O GOD, MAKE SPEED TO SAVE US…
PRAYERS IN TIME OF CRISIS

Being a Pamphlet designed for use following the Attacks of 9/11

COMPILED, ADAPTED AND MODERNIZED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES
By Chaplain Francis C. Zanger, a US Navy Chaplain temporarily assigned to assist the Episcopal Church’s National Response Team, led by Bishop George Packard, Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies

PRAYER IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY You, O Lord, are just and powerful: Defend our cause against the face of the enemy. O God, you are a strong tower of defense to all who fly to you:Save us from the violence of the enemy. O Lord of hosts, fight for us, that we may glorify you. O Lord suffer us not to sink under the weight of our sins, nor theviolence of the enemy. O Lord, arise, help us, and deliver us for your Name's sake. Amen. (1)

PRAYER FOR THOSE IN THE ARMED FORCES OF OUR COUNTRYAlmighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of the armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them, and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (2)

PRAYER IN TIME OF WARO God, our help in ages past, our hope today and tomorrow, we approach you in deep humility at this hour of tragic crisis. Forgive us, if we have contributed to the cause of this war in which your children are engaged. Protect the children and the innocent. So fill our hearts with trust in you, that in peace and war we may commit our loved ones and ourselves to your unfailing care. Let not the powers of darkness and of terror keep us from doing our duty as free men. Help us to fight on until all strife and oppression cease and the peoples of this world are delivered from bondage and fear. Give us victory, O God, if it be your will, but above all give us the knowledge that we are fighting for values that are right and everlasting. Amen. (3)

PRAYER FOR COURAGETeach me, O Master, the courage with which you faced every duty and trial, the spirit with which you made every sacrifice, that heartened by your blessed example, I may never waver in duty, danger or sacrifice, but as a good soldier of the Cross be enabled to better to serve the Country that I love; in the Name of God, who lives and reigns for evermore. Amen. (4)

PRAYER FOR OUR NATIONAL LEADERSO Lord God Almighty, guide, we pray you, all those to whom has been committed the government of this nation, and grant to them special gifts of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength; that upholding what is right, and following what is true, they may obey your holy will and fulfill your divine purpose, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (5)

PRAYER FOR OUR LOVED ONESO God, the helper and protector of all your children, the comfort and stay of the solitary, and of those who are separated from those whom they love, we ask you to grant unto them every good gift for the body and the soul, and to unite us all, present and absent, in true faith and love. Amen. (6)

PRAYER FOR ABSENT FAMILY MEMBERSO God, whose fatherly care reaches to the uttermost parts of the earth: We humbly beseech you graciously to behold and bless those whom we love, now absent from us. Defend them from all dangers of soul and body, and grant that both they and we, drawing nearer to you, may be bound together by your love in the communion of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (7)

PRAYER FOR A WILL TO PEACEAlmighty God, by whose grace we look for the day when nation shall not any more lift us sword against nation, nor people against people, and when mankind shall live without fear in security and peace, grant to us in this time of strife the will to labor for peace even while our sword is drawn to resist the oppressor. Let not the evil we oppose turn us from our purpose to achieve unity and concord among the nations of the earth, to your honor and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (5)

PRAYER FOR A NATION UNDER ATTACKAlmighty God, we ask that you look with loving-kindness on the people of our nation, as we struggle to live our lives in time of great uncertainty and fear. Grant that the goals of those who would terrorize and intimidate the people of our country may be thwarted, and that in these times of trouble all Americans, of every faith, race and ethnicity may be drawn yet more closely in bonds of shared amity, respect, and purpose. Amen. (8)

PRAYER FOR STRENGTH AND PROTECTIONO God, who knows us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers, that by reason of our human weakness we cannot always stand upright; Grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1)

SOURCES
1. "A Prayer Book for Soldiers and Sailors" Bishop White Prayer Book Society, ©19172. "The Book of Common Prayer" Church Hymnal Corp., ©19793. "Prayers at Sea" United States Naval Institute, ©1956, 19624. "Protestant Book of Worship for Field Use" US Army, ©19675. "The Armed Forces Prayer Book", Church Pension Fund, ©19516. "Song and Service Book for Ship and Field: Army and Navy" A. S. Barnes & Co. ©19417. "A Prayer Book for the Armed Forces" The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church, ©19888. Chaplain Francis C. Zanger, © Sep. 2001