A Prayer for Protection for a Soldier or First Responder

Father, someone I love is out there in harm's way right now, running toward the danger the rest of us run from, and I am here with my phone in my hand, waiting, praying, half holding my breath until I hear they are safe.

I confess the waiting is its own kind of fear. Every late call, every unanswered text, sends my mind to the worst place. I have asked You to keep them so many times that some nights I wonder if You are still listening.

So I lift them to You again tonight without apology. Cover them on the call, on the deployment, in the moment everything goes loud and fast. Sharpen their judgment, steady their hands, and bring them home.

You promised that a thousand may fall at one side and ten thousand at the other, yet it will not come near the one You shelter, and I cling to that promise for them.

Guard their body and their heart, the unseen wounds as much as the seen. Bring them back to us, and until then, hold them where I cannot. Amen.