In light of the January 6 events and the upcoming inauguration, I am sharing “A Prayer for America” that I believe can speak to most political and spiritual leanings. It is from the 1994 book, Illuminata, by Marianne Williamson.
Dear God,
We join in prayer to celebrate this nation and surrender its destiny to You.
We give thanks for the founding of this country.
We give thanks for and bless the souls of those who came before us to found this nation, to nurture and save it.
We ask that God’s spirit now fill our hearts with righteousness.
May we play our parts in the healing and the furtherance of our country.
May we be cleansed of all destructive thoughts.
May judgment of others, bigotry, racism, and intolerance be washed clean from our hearts.
May our minds be filled with the thoughts of God.
His unconditional love and His acceptance of all people.
May this nation be forgiven its transgressions against the African-American, the Native American, the nation of Vietnam, our men and women who should not have suffered or died or there, and any all others. Please bless their souls.
May we learn from our mistakes, that the people who have died from them shall not have died in vain.
May our lives be turned into instruments of resurrection, that the sins of our fathers might be reversed through us.
May the beauty and the greatness of this land burst furth once more in the hearts of its people.
May the dreams of our forefathers be realized in us, that we might live in honesty and integrity and excellence with our neighbors.
May this country once again become a light unto the nations of hope and goodness and peace and freedom.
May violence and darkness be cast out of our midst.
May hatred no longer find fertile ground in which to grow here.
May all of us feel God’s grace upon us.
Reignite, dear God, the spirit of truth in our hearts.
May our nations be given a new light, the sacred fire that once shone so bright from shore to shore.
May we be repaired.
May we be forgiven.
May our children be blessed.
May we be renewed.
Dear God, please bless America.
Amen.
1994 from Illuminata by Marianne Williamson
Free image credit: By Harley Pebley – Flickr: Prayer for USA, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32754317
