On the Sunday after the ghastly and contemptible attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had left us all wounded and outraged, a friend seated next to me in worship suggested that I send a prayer occasionally by e-mail to a few friends. He seemed to be suggesting prayer as a force that could steady our reeling spirits. He made the suggestion because he was familiar with my prayers, having often heard me offer prayer as a liturgist in the worship of First Presbyterian Church in San Antonio during my thirteen years of service there.

The prayers included on this site are prayers spoken for and from this radically different Post-9/11/01 Age in which we find ourselves. Illusions have been shattered about human progress toward perfection, about safe harbors anywhere for any of us, and about the ability of Christians and the Christian Church to hold out truth and light to people trying to find their way in a pluralistic, materialistic, skeptical culture, while living in a world constantly threatened by massive poverty, warfare, and ecological decay.

Prayer is at the heart of the Christian faith. "Do not be like the Gentiles who think they will be heard for their many words," Jesus said, and he added: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matthew 6:7,8) If God knows what we need before we ask; if God is already at work giving good gifts to his children, why do we need to pray at all, and what happens when we do pray?

First, prayer is throwing open the door so that the power of God's Spirit can come into our own lives. We are changed when we pray. Love becomes more active. We become more sensitive to the pains and joys of others. We are more sure God is at work in us and in them. We see it happening. We become the wires that can carry the mighty currents God sends surging into the world. The current can move through us to provide light where people are living in darkness. Having asked and received forgiveness, forgiveness flows through us to others, and love, received in that mighty burst of love that poured forth from the cross, now goes charging along the lines of our prayers.

Beyond what we can understand, though, prayer carries the power of the Spirit where people invite God's Spirit to go. God will not let someone suffer because we forget or neglect to pray. Our love may falter; God's never does. When we do call out to God, the Holy Spirit rushes to the side of a fearful, faltering person as soon as the prayer is spoken. People in pain find courage; people battling illness find new strength; people crushed by loss are comforted. The current follows the path of our prayer in God's own mysterious way. The mechanics may mystify us. It is the mighty, active compassion of God that makes it work. We see it happen and marvel. Paul's great words, "In all things God is at work for good with those who love him," assure us that God works his wisdom through our prayers. It is with us, in cooperation with praying people, through prayer, that God is at work in everything for good.

These prayers are made available for your personal use with the hope that the Holy Spirit will use them to equip you for life in this challenging age, bringing you the courage and peace and hope that are the Spirit's distinctive gifts.