Chaplain’s Letter
In December 1944, Chaplain (Col.) James O’Neill published a Training Letter to the 486 chaplains of the 3rd Army under his supervision. At the request of his commanding general, more than three thousand copies of the letter were printed so that distribution could be made to unit commanders as well. The subject was prayer:
Our glorious march from the Normandy Beach across France to where we stand, before and beyond the Siegfried Line, with the wreckage of the German Army behind us, should convince the most skeptical soldier that God has ridden with our banner.
As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian, in the ranks of the Third United States Army.
Urge all of your men to pray, not alone in church, but everywhere. Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for the defeat of our wicked enemy whose banner is injustice and whose good is oppression. Pray for Victory, Pray for our Army, and pray for Peace.
Now is not the time to follow God from ‘afar off.’ This Army needs the assurance and faith that God is with us. With prayer, we cannot fail.477
The apostle Paul urged the Thessalonians to “pray without ceasing”(1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV). Chaplain O’Neill gives us a simple explanation of this difficult concept. We can certainly pray in church or any other quiet place. However, we can also converse with God while walking, driving, or in the midst of a crowd. When Jesus said to “go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father”(Matthew 6:6), he was telling believers to go within themselves. We can do this anywhere. What goes on within, between God and us, is more important than the place where it happens.
And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?”
—Luke 18:67