Lower Manhattan as the new One World Trade Center rises above the skyline. Photo by Rick Morley.

Prayers of the People for September 11th, based on the occasion of the Tenth Anniversary of the Terrorist Attacks on September 11th, 2001 and the lessons from Proper 19 Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary.
• Also on this site is a longer, litany-style, set of prayers for the same day,
•  a reflection on Matthew 18:21-35, the Gospel lesson for 9/11/11, and 
• a reflection on Exodus 14:19-31, the Hebrew Bible lesson.

Officiant   Lord, as we the world pauses today to look back and to look forward, we pause to pray to you, our only defender and the author of peace.

Intercessor   O God, in a pillar of fire you visited the Israelites and you lit up the night; so empower your Church to light up the darkness of our world, and drive terror and hate from the earth.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

As Moses stretched out his hand to divide the waters, and brought the Israelites into a land of freedom; we pray for our nation, O God, that you might always bless us, and all, with freedom from oppression and fear.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

When you bring freedom O God, the mountains skip like rams and the little hills like young sheep; so spread your mercy over all the earth that all your children can dance without fear.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We pray for our brothers and sisters in this community, and especially those who celebrate this week; those celebrating birthdays _________, and those celebrating anniversaries __________.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

We pray for the sick, the suffering, the fearful, and all who live in the wake of terror, especially __________.
Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.

Officiant   Gracious God, we pray today for all those who grieve today <pause>, for those who witnessed and survived the attacks <pause>, those who came to rescue, save, and protect, <pause> and for all the souls who were lost, especially those we remember now_________. <pause> We pray for the men and women who have been called to defend our country and the ways of freedom—those serving at home and abroad (especially, ______). We pray that your healing balm would run down like rain upon us all, and we pray that all who were lost were also found, by You. Amen.

(If you reproduce these in a bulletin, I’d suggest removing “<pause>.”)