prisonchaplain Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 As a new president is about to enter office I offer on his behalf the same daily prayer I've uttered for over 30 years: God grant the wisdom of Solomon and Joseph. Spare this land for the sake of the righteous. Use our leaders to prosper & protect your church & your church to prosper and protect this land. In Jesus' name, Amen. Sunday21, anatess2, Just_A_Guy and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 May he repent of his evils; and may those who have embraced and committed evil in his name also be granted grace and repentance. Amen. Sunday21 and a mustard seed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 I'll try an attempt at this. A Reading from the Book of Armaments, Chapter 4, Verses 16 to 20: Then did he raise on high the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, saying, "Bless this, O Lord, that with it thou mayst blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy." And the people did rejoice and did feast upon the lambs and toads and tree-sloths and fruit-bats and orangutans and breakfast cereals ... Now did the Lord say, "First thou pullest the Holy Pin. Then thou must count to three. Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three. Five is right out. Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then lobbest thou the Holy Hand Grenade in the direction of thine foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted January 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2017 6 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said: May he repent of his evils; and may those who have embraced and committed evil in his name also be granted grace and repentance. Amen. I may counsel someone to repent. I might disagree with policies. I'm reticent to pray that others repent. President-Elect Trump has several spiritual advisors, so I can certainly hope that my prayer will result in their discernment, as well. This thought triggered my thinking a bit, because I heard that change.org is petitioning for Christians to pray that Trump repents. I find it rich that a non-religious political advocacy group, that general opposes traditional Christian values, would advise us on how to pray. a mustard seed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anatess2 Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Amen and Amen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_A_Guy Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 On 12/31/2016 at 8:22 PM, prisonchaplain said: I may counsel someone to repent. I might disagree with policies. I'm reticent to pray that others repent. President-Elect Trump has several spiritual advisors, so I can certainly hope that my prayer will result in their discernment, as well. This thought triggered my thinking a bit, because I heard that change.org is petitioning for Christians to pray that Trump repents. I find it rich that a non-religious political advocacy group, that general opposes traditional Christian values, would advise us on how to pray. I suppose, theologically, it begs questions of free will and so forth. On the other hand, the Book of Mormon contains an anecdote of a father (and, if memory serves, his entire church congregation) praying for a son's repentance; and that prayer being answered by an angelic visit to the son. Still not sure how that squares with free will; but at least there's precedent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zil Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 12 minutes ago, Just_A_Guy said: Still not sure how that squares with free will The same way that every interaction between people squares with free will. Clearly (from Laman and Lemuel) the mere fact of one party being an angel does not have sufficient force to overcome one's own agency any more than, say, you or I could overpower the other's agency. The angel didn't force Alma to do anything or forcibly prevent him from doing anything - they just had a conversation (that scared the living daylights out of Alma). If scaring the living daylights out of someone were a violation of agency, the Lord would have instructed the prophets to ensure the automobile was outlawed in the state of Utah... Backroads, Just_A_Guy and a mustard seed 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted January 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 5 hours ago, Just_A_Guy said: I suppose, theologically, it begs questions of free will and so forth. On the other hand, the Book of Mormon contains an anecdote of a father (and, if memory serves, his entire church congregation) praying for a son's repentance; and that prayer being answered by an angelic visit to the son. Still not sure how that squares with free will; but at least there's precedent. Part of my struggle with a prayer that a leader repent is that it can imply that he's not converted. FWIW I never prayed that HRC would repent either. I did sometimes pray against her pro-abortion policies, but she says she's Methodist and the President Elect says he's Presbyterian. I take them at their word, again trusting that my prayers will cover them and those who offer them spiritual counsel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classylady Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 I pray that our leaders will make the right choices for our freedom. I pray that our leaders will follow the Lord's will for our country. Maybe, that's too generic? a mustard seed, Jane_Doe and Backroads 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a mustard seed Posted January 7, 2017 Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 Instead of praying for others to repent, might it not be better to pray and ask for the Lord to soften their hearts? Isn't that what repentance is after all? Submitting to the Lord's will above your own and it takes that contrite spirit and broken heart. There's no guarantee that a prayer will be answered the way we want it to; Heavenly Father will always have things occur in the ultimate best interests of each of us individually and Donald Trump himself as well. So, I don't see it as a "free will" question. I can pray for someone to soften their hearts all I want but if they choose not to, and reject the spirit, then I feel pretty safe in saying that God's plan accounts for that and He hasn't forgotten me personally and where my heart is. If that means Trump does not soften his heart or repent of his sins because these trials were foretold too and are supposed to be a grand softening of all of our hearts, an effort to turn back to the Lord on a national scale, then so be it. I've found very often, when I pray for those who are hurting me or causing me trouble to stop, for the Lord to influence them, very often it is myself who needs a softened heart, to turn to Him with all my trust and will. Because no matter what Donald Trump chooses to do for good or ill, I will need the Lord beside me and that is often what the trial was for, right? prisonchaplain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prisonchaplain Posted January 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2017 On 1/3/2017 at 4:22 PM, classylady said: I pray that our leaders will make the right choices for our freedom. I pray that our leaders will follow the Lord's will for our country. Maybe, that's too generic? When we know intimate details, we pray them. When we don't, we pray for what we know. Your prayer is perfect. SilentOne and classylady 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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