Day 12 of prayer . . .

Dear God,

I Corinthians 13:4 also says that love is kind.

Donald Trump does not come across as a kind person.  Perhaps, as a businessman and later a politician, he has learned, or been taught, that kindness sets you up to be taken advantage of, exploited, and walked on.  Kindness perhaps is equal to weakness, and one cannot afford to be weak in the world he lives in.

God, change his mind and his heart.

Please send him people who will show him what true kindness is, that it is a mark of strength. 

Give him an example of how a president and politician can be kind both in public and private life, how he can be kind to those he interacts with in public--such as Congressmen and heads of state--and how he can be kind to his family in private; to Melania, to Barron, to his children and grandchildren.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 11 of prayer

Dear God,

I Corinthians 13:4 tells us that "love is patient".

Donald Trump probably knows "love" as a way to manipulate and to be manipulated.  Please help him to know that true love only comes from you.

True love is patient.  True love knows the value of waiting, and waiting calmly, instead of demanding what they want, right now.  True love knows that people are not perfect, and that they will make mistakes.  True love does not demand that people live up to an image.

Please give Donald Trump the patience that only can come from you.  Please transform his hear with that patience.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Day 10 of prayer

Dear God,

You say in Matthew 5:10 that those who are persecuted because of righteousness are blessed, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Donald Trump has claimed persecution because of his beliefs and his actions as President.  I don't know if he has ever been persecuted because of righteousness before.

Please help him to understand that those who disagree with his beliefs or his actions may not be guilty of persecution.

Please help him to understand and perceive what true persecution because of righteousness is.

Help him to find true righteousness.

If he is persecuted, may it be because of true righteousness.

Where he is persecuted due to true righteousness, please be his defender.

If he is simply being disagreed with, give him the wisdom to see that disagreement is not always persecution.

And please help him desire not the kingdom that is on earth, but the one that is in heaven, for those persecuted for the sake of righteousness will inherit it.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 9 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 5:9 says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

In Donald Trump's world, peace is a foreign concept.  Peace is usually achieved by getting the upper hand and using trickery to do so.

Please help Donald Trump to learn what a true peacemaker is.  Help him to learn that peace--true peace--is a fruit of your Holy Spirit.  Help him to search for you and your peace so that he can be a child of yours.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 8 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 5:8 says that the pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God.

I don't know how "pure in heart" Donald Trump is.  He may not be pure in heart at all.  The world he grew up in and the circles he's been involved in over his life are not conducive to someone being pure in heart.  In fact, they are more conducive to being deceitful.  Deceit and trickery are much more common in his world and among his cohorts.

Help Donald Trump to desire purity of heart.  Bring people to him that will kindle in him a desire for a pure heart.  Show him that there is another way to live, a way that promises him that he will see you.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 7 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 7:7 says that those who are merciful are blessed, because they will be shown mercy.

Please help Donald Trump learn what mercy is.
Please help him to learn to show that mercy to other people.
In the world he is from, and the world he now inhabits, mercy is seen as an act of weakness and of weak people, and it is meant to be exploited and used against people.
You, God, believe in showing mercy and ask us to be merciful.
Please help Donald Trump to do the same.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 6 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 5:6 tells us that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be blessed, because they will be filled.

Please give Donald Trump a hunger and thirst for righteousness--not just for "being right" in the positions he holds, but a hunger and a thirst for being right before God; being humble before God and having a desire to know what God wants him to do. 

Help him to realize that when he does this, God will fill him. 

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 5 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 5:5 tells us that it is the meek that are blessed, for they will inherit the earth.

It is not those who have power and wield it who will inherit the earth.  Rather, it is the humble and gentle, those who understand that those who recognize their poverty before God, those that mourn over their sin and shortcomings and who turn to God for their comfort, who realize that they are nothing with God, who will inherit the earth.

Give Donald Trump humility and gentleness.  He is in a position where power is worshiped, where power is wielded like a club.  He knows well how to play the games of power.

Please work in his heart to give him humility and meekness.  Help him to realize that, even though "meek" may rhyme with "weak", meekness is not weakness.  Meekness does not mean being a doormat.  Rather, it is realizing that in and of yourself, you do not have what you need to conquer sin and to live righteously.

Please work in Donald Trump's life to give him meekness.

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 4 of prayer

Dear God,

Matthew 5:4 says that those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.

Help Donald Trump to truly mourn -- over his own sins and over the state the country is in right now.

I don't ask that he merely wail and complain.  I ask that he mourn, that he feel deep grief and sorrow that will motivate him to wise action. 

Help him to realize that as he does this, you will give him the comfort he needs, whether it be from other people or supernaturally from you.

I ask this in the name of Jesus  Amen.

Just my. 04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 3 of prayer

Dear God,

In Matthew 5:3, at the beginning of the Beatitudes, you told your disciples that the one who is poor in spirit is blessed. 

Please help Donald Trump recognize his poverty of spirit apart from you. 

Please help him see that it is those who are poor in spirit, who recognize their need, that are truly blessed.

Help him to desire the kingdom of heaven and not the kingdom of this world.

I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Day 2 of prayer

Dear God,

In 1 Kings 3, you appeared to King Solomon in a dream and told him, ask me for anything and I will give it to you.

Solomon asked for wisdom.

Please give Donald Trump the heart to ask for wisdom from you.  He desperately needs it because he leads our country and what he decides will have consequences that echo down through generations.

James 1:5 says that if anyone lacks wisdom, they should ask God, who gives freely without finding fault, and it will be given to them.

Please help Donald Trump realize this verse and ask you for wisdom.

In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan came to King David and confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba.

I don't know, dear God, if Donald Trump has a Nathan in his life, one who will tell him the truth without flinching.  If Trump does not, please send him one.  If Trump has a Nathan, please give that Nathan the courage to tell Trump the truth and please give Donald Trump the heart to listen to him.

If a decision Trump has made is a good decision, and he knows it, help him not to back down in spite of any opposition.

If a decision Trump has made is a poor decision, please give him the wisdom to admit it and to say that he was wrong.

Please also give him not only one Nathan, but many Nathans who will tell him the truth.

I ask this in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.

Repenting of hate

On Facebook, I have a web page where I post my musings about current events.

Last Friday, I posted that I hated Donald Trump.

I was wrong.

Although it's not a sin to examine his policies and actions and point out where you think he's wrong and where you think he's making serious mistakes  . . . it is a sin to hate the man.  One can critique actions and point out sin without falling into the trap of hate.  Or, like a friend of mine said, going down the road of hate.

I'm very angry and very frustrated about certain current events, and I dislike how some are using those events to divide us further and stir up discord.  The Bible has very harsh words for people who store up discord among people.  (See Proverbs 6:19, among others.).

The Bible is also very clear that we are to love one another (John 13:34-35.). I believe that includes Donald Trump as well.  The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 follows Jesus' declaration that all the law and the prophets hang on the commands to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. When Jesus was asked, "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus responded with a story about a man who was of a group despised by the Jews that did good to a Jew.

Paul, in I Timothy 2, tells Timothy that prayers and petitions should be made for those in authority. The main person in authority at that time was the Roman emperor, a man considered Lord and, at the least, not a friend to Christians. 

So for the next 30 days, I am gonig to do just that. 

I'm going to post a prayer a day for Donald Trump. 

Would you like to join me?  If you would, I'd love your company. 

Today's prayer:

Dear God:

I was wrong when I said I hated Donald Trump.  I do not want to go down the road of hate.  I am sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness.

Today I pray for the protection of Donald Trump, his wife Melania, their son Barron, and Donald Trump's other children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric, and Tiffany.  May those who seek to do them harm be stopped.  May those who protect them be alert at all times to keep them safe.  May President Trump and his family cooperate with those who protect them.  Help President Trump and his family to also be alert to those who wish to harm them without being paranoid and overly suspicious. 

I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.