General Patton's Prayer - written for him on about Dec 8, 1944
General George Patton was a commander with a problem. His troops in the United States 3rd Army were fighting in tough terrain against a desperate but still strong war machine, and the forces were too evenly matched. Patton needed air support against the German Panzer tanks that were so deadly dangerous, but for weeks his troops had fought largely without it because of fog and rain and bad weather that just refused to stop. There was no real visibility for the planes.
He was a God fearing and church going man and he felt that God had watched over his army in Africa and elsewhere in Europe, and now he felt that this same powerful God that had kept Patton's army from famine, plague, defeat, and retreat throughout all of their campaigns was exactly where he needed to go for help with his current problem.
He took a trip, heading to see the Head Chaplain of the 3rd army, James O'Neill, then stationed in Nancy, France. After conferring with Patton about his concerns, James O'Neill wrote this following prayer and the General approved it and had about 250,000 copies printed and distributed on small cards to his men:
"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers that call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory. and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations."
An example of the prayer card that was handed out.
In addition, the Chaplains, and there were many chaplains of many faiths, were spoken to and urged to pray with renewed might and vigor and to urge the soldiers to pray as well. They were reminded that in the pages of the Bible praying won more victories for God's people than strength of arms.
The cards were handed out to the soldiers on the 12 thru the 14th of December, in the year of our Lord 1944. The Naxi's 5th Panzer Army was hemmed in at this time, and unexpectedly attempted a surprise breakout, and it was with the greatest of difficulty that the Allies restrained them in their advance. But then on the 20th of December the skies cleared and the weather became very fair for a couple of weeks, allowing Allied Air Power to destroy hundreds of German tanks and a great number more enemy soldiers.
God had granted a victory to a commander who believed in prayer, attributed his former successes to the hand of the Almighty, and called on His God in faith. And God granted it as well to an Army who believed they fought against an evil ideology in the Nazi regime, one that truly had to be stopped. (The horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory belongs to the Lord.) Proverbs 21:31
And God's favored people, the Jews, under such severe trial as few races have ever suffered, were soon liberated by such God-granted victories as these.
There have been, by the way, few better Christians through the centuries than the best of the German Christians, and so I'd like to say to any German's reading this that I personally think of the period in WWII Germany as a time of national darkness that can come upon any nation that does not stay ever vigilant and turned to Jesus. I'm American, and I'm very, very concerned, as are many of us, for our national character right now - and I am concerned for my own character also, having failed often at much by forgetting to stay true to God and His wishes for me. It's a battle that every nation and every generation must continue to fight.