Prayers in Response to Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks

· For the victims

· For all nations that suffered casualties

· For terrorism throughout the world

· For those who terrorize and hate

· For those in the Armed Forces

· For all the good that has come out of evil

· For our own fears

For the victims

On Sept. 11, 2001 terrorists struck at the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, killing thousands of innocent people.  Lord, we are speechless in shock:

Thy spirit sighs and groans for thy creation:  Be thou our prayer.

We pray for the victims and their families:

Comfort them gently in your arms.  Grant them the healing that only you can give.

As we pray for those who are missing…

Let that be our prayer for all who are missing in wars, earthquakes, floods and other disasters, and in regimes that have “disappeared” those who opposed them.

As we pray for rebuilding…

Let us pray for refugees from violence throughout the world.

For all nations that suffered casualties

Even as the world has joined in mourning for the U.S., so now we join in prayer for all nations whose citizens were victims of these attacks—those who died, the injured, their families, and all who lost their innocence. Our hearts go out to the peoples of:

Antigua & Barbuda	Grenada	Peru
Argentina	Guatemala	Philippines
Australia	Guyana	Poland
Austria	Haiti	Portugal
Bangladesh	Honduras	Romania
Barbados	Hong Kong	Russia
Belgium	India	Slovakia
Belarus	Indonesia	South Africa
Belize	Iran	South Korea
Bolivia	Ireland	Spain
Brazil	Israel	Sri Lanka
Canada	Italy	St. Kitts & Nevis
Chile	Jamaica	St. Lucia
China	Japan	St. Vincent/Grenadines
Colombia	Jordan	Sweden
Czech Republic	Kazakhstan	Switzerland
Dominica	Kenya	Taiwan
Dominican Republic	Lebanon	Thailand
Ecuador	Luxembourg	Togo
Egypt	Malaysia	Trinidad & Tobago
El Salvador	Mexico	Turkey
Ethiopia	The Netherlands	Ukraine
France	New Zealand	United Kingdom
The Gambia	Nicaragua	U.S.A.
Germany	Nigeria	Uruguay
Ghana	Pakistan	Uzbekistan
Greece	Panama	Venezuela
	Paraguay	Yemen
		Zimbabwe

For terrorism throughout the world

We hear this news and realize that this kind of terrorism has struck throughout the world for many years, but we did not pray as deeply in response, because it did not affect as many people and was not as close to home.   We are ashamed:

Lord, forgive us.  Deepen our prayers for ALL your people.

We pray also for all countries that have suffered terrorist threats this past year (2001):

Afghanistan	India	Spain
Algeria	Indonesia	Sri Lanka
Angola	Israel	Sudan
Bangladesh	Namibia	Switzerland
Burundi	Nigeria	Tajikistan
Chile	Pakistan	Tanzania
Colombia	Palestine/Gaza	Turkey
Democratic Republic	Philippines	Uganda
of the Congo	Russia	United States
Ethiopia	Saudi Arabia	Yemen
Greece	Somalia

For those who terrorize and hate

We pray for all terrorists:

Help them to know that nothing—NOTHING--in the world is so important as to be worth taking the lives of innocent people.  Give us the wisdom to understand and heal their anger.

We watched, horrified, as some people in Palestine and elsewhere celebrated this wanton destruction. They said the US deserved this, and it was time to give America a taste of its own medicine.  And we watched as some (mercifully few, so far) in the Western World called for massive retaliatory attacks.   And so we pray for all nations and persons who feel their homes, their ways of life, their families, their countries are being invaded, attacked, dishonored:

Save all peoples and nations from becoming trapped in our own anger and desire for revenge.  Keep us from becoming the very things we most abhor in our enemies. Save us from temptation!

We pray for all terrorist organizations and their members:

Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf Group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Armed Islamic Group Asbat al-Ansar Aum Shinrikyo Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group) Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Hizballah (Party of God) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) (Army of Mohammed) Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) Kahane Chai (Kach) Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LT) (Army of the Righteous) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) National Liberation Army (ELN) Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC) Al-Qaida Real IRA Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA) Revolutionary Organization 17 November Revolutionary People's Liberation Army/ Front (DHKP/C) Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC) Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC)

*List of major terrorist organizations provided by U.S. Department of State, March 2002

Gracious Lord, help us to remember that every person is precious in your sight. Give us strength to praise you for their creation.

For those in the Armed Forces

As the battle against terrorism continues, and a growing number of countries prepare to send military aid to the fight against the Taliban, and 2000 young men trained in Pakistan come to join the Taliban forces, we pray for those in the armed forces--in ALL armed forces, on ALL sides of this conflict.

Lord, this is a hard prayer for us to voice.  

It would be so much easier to pray just for "our" soldiers!
But you have commanded us to love our enemies.
To know that each human being is precious in your sight.
To want things to be well, for every single person.
Help us to pray, in your way, not ours.
And, Lord, will you inspire our enemies to likewise pray for us?

For all the good that has come out of evil

We praise you, Lord, that out of evil and destruction, you can make so much good. Out of four horrendous terrorist attacks on the U.S., you have made…waves of compassion…unexpected allies…nations willing to work with one another…countries finding the courage to face the terrorists within their own borders…dawning understandings between those who had thought themselves to be enemies…unity among people of all races and religions…generosity and concern for the innocent, even in nations who harbor terrorists…a growing commitment among so many people to value all persons…

For these extraordinary gifts of love and healing, we praise you and we bless you, O Lord.

For our own fears

So many deaths, so suddenly, and we recognize that our own lives are far less assured than we had believed:

We commit to living every moment of our lives, with every ounce of love at our command, knowing that every moment of our lives is lived for Thee. 

Lord, you have made each and every human being in your image, with hearts that ache for the pain of the world.

Take our hearts, that you might heal them.

Take our hearts, that you might use them.

Take our hearts, and let them break (as yours was broken), to bring light to the world.

World in Prayer is a ministry of the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist

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