In the afternoon of October 31st, an Islamic man rented a truck from Home Depot and proceeded to lower Manhattan. He purposely ran over bikers and pedestrians in a bike lane for eight city blocks before plowing into a school bus. He then ran out of the truck shooting a b-b gun and a paintball gun, until he was shot by police. He survived, but eight people he hit with his vehicle succumbed to their injuries. Some were killed immediately. Eleven more remain hospitalized with serious injuries. Several children with special needs were in the school bus that eventually stopped his rampage. Imagine how frightened these children and their parents were.

Sayfullo Saipov, 29, from Uzbekistan, was the driver of the truck. He was reported to be unremorseful in court on Thursday. It is reported that he planned the attack for a year and identifies as an ISIS terrorist. He is a married father of three and is in the United States on a Diversity Visa.1

In prayer about this situation this morning, the Lord gave some specific direction for prayer. We always want to pray for the Lord to comfort the families and friends of those who were killed. We certainly want to pray for the innocent children, bus driver, and others who witnessed the carnage. This attack in New York was also an attack against our nation’s spiritual purpose of reflecting the beauty of Christ’s bride – from every nation, tongue, and tribe. New York City is what most people all over the globe think of when they think of America. Finally, the circumstances of this situation leave a feeling that fear has deepened across New York and the nation. There is a caution from the Holy Spirit to be careful how we intercede, so that we are not joining in a demonic plan to increase fear in the nation. We should rather be defusing it and bringing peace and truth into the atmosphere.

Join us in prayer:

• Intercede for the families and friends of those killed—husbands, fathers, sons, daughter, and friends. Pray for comfort and that they would look for, and find, God in their pain and not pull away from Him.
  

• Pray that the Lord completely heals the bodies and minds of those wounded, together with their families'.
  

• Ask Jesus to minister in a very special way to the precious children with special needs, their families, and their bus driver. Pray against trauma and fear. Command the enemy to stop attacking their minds and dreams. Pray they would experience Christ’s love for them in tangible ways.
  

• Ask the Lord for justice to be done in this case. Pray that Sayfullo Saipov and his family would be introduced to Jesus and have an opportunity for salvation through Him, so that they can know Sayfullo was deceived by a false god’s direction.
  

• People have mantles of destiny. Nations do, as well. The United States has a “melting pot” mantle. That means we are to show forth the beauty of the diversity of the bride of Christ. New York City reflects this better than any other American city. Pray that this terror situation does not divide people, especially the Church, over culture, color, language, and religion. We are not to hate people groups because of what one person (or 10 people) of that group may do. Pray that the Church would continue to pray that the United States will be “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.” (Revelation 7:9; NASB)
  

• Satan is behind the scenes deceiving, stealing, and killing. He wants to instill fear. The Ekklesia must resist this. Intercede for Believers to be light in the darkness, purveyors of truth where there are lies, and those bringing peace into the midst of chaos. Identificationally repent for Christians who are joining in the fear-filled fray and inadvertently speaking curses into the atmosphere. Declare the Word of God and display Him in the earth. (Can you see Jesus getting caught up in a whirlwind of emotion?) Let Holy Spirit control your mind, will, emotions, conversations, and prayer direction. “My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight, for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns. May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord.” (Philippians 1:9-11; TLB)

1 Benjamin Mueller, William Rashbaum, Al Baker and Adam Goldman, “Prosecutors Describe Driver’s Plan to Kill in Manhattan Terror Attack.” Nytimes.com, Nov. 1, 2017. 11/2/17.