Prayers
for those who are about to be deployed
Upon Deployment
God
our Rock and Refuge: we commend to your gracious care N.,
N., and N., who are being deployed in the service
of our nation. Defend them day by day with your heavenly
grace; strengthen them in their trials and
temptations; give them courage to endure the perils
which they may face; and grant that wherever they
go, they may be assured of your abiding presence; through
Christ our Savior. Amen.
For a Family Farewell to a Deployed member
To be prayed by family members in church or at the place
of parting
Into your
hands, most merciful Savior,
We place
our beloved N.,
Asking
you to be his tower of safety and strength,
his
comfort and refuge in danger.
Watch
over him wherever he goes.
Stand
at his side in battle;
keep him
safe from enemy and accident.
Defend
him, waking and sleeping.
Bless
him as he travels,
and let
our love be an anchor and a joy for him.
Through
the time we are apart;
And then,
return him to us in safety.
We ask
this in your Holy Name. Amen.
For
the Family Separated during Military Service
God, the
fountain of all mercy, your love is made known to us in the
love of others: surround this family with the support and
care of our community as they watch and wait for N.’s
return; grant them patience, hope and quiet confidence, until
the time of reunion; through Christ we pray. Amen.
Upon
Return from Deployment
Almighty
God, giver of every good gift: we praise and thank you for
the return of N. from deployment. Be present as he
strives to renew relationships and re-enter this community.
Guide and guard him and us in this season of Change.
Wherever there is anxiety, pain or hardship, bring healing
through your grace and mercy. This we ask for your love’s
sake. Amen.
Bishop George Packard suggests the following
prayers from the Book of Common Prayer that are especially appropriate
in the aftermath of the events of September 11, 2001:
6. For our Enemies
O God, the Father of all, whose
Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from
prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty,
and revenge; and in your good time enable us all to stand
reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
25. For those in the Armed Services
of our Country
Almighty God, we commend to your
gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our 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.
28. In Times of Conflict
O God, you have bound us together
in a common life. Help us, in the midst of our struggles for
justice and truth, to confront one another without hatred
or bitterness, and to work together with mutual forbearance
and respect; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
46. For the Care of Children
Almighty God, heavenly Father, you
have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give us
calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that
we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good,
following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
47. For Young Persons
God our Father, you see your children
growing up in an unsteady and confusing world: Show them that
your ways give more life than the ways of the world, and that
following you is better than chasing after selfish goals.
Help them to take failure, not as a measure of their worth,
but as a chance for a new start. Give them strength to hold
their faith in you, and to keep alive their joy in your creation;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for Parents
Almighty God, giver of life and
love, bless N. and N. Grant them wisdom and devotion in the
ordering of their common life, that each may be to the other
a strength in need, a counselor in perplexity, a comfort in
sorrow, and a companion in joy. And so knit their wills together
in your will and their spirits in your Spirit, that they may
live together in love and peace all the days of their life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
53. For Travelers
O God, our heavenly Father, whose
glory fills the whole creation, and whose presence we find
wherever we go: Preserve those who travel [in particular _____________
]; surround them with your loving care; protect them from
every danger; and bring them in safety to their journey’s
end; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
55. For a Person in Trouble or Bereavement
O merciful Father, who hast taught
us in thy holy Word that thou dost not willingly afflict or
grieve the children of men: Look with pity upon the sorrows
of thy servant for whom our prayers are offered. Remember
him, O Lord, in mercy, nourish his soul with patience, comfort
him with a sense of thy goodness, lift up thy countenance
upon him, and give him peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
COLLECT
FOR A NATION UNDER ATTACK
by Fr. Francis C. Zanger
Almighty God, we beseech thee to 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, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Almighty 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, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
O
GOD, MAKE SPEED TO SAVE US…
PRAYERS IN TIME OF CRISIS
COMPILED, ADAPTED AND MODERNIZED FROM
A VARIETY OF SOURCES
BY CHAPLAIN FRANCIS C. ZANGER
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 the
violence 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 COUNTRY
Almighty 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 WAR
O 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 COURAGE
Teach 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 LEADERS
O 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 ONES
O 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 MEMBERS
O 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 PEACE
Almighty 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 ATTACK
Almighty 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 PROTECTION
O 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)
1. "A Prayer Book for Soldiers and Sailors" Bishop
White Prayer Book Society, 1917
2. "The Book of Common Prayer" Church Hymnal Corp., 1979
3. "Prayers at Sea" United States Naval Institute, 1956, 1962
4. "Protestant Book of Worship for Field Use" US Army, 1967
5. "The Armed Forces Prayer Book", Church Pension Fund, 1951
6. "Song and Service Book for Ship and Field: Army and Navy"
A. S. Barnes & Co. 1941
7. "A Prayer Book for the Armed Forces" The Domestic and Foreign
Missionary Society of the Episcopal Church, 1988
8. Chaplain Francis C. Zanger ©, 2001
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