9-11 Prayer

Scotty Smith:

Dear Lord Jesus, it’s the day on our calendars that has its own dark branding, “9/11.” There have been many days in history which stand out as graphic reminders of the pervasive brokenness of the world—of just how far we have fallen and just how fully the peace of creation has been violated by sin and death. But in my lifetime, no day in American history tells that story more clearly than September 11, 2001.

I’ll never forget how it felt watching the twin towers of the World Trade Center crumble to the earth—the morning of my wife’s 50th birthday. It was chilling, frightful, and surreal. But as I remember that day of terror and trauma, I also choose to remember you, Lord Jesus. Otherwise I would drift towards self-centered despair, nationalistic rage, or worse, a numbing indifference.

Lord Jesus, that day didn’t take you by surprise, catch you off guard or put you on notice. You were just as sovereign that day as the day you created the universe, as the day you died in our place on the cross, as the day you were raised from the dead. You are the Prince of Peace—the archetypal Peacemaker, the destroyer of hostilities and reconciler of enemies. You are the one who has come to make all things new, to restore broken things, to bring new creation delight from old creation decay.

Jesus, your death on the cross was the ultimate sowing of peace. As you died, taking the judgment we deserve, you were planted as the very seed which has secured an eternal harvest of righteousness. Your death was the death of death itself and the promise of eternal shalom.

Because of you, terror is terrified. Indeed, because of you, one day there will be no terror or tears. There will be no more brokenness or barrenness, no more heartaches or even heartburn, no more human trafficking or even human tooth decay, no more war or even aggravation, no more evil or even envy, no more poverty or even pouting, and no more “not yet,” “not enough,” or “not now.”

Our labors in you, King Jesus, are not in vain. Because of you we can, and must, live as peacemakers, sowing the peace of the gospel of the kingdom, with the absolute assurance that a harvest of righteousness is being raised and will be reaped.

We praise and adore you, for your name is Redeemer, Reconciler, and Restorer. We cry out loud, “Maranatha!” Come, Lord Jesus, come! Give us all the mercy, grace, and peace we need for this day, as we labor and wait for that Day. So very Amen we pray, with kingdom joy and great hope.

This prayer is also featured in Scotty's book, Everyday Prayers