The other prayer I heard, though more infrequently, was “Forgive us our sins” in some form or another: “I’m sorry” and “God, please forgive me.” People want to be at peace with God when they die. The most common petition I heard was some variant of “Deliver us from evil.” “Help!” “Save us!” and “Oh, God, please don’t let me die!” Crises prompt cries for deliverance, with the immediate need for safety drowning out all other concerns. I suspect it reflects the way many of us intuitively pray. The content of those prayers fascinated me. Thirty minutes later, after having landed safely, the group of strangers waited at baggage claim, looking awkwardly at each other. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there certainly aren’t many on buffeted flights. Many people were crying out to a God in whom they did not believe. The cabin filled with shrieking and praying. The plane was shuddering and sporadically dropping 50 feet at a time. Approaching the Queenstown airport, we were caught in a giant wind tunnel. (A few) years ago, my wife and I were on an Air New Zealand flight that felt like it was falling out of the sky. Most of us pray the Lord’s Prayer backwards. Pastor Andrew Wilson writes in an issue of CT magazine:
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