A Prayer for the Fourth

O God who birthed a nation from a barren womb and made your covenant with a band of runaway slaves:  You have watched over the rise and fall of every nation, great and small, near and far, before and since.  You, who were in that stuffy room in Philadelphia when this nation declared its independence, be with us now.

Help us see things as You see them.  From Your point of view there are no national boundaries, no ugly black lines on the face of the globe.  From Your point of view the greatness of any nation is not measured by its gross national product, or its military strength, but by the way its people embrace Your truth and love the things You love.

And so, even as we strike up the band and join the parade and light the firecrackers and celebrate our cherished independence, we ask that You would teach us the discipline of responsibility, so that we may use our freedom in ways that help and heal, rather than hurt and destroy.  As the Apostle Paul has written, "Let us not use freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence but rather, through love, let us become servants to one another ."

We pray that as a people we may become what You promised to Abraham:  a nation by whom all nations of the world are blessed.  Even as we thank You, O God for what is, and look forward by faith to what can be, we find our guidance for such a journey toward Your way of being in the world through the prayer Your son taught us saying,  Our father....

Rev. Dr. Roger Paynter
July 4, 2010