Only Prayer and Encouragement for the Troops Please!!

Lord, we ask that you be with our troops today. Give them understanding, grant them peace, comfort their sorrows, ease their lonliness, and guide them Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amern.

Good Morning Setanta! You doing ok today?

Just peachy, MOAN . . .

O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle?-be Thou near them! With them?-in spirit?-we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it?-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

-- Sam Clemens, 1905

have you memorized it yet, boss?

Naw, and the entire work by Clemens is longer than just that portion of the prayer . . . i linked it in my thread entitled The War Prayer.

I'm praying for the troops and encouraging their activities, no?

Lord we ask that you grant comfort, peace, guidance and understanding to the troops this day. Ease their lonliness. Comfort their sorrows. Guide them in their understanding. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

I hope you have a good day, Setanta.

I am sure that i will, it's already off to a great start . . .

O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle?-be Thou near them! With them?-in spirit?-we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it?-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

-- Sam Clemens, 1905

I'm curious why these prayers for the troops always invoke Jesus' name at the end.

What solace will those soldiers who aren't Christian derive from this? Which leads me to wonder, as others have, about the real intent of these public prayers...

D'artagnan,

As a Christian, that is the way I was taught to pray, as no one gets to the Father except through the son. Everyone is more than welcome to either post a prayer or words of encouragement for our troops. There is also a prayer thread for the Iraqi people. I have not requested that prayers be limited to Christian prayers.

I always thought prayer was done in private, or among one's co-religionists. What's up with all the public prayer here?

Just wondering, and I really don't mean this to sound provocative or anything.

There are supposedly soldiers that check a2k. Do they post anywhere? None posted here, unless I missed it. It would actually be really grand if we had a thread where some of them would post. I haven't met any soldiers deployed in Iraq on here (one that was in Pakistan, if I remember correctly). I guess it would make no sense for us to create such a thread for them if they're not here, but it would be cool nonetheless. Then we'd hear also from them what they think and go through.

D'art you silly goose, ALL US of A soldiers are christians, I think it's a law.

A Christian is making the prayer ....

D'artagnan,

There has been some controversary over public prayer. Jesus was admonishing the Pharisees who prayed in public for show. We are not to pray for show.

We are supposed to asemble with one another and pray. If all prayer were to be done in private, then I submit every church would be sinning, as prayer is a large part of the service.

This prayer thread is to offer encouragement for our troops, as there are troops that visit these threads.

I wonder why no one asked about the prayer thread started for the Miners in Virginia?

Actually, many U.S. of A. soldiers are Mexican citizens - they go for the promise of citizenship. Mexico has the second largest number of soldiers in Iraq even though Mexico does not partake in the Coalition and sent no army.

dagmaraka,

I like your idea. Perhaps you could start a thread for the soldiers?

but isn't a prayer in the church still a private endeavor, sort of mediated by the priest? you go to church for the purpose of praying. but i don't go for that purpose to a2k. i guess that's the difference being pointed out.

So you're saying they're Catholics ... not Christians?






Just a joke folks.

Actually Dag, I was thinking about he time when I enlisted (1962) you had a choice of being (1) Catholic (2) Protestant (3) Jewish. That was it, no other options. I protested so I was registered as a Protestant.

but if there aren't any on the site, (i know of no one), it would be a very abandoned thread. it should come from someone there.

Perhaps some lurk and not post, i don't know. I'd rather leave it to someone else though.

no way, are you serious? so i, a heathen, could not enlist as such?