9/11: A Prayer

Almighty God, our heavenly Father,

O Sovereign Lord: today we pray for those with whom 9/11 is much more than an annual remembrance; we pray for those who lost friends and family during the tragic events that transpired on that Tuesday ten years ago. We pray that the Holy Spirit would bring true comfort into the lives of those most directly effected by the terrorist attacks on 9/11; we pray that You would show yourself a parent to those who lost parents and a friend to those who lost friends.

We pray for our soldiers today: especially for those directly involved in fighting terrorist groups, or fighting against those who would protect terrorists; we pray that you would bring our loved ones who are deployed with the Armed Forces home safely.

We pray too for our enemies. We thank You that You saw fit to bring Osama bin Laden to justice: that You, to some degree, removed the direct threat to our nation that he personally represented (we pray for Your continued protection upon our nation, thanking You that no act of terrorism approaching the level of 9/11/01 has happened again on our soil during these ten years). And we pray for Your mercy upon our enemies; O Redeemer, we pray that even as You saw fit to work in the heart of Saul-- who participated in violence and who planned terroristic acts against the early Church-- transforming him into the Apostle Paul, we pray that you would bring al-Qaeda members out of their spiritual darkness and into the light of Christ so that You would once again receive glory as the One for whom nothing is impossible.

Finally, we pray for those who filled this nation's churches in the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks on 9/11. O Redeemer: I believe that you used the events of 9/11 to shake people out of a narrow-minded focus on immediate pleasures and to point people to Christ. But many called out to You, or made a commitment to You, on 9/11 and then quickly fell away, back into their old lifestyles. Others stayed with the Church for years, having their lives drastically changed and seeming to live for You, but today their lives look much more like they did on 9/10/01 than on 9/12/01. I pray that You would continue to strengthen those who came to faith in Christ on 9/11 and that You would restore those who have slid back into their old way of life as if 9/11 had never occurred.

I pray these things in the precious and powerful name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus: who was crucified, buried, raised, and now lives forever as the Conqueror of sin, death, and Hell,

-Amen.