Christians across Australia will join in the National Day of Prayer for Defence this weekend.
Held officially on Saturday, 1st April, the day is sponsored by the Military Christian Fellowship of Australia and will see people praying for the Australian Defence Force and its members as well as defence force families, leaders, and government leaders.
“The National Day of Prayer for Defence aims to be a strategic spiritual event for Defence Christians and those who have a heart for defence to be mobilised to lift our defence personnel and leaders up to God,” the MCF, which has been sponsored the day since 2011, said in a flyer for the event.
Citing Jesus’ words in John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”, the MCF said many Australians have “died in the line of duty serving to protect the security of our nation”.
“Many families have been impacted by such tragic losses. Others are impacted by the challenges of helping those returning with injuries both physical and emotional such as post traumatic stress disorder. We need to support such people and uphold them in prayer.
“God also calls us to pray for our leaders and we need to pray that our senior policy and decision-makers bring a selfless approach to their responsibilities like those who have given their own lives in service to Australia.”
About 30 regional and international groups took part in the day last year.
The day will officially be marked at the Duntroon Chapel in Canberra but the MCF have a prayer book – which includes specific prayers for the different branches of the ADF – to aid individuals or churches taking part which can be found at its website.
