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SUBJECT: Prayer
QUESTION: Should we pray for our enemies? Is it
okay to pray for those not members of the church?
ANSWER:
God said:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life
He DID NOT say, "For God so loved the church members only,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that they only
should not perish but only that they should have eternal
life.
Absurd. Now notice these:
Matthew 5:44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse
you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Acts 7:60
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay
not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this,
he fell asleep.
Note: Stephen
prayed for those who were killing him. In Matthew 5:44,
Jesus, Himself tells us to pray for our enemies. Clearly,
this being truth, it would be perfectly okay to pray for
family members of anyone you desire except for Satan or the
demons.
Notice these two scriptures which speak to our assisting our
enemies:
Proverbs 25:21
If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he
be thirsty, give him water to drink:
Romans 12:20
Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst,
give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of
fire on his head.
Now the next 6 verses have to do with God loving us before
we were members:
Luke 2:14
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will
toward men.
Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we
were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
2 Corinthians 5:19
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath
committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Titus 3:4
But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared,
1 John 4:9-10
9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because
that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we
might live through him.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:19
We love him, because he first loved us.
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