Prayers for the 4th of July

This week I treated Little Guy to a medley of patriotic songs. He especially liked Mommy's silly dance to "America the Beautiful". 

Some of the lyrics reminded me how important it is to pray for our nation. We can be pessimistic about our country, our leadership, our people... just about everything. And we can all disagree with each other about every issue/hot button topic. But for those of us who are believers in the Lord (the same Lord of most of our founding fathers), let's all agree on one thing: to pray! 

"America, America, God shed His grace on thee! And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea!

America, America, God mend thine every flaw! Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!" 

-"America the Beautiful" words by Katharine Lee Bates, music by Samuel A. Ward

 "God bless America, land that I love, stand beside her and guide her thru the night with a light from above."

-"God Bless America" by Irving Berlin 

 Another prayer I've been singing isn't from a USA-patriotic song. Rend Collective are from Ireland, but I don't think they'd have any objection to God moving mightily in the USA, too! 

"Build your kingdom here, let the darkness fear. Show your mighty hand, heal our streets and land. Set your church on fire, win this nation back. Change the atmosphere, build your kingdom here, we pray!"

-"Build Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective 

Lord, we are so blessed to be free to worship you! Mend our every flaw, stand beside us and guide us, and heal our streets and land.