O Gardeners, let us turn our gardens into places of prayer, uniting our minds and voices for Patriot Day, Friday, September 11th. Our soldiers, police officers, firefighters, coast guard, and so many more offer their strength in service; likewise may we commit strength from our garden service—watering, weeding, tidying up—to seeking the Lord.
The people of Judah
came together
to seek help from the Lord
2 Chronicles 20:4 NIV
The mindless chores of tending and keeping the garden involve the work of our hands, yet set our minds free for pondering and prayer. Though we will not be assembled together as the Israelites were in these ancient events from God’s Word, we can think on them together.
Then all Israel
from Dan to Beersheba and
from the land of Gilead
came together as one and
assembled before the Lord in Mizpah.
Judges 20:1 NIV
These Scriptures show the power of coming together as one. Such a movement we know dearly throughout our nation’s heritage, reflected in both our name, the United States, and our motto, E pluribus unum (a phrase originally accompanied by a gathering of different flowers, dear gardeners, coming together in one bouquet!).
Additionally, the latter Scripture involves geography, an expanse of land. “The classical boundary description of the heartland of Israel was summed up in the phrase, “from Dan to Beersheba,” writes Carl G. Rasmussen in Zondervan Atlas of the Bible. May working our land signal work of the heart, watching over our land in prayer.
Patriot Day Prayer
Praise the Lord
When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
Deuteronomy 8:10 NIV
O LORD, both the land I cultivate—acreage, backyard, patio, or flower pot—and our nation’s land comes from you; your gift, your place for each of us to live and love, to know and beleive you, and understand that you are God, and to come together as one.
Confess our Sins
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV
O God, full of mercy! You know the depth of my futile and disgraceful ways; confessing them to you is the best thing I can do: you will heal! You will set my heart right! Help me to see and admit where I fall short and set me on your straight path.
Give Thanks
Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever.
2 Chronicles 20:21 NIV
O LORD, thank you! All along you have watched over us; all along you have been the One to direct us and provide for us, individually and as a nation. Your Word was ready to comfort and guide us when evil attacked on September 11, 2001, when all the nation poured out prayers to you. Thank you for welcoming our “911” calls whenever troubles surround us.
Ask
Dear Jesus, you said that if your words remained in us, to ask whatever we wish. It seems inherent, then, to ask God’s Words in prayer. We offer one of the most beautiful “9-11s” from Philippians 1.
So this is my prayer:
that [God’s love] love will flourish and that [each of us] will not only love much but well. [May we] learn to love appropriately… [May we] live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11 The Message
God Bless America!
For more information on 4 step prayers, click this link to Billy Graham.org
For a marvelous history on God’s hand in uniting our 13 colonies to form one nation, read The Light and the Glory, by Peter Marshall and David Manuel
Photo Credit: © 2015 Shelley S. Cramm Old Glory hangs next to my favorite one-to-many flowers, garlic chive blossoms.
