A prayer for veterans by Debbie McDaniel, read by Leah Martin, Freedom is powerful.

It's a gift to be thankful for and to treasure.

Sometimes we forget the preciousness of our freedoms, it's easy to take them for granted.

We may not be fully aware of just how many men and women have paid dearly for the freedoms we enjoy today.

For all those who have protected our nation, for the men and women in uniform, together we say, thank you.

Let's pray this prayer for veterans for our men and women in uniform.

Dear God, we thank you for the ultimate freedom you've given us, better than any earthly freedoms we have.

Christ paid the wages of our sin through his death so that we may be free from death and have hope of everlasting life with you.

For that freedom from our sin, we thank you.

We thank you also for the brave who have fought and continued to fight so courageously for our freedoms in our nation.

We ask for your covering and blessing over them and their families.

We pray that you would be gracious and encircle them with your peace.

We pray for your great favor and goodness to be evident in their lives.

Please be with the men and women in uniform who serve our communities in nation every single day.

We ask that you provide your protection, that you would be their guiding force, the one who leads the way,

and also their rear guard who keeps them safe from behind.

We ask that you would draw them to yourself amidst the dangers they face in a dark world.

For you are the truth, you are the way, you are the light.

When the voice of hate rises up against them, we ask that you would silence it.

When the plans of the enemy rise up to cause them to stumble, we ask that you would thwart it.

When the forces of evil rise up to strike them down, we ask that you would stop it.

Lord, we know how powerful you are.

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