Episcopal Prayers

Armed Services, Healthcare and Prison Ministries </div>

Military Deployment Prayers

Table of Page Contents

Suggested Prayers from Bishop George Packard from the Book of Common Prayer

Collect for a Nation Under Attack by Chaplain Francis C. Zanger

O God, Make Speed to Save Us Prayers in Time of Crisis by Chaplain Francis C. Zanger

Prayers & Blessing at the Deployment of Military Personnel by the Rev. Thomas L. Weitzel

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

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, p. 816 For our Enemies

# 25, p. 823 For those in the Armed Services

# 28, p. 824 In Times of Conflict

# 46, p. 829 For the Care of Children

# 47, p. 829 For Young Persons

p. 444 For Parents

# 53, p. 831 For Travelers

# 55, p. 831 For a Person in Trouble or Bereavement

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.

<div align="center">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 </div>

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

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)

SOURCES

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 (c), 2001

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