{"id":43369,"date":"2025-06-06T01:25:47","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T07:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/?p=43369"},"modified":"2025-06-02T11:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T17:04:12","slug":"why-d-day-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boundless.org\/faith\/why-d-day-still-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why D-Day Still Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been 81 years since American troops and soldiers of the Allied Expeditionary Force descended upon the coast of France in an unprecedented military operation to wrest control of Europe back from the Nazis.<\/p>\n

Known forevermore as \u201cD-Day,\u201d the June 6, 1944 operation was codenamed \u201cOperation Overlord\u201d and included over 5,000 ships and more than 150,000 troops landing on five beaches in Normandy. By some estimates, there are only a few thousand D-Day veterans remaining. They\u2019d have to be in their late 90s or over 100 years of age.<\/p>\n

To be sure, D-Day was historic, a radical gamechanger that shifted the balance of world power. But given everything that\u2019s happened between then and now, it would be easy to chalk it up as just another entry in our history textbooks.<\/p>\n

That would be a mistake.<\/p>\n

As Christians especially, we ignore D-Day at our own peril. Even 80-plus years later, it can still teach \u2014 and convict.<\/p>\n

A praying president<\/h4>\n

Once the invasion got underway, President Franklin Roosevelt took to the radio airwaves to lead the nation in prayer. Never had so many Americans prayed together, led neither by a priest nor pastor, but by the president of the United States.<\/p>\n

Composed days earlier with the help of FDR\u2019s daughter and son-in-law and inspired by the president\u2019s worn copy of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, the words to the prayer were published in the country\u2019s newspapers. The wide distribution allowed Americans to recite the words of divine petition along with their president. It\u2019s estimated that 100 million Americans tuned in, a number even more impressive when you consider the entire population of the country was just 130 million people.<\/p>\n

Prayer has long been the most powerful yet underused of all human acts. That we have the privilege and capability to communicate directly with the Creator of all things is too implausible for some and too intimidating for others. And yet that\u2019s precisely what we\u2019re able to do \u2014 anywhere, anytime and about anything.<\/p>\n

We find ourselves as a nation mired in unprecedented difficulty. We take to social media to lament and rage, but what if we instead got down on our knees and collectively appealed to the Lord?<\/p>\n

FDR\u2019s \u201cD-Day Prayer<\/a>\u201d was cited and recited for the remainder of the war, but even these many decades later, its petitions and pleas to God hold up well in a fractured and fragile America. Could the president of the United States today lead and compel so many to bring their hurts and hopes, their fears and frustrations to the Almighty? Would the ACLU even allow it? Perhaps not, but that doesn\u2019t stop any of us from asking God to intervene and show us the way.<\/p>\n

The battle at hand<\/h4>\n

In the opening words of his prayer, President Roosevelt qualified the D-Day invasion as \u201ca mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.\u201d We might not be literally facing down the barrel of a gun today, but make no mistake: There is an ideological, philosophical and spiritual battle going on.<\/p>\n

FDR asked God for \u201cstrength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith\u201d \u2014 and that\u2019s what\u2019s still needed 80 years later to face our troubles. There is a battle raging for the hearts and minds of our children and for the convictions of their parents. There is an all-out assault on reality. There is a struggle over the basic understanding of the most fundamental of truths regarding male and female, the sanctity of life, the value of marriage, the rights of parents and our religious freedom, to name only a few issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will need Thy blessings,\u201d prayed FDR.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bigger than parties or politics<\/h4>\n

Clashes of culture require patience and persistence. Yes, we vote. But we also must live faithfully, lovingly, graciously, and cooperatively. FDR prayed,<\/p>\n

\u201cFor these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He concluded by asking God to \u201cconquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies\u201d and to ward off the \u201cschemings of unworthy men.\u201d No matter your party or your politics<\/a>, that should be a prayer we can recite with one accord.<\/p>\n

The pursuit of justice and the prayers of God\u2019s people eventually dismantled the Nazi regime and liberated Jews throughout Europe \u2014 no small feat given Hitler\u2019s determination to snuff out human life and perpetuate evil. D-Day is our reminder to fight, first on our knees, for the truths ordained by God \u2014 and to trust Him with the outcome.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s long been a lie that people of the Christian faith engage culture to establish a theocracy. Instead, we pour ourselves into the effort because societies that welcome faith thrive \u2014 and those that reject it fail.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over 80 years later, this historic World War II operation still teaches and convicts us. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102,"featured_media":43372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-43369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-ministry-service"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy D-Day Still Matters - Boundless<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"FDR\u2019s D-Day prayer was recited for the remainder of the war. 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