God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1), pour out Your comfort, mercy, and provision on the family members and friends of each of these men and women who have lost their lives in Kabul. As they process what for others is a “national headline” on a personal and private level, show them Your compassion every step of the way. Lord, pour out Your comfort, mercy, and provision especially on the fellow comrades of the service members - those who wake up today equipped and ready, but nonetheless shaken, in shock, and grieving, as they have to continue standing ready as soldiers. Lord, ultimately all grace, truth, strength, and comfort come through a saving knowledge of Your Son Jesus and His sending of Your abiding Spirit. We pray for these grieving family members, friends, and soldiers, that for any of them who do not know the abundant, saving grace of Jesus, kindle in their hearts a desire for repentance and faith in the good King Jesus. For those family members, friends, and soldiers who do call upon Jesus as Savior and Lord, grant them opportunity to sit beside the others who grieve - with a listening ear, compassion, and perfectly-timed words of hope.
Lord God, we confess and know that there is still more violence to come. In the free will You graciously granted us, we humans continue to fight for power, resources, and control; and we destroy one another’s lives, communities, and resources as a result. Father, in the mercy of Christ, let it be Your will that the violence would subside. No one wants peace more than the community members and soldiers who stand so vigilantly to defend and fight for peace. So Lord, let the peace of the good King Jesus come swiftly to the land of Afghanistan, as we long for His reigning peace to come to our own country and to all nations on earth. For those on the ground, grant them the calm and strength of Christ in the face of all fear. For those of us watching from a distance, and affected indirectly by military decisions, economic effects, and more, grant us the calm and strength of Christ in the face of all fear. For those of us watching from us a distance, Holy Spirit, inspire in us how we can sacrificially and best support our own service members as well as residents of Afghanistan who simply want their country restored and flourishing. Lord, watch over the chaotic fleeing of so many from Afghanistan in the days and weeks ahead, and bring your good order to a situation so rife with complexity at every edge.
Lord God, we also pray for the Church’s witness in Kabul and the surrounding regions. For foreign aid workers, for Christian missionaries, for local pastors, elders, and disciples of Jesus in Kabul and beyond, grant them all wisdom and knowledge of Christ so they can minister in the midst of devastation in the name of Christ. Praying to You from the U.S., Lord, show our churches in our own country how we best stand as witnesses to Christ to our service members and their families; how we best stand for the Gospel of Jesus without conflating it with any one particular political ideology. We confess, God, that all of our minds and hearts - no matter where we stand on the political spectrum - have been discipled for far too long by the machinations of an earthly government. And yet You call us to be witnesses not just to the hurt and the mourning, but also in the positions, decisions, and policies we vote for and support. We cannot wade through all this on our own - grant us wisdom, God; grant us courage. And grant your wisdom and courage to the leaders of Afghanistan, the U.S., and all countries involved, whose decisions have dire ripple effects on the citizens of Afghanistan and the service members who have sought to defend and support their self-governance for two decades. And for ISIS-K and for any other surreptitious parties and factions who will vie for power in the coming weeks, bring their hearts to Jesus through visions and dreams of Him in miraculous ways, so that perhaps more decades of violence in that region might be slowed by Your mighty hand.
God, your Psalmist declared: “Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.”
Come again, Lord Jesus, that this vision may come to pass. Amen.
