One of my passions is supporting our military and their families. With that is the joy I get from praying for them. When my son was deployed in the Middle East, I kept a deployment journal where I wrote out my prayers. Many of those became part of my book, While My Soldier Serves. Here’s a quick list of ways you can pray for our men and women serving today:
1) Pray for safety.
That was always my number one worry while our son was deployed. I asked everyone to pray for his physical safety and for his mental safety.
2) Pray for peace.
It seems an impossibility—peace during war. But what I’ve learned that is true peace comes in spite of circumstances, not because of them.
3) Pray for joy.
The job our military is doing is hard. They experience a lot of things we can’t begin to imagine. I ask God to give them joy, even in the midst of difficulties.
4) Pray for their families at home.
If you ask someone in the military what to pray for, families are always at the top of the list. It comforts them to know that others are praying for their loved ones.
5) Pray for rest and sleep.
It’s hard to get the kind of rest we need when we’re away from home. Now imagine getting that in the middle of a war zone. To be able to function, our military men and women must be in top condition and that includes plenty of rest.
6) Pray for protection from illness.
I’ve been on several trips outside of the US. Each time I was warned about drinking the water and eating certain foods. I was also warned about the possibility of different germs that could attack because my immune system wasn’t adequately protected. Our military face the same kind of dangers.
7) Pray for solid friends.
Being away from home is tough. It’s even harder if we’re alone. I prayed for my son’s friends and comrades. I asked that they grow closer to one another and to God.
8) Pray for forgetfulness.
Truthfully there are some things our men and women in uniform would like to forget about their deployment experiences. It’s healing to help them put the worst of those memories in their place.
9) Pray for wise leaders.
I prayed nightly for the commanders over our son’s unit, as well as for those in government.
The prayers of a grateful nation mean the world to our military and their families.
