Praying for Our Veterans Past and Present

During the last few years I’ve developed a little tradition for myself around Veterans Day. I found that in college there were several years when I completely forgot about this day to honor the men and women who have fought—or are fighting—for us in the military. That’s not a good thing. I have a lot of respect and admiration for the people who serve this country and willingly put themselves in harm’s way for others. If anyone deserves a day of the year to be honored, it’s them.

For the last couple years, I’ve watched either an episode of Band of Brothers or the movie Saving Private Ryan sometime around Veterans Day. I know it sounds trite and shallow, but if you’ve ever seen either that TV series or that movie, you know they leave a powerful impression. Both reveal not only the horror of what veterans have had to endure, but also the bravery, character and tenacity the job requires.

More than anything else, these movies give you a much better appreciation for the sacrifices our veterans have made. It’s kind of like watching The Passion of the Christ around Good Friday, although obviously on a much, much smaller scale.

Of course, simply appreciating what our soldiers have done for us is good. Praying for them is better. I can’t think of many groups of people more deserving or in need of prayer than our current and former military members. I’ve been looking around at various ministries that serve the military, and I’ve come up with a list of common prayer requests in case you would like to join me in my prayers:

• Pray for their protection. They are putting themselves in harm’s way so that others may be safe.


• Pray for their salvation. Nothing can lead people to thinking about eternity more than war, and ultimately nothing is more important than finding Jesus.


• Pray for those who are home. We know that adjusting back to a regular life after deployment can be one of the hardest things for a soldier to do. This goes for soldiers both recently returned and previously returned, from a prior conflict.


• Pray for their families. The long absences and difficult returns of husbands and wives can be extremely hard for those they leave at home. Pray that those families to remain strong and find some peace.


• Pray for our chaplains. This can be one of the hardest jobs in the military and is possibly the most important. Pray that our military chaplains will have peace, wisdom, fortitude and the Holy Spirit at their side. That goes for chaplains serving both current soldiers and older veterans.


• Pray for the people of Fort Hood. The tragedy that recently occurred there is still gripping the country, and prayer is needed above all else for the co-workers and families of the victims of Fort Hood.

If you’d like to find our more about supporting and praying for our troops, here are several resources you can check out:

The Presidential Prayer Team has an “Adopt Our Troops in Prayer” program, in which you can sign up to pray for those currently serving and their specific needs. Force Ministries is a Christian organization dedicated to serving our troops. You can check out their Web site to learn more about ways to help. Finally, the USO is always a good resource for meeting needs.

If you have any prayer requests or know of other ministries or ways to help honor and serve our troops, please let us know in the Comments section.