Why is this prayer here ?


For as long as I can remember I often feel that I have lost my identity as an Australian, maybe I never really had it
I remember as a young tacker wishing I was born in earlier times which, in later years I had come to
regard as just romantic nonsense, now I don't think it was.
It is a yearning to participate in our nations history... to identify with her people, her struggles,
her pride, her humour, her land - so I to, can be proud to call myself Australian (in the old sense).

As I look about today I am often angered and saddened at the sell off of our country, the missed
opportunities, the visionless, pointless chase after the almighty dollar. The total disregard for God
and everything he has done for us. I really feel that as a nation we do ourselves a great disservice
by disrespecting and undervaluing what our grandparents and earlier generations achieved.
I think our children are the poorer for not knowing their history because as a young country the job is far from done...

So why is this prayer here?
Because I don't know what else to do but, I know who does.
I encourage anyone who agrees with it's pertition to take a copy of this prayer and use it. We are in the process
of loosing our country, this is the only way I know how to stop it happening and we all need to wake up...

How did it come about?
Some snippets from my journal might help to explain...

Nov 29, 2016

...Sometime last year when ANZAC was a hundred years old, I was struck by how much
those ANZAC boys gave.... I have a great belief in the Australian spirit which
infects us all and I believe that those boys seeing the absolute destruction inflicted,
fought for our country and our way of life, I certainly believe that's what the men and women in the
second world war were fighting for.

To see what our nation was then, and is now becoming I've lamented for years to anyone who would listen,
that we are heading down a really bad path and we are doing those fellas, men and women and
not to mention our pioneers a grave disservice.
And then it struck me that as I observed the falling away of our people from God, this correlated closely
with the continuing loss of our country. It was then I had the big question. "What Can I do?"

I began to seek the Lord, discuss with our customers, strangers, family, anyone who'd give me the opportunity
until finally I got this really strange idea, and that is to travel the length and breadth of this country visiting every
war memorial possible and pray to God for our country.
Well I thought, "that's a grand illusion" , well anyway I'm going to try to do it if we can ...

Jan 29, 2017

.... As mentioned previously about praying at the war memorials,
I actually started on the 26th of January when I arose and went down to the memorial in Penguin.

I have been struggling for weeks to construct a prayer worthy to present to the Lord on behalf of Australia,
Australians and all those who aspire to be. I was not ready and am not ready still
However, I have to make a start, this year is the year! So I took what I had and went to the cenotaph.

It felt quite strange standing there in front of the memorial. I was sort of, well... embarrassed I guess at what I was about to do

Who am I to present a petition to God about my nation and
my prayer was only half finished and
is this really what God would have me do?

I mean I am certainly no angel and I am so afraid of bringing disgrace to the Lord....
Anyways as a compromise I went around the back of the monument and was startled to read it's Inscription

"Sons of this place of you be said that
you are counted worthy of your dead.
These gave their lives that you who live might
reap a richer harvest ere you fall asleep"

And so I knelt and prayed, reading from the sheet on which my half constructed prayer was written and
felt anything but worthy... Father, You are God which has made heaven, and ...