our nation Without hatred, spite or with greed. For those who have served our country well, Please bless them for the good they've done, For the the positive changes they've made, And for making this country second to none!
Independence Day Prayer
O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. Lord, keep this nation under your care. To the President and members of the cabinet, to Governors of states, Mayors of cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties. Give grace to your servants, O Lord. To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in states, cities, and towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations. Give grace to your servants, O Lord. To Judges and officers of our courts, give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served. Give grace to your servants, O Lord. And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name. For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen. ~ posted by Elizabeth Kaeton, on Telling Secrets. It’s part of a longer Service of Lessons and Hymns for Independence Day. 
Veteran's Day Prayer
Judge of the nations, we remember before You with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. – Book of Common Prayer, 1979 |
A Memorial Day Poem
The Ultimate Sacrifice We set aside Memorial Day Each and every year To honor those who gave their lives Defending what we hold dear. In all the dark and deadly wars, Their graves prove and remind us, Our brave Americans gave their all To put danger far behind us. They made the ultimate sacrifice Fighting for the American way; We admire them and respect them On every Memorial Day. By Joanna Fuchs 
A Commemoration for Juneteenth
Today, we commemorate the end of slavery in America. This day partially reminds us of the progress made. This day also partially reminds us of the progress we have not made. We celebrate the freedom of black lives in our nation. We grieve that we have not correctly reconciled racism in our nation. You created each person in Your image. The two greatest commandments call us to love You with all our heart, souls, and minds; Then, to love our neighbor as ourselves. Your love for us motivates us to love each other. If we do not love each other, then ultimately, we have not experienced Your love. As much as we commemorate and celebrate Juneteenth, we grieve this day. We mourn that our black brothers and sisters have not been loved as our neighbors. We mourn that our black brothers and sisters have been treated less than created in Your image throughout history. So, Lord, we confess our sins and repent. The healing and reconciliation we desire comes from the gospel. On Juneteenth this year, we ask You to guide our nation. May the good news of the gospel motivate us to love each other. May the ideals of our words match the practices of our lives. May a fresh empowerment of Your Spirit unite us together. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear Your will and leading. - Peter Englert https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource 
Prayer for Labor Day Blessed are You, ever-creating God, in Your image, our lives are made; in Your glory, we offer all the work of our hearts and hands and minds. Blessed are You, O God, now and forever! Blessed are you whose work is repaid, for by your work, and by the payment you receive your lives and the lives of others around You and around the world are blessed. We thank God for you day by day. Blessed are you whose work is unpaid, who offer what you can to enrich the lives of others, through time, talents, skill, strength, and love. We praise God for your generous labor! Blessed are you who seek work but have not found it, or whose work now is not yet what it may be yet still you seek, that your gifts may be shared more fully. We praise God for your diligent seeking and pray you may soon find! Yours is the glory in their labors. Yours be the glory in all our lives, in Jesus' name. Amen. UMC Communications, 2015 |
A prayer for Indigenous Peoples Day
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887
Oh, Great Spirit,
Whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me! I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes
ever hold the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.
Help me remain calm and strong in the
face of all that comes towards me.
Help me find compassion without
empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
- Translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887
Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.
I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated to be affixed. October 3, 1863
The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and provoke their aggressions, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict; while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the most high God, who while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.
I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United Stated to be affixed. October 3, 1863
George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.