Dear Lord,
Thank you for this land you have given us. It truly is beautiful from sea to shining sea. This land is a witness to how wonderful you are. If this land, so vast and varied, causes us to sing songs like “America the Beautiful,” you the creator of all this are so much more.

Thank you for our founders. We acknowledge that such genius and courage in forming this nation must have come from you. Thank you for good leaders you have given us in the past and the present. We also thank you that they have been and are imperfect, for this reminds us that only you are worthy of our total trust. And thank you for the unprecedented freedom and prosperity you have given us.

Thank you for difficulty too. For when we look back at the times in our history when we endured the most hardship, those were also the times when more of us acknowledged our dependence on you. We thank you for the Bible which has taught us that because all human beings were created in your image, they each deserve life, dignity and freedom.

We thank you for those who championed the cause of religious liberty. Thank you that we are not forced to worship a president or any other human. We thank you that we can freely worship you and share our faith with others without being afraid of imprisonment, torture or death. Thank you for those in the military who have died (and are dying) for us. Their sacrifice is a powerful reminder that what we have is not automatic, but is a gift.

We ask for forgiveness, Lord, for thinking that simply being American is enough to make us right with you. Forgive us for looking to politicians for salvation. Forgive us for being “Christian” in church attendance but not in our hearts or actions. The world looks at us as representing Christianity while our media sends quite the opposite message. We claim to defend the weak, but we have defined the killing of the unborn as a woman’s right.

Therefore, Lord, we ask: please help us to “hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts” (Amos 5:15). Because I believe that Jesus is the answer, I pray for the salvation of Americans. Our soldiers died for earthly and temporary freedom, but Jesus died for freedom from sin and death forever. Because Jesus said that his kingdom was not of this world, we know that God’s relationship with people is far more important than geography and politics. Therefore, we also pray for Christians who are suffering and dying around the world for their faith today. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God” (Psalm 20:7) In Jesus’ name, Amen.