several books.<\/a>) If God could alone heal anyone at any time, he’s lazy, uncaring, or off on holiday. Or God’s ways are so mysterious that I can’t recommend anyone believe in this God.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThese two concerns and a healthy Facebook discussion chain prompt me to offer the prayer below. I consider it a first draft, however. I’d like to hear from you, the reader, what I should add, change, or clarify. I plan to update it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MY PRAYER<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our Loving God,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI pray for President Donald Trump, Melania Trump, their family, advisors, and associates.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAs you know, the Trumps say they tested positive for Covid-19. You know the accuracy of this announcement and the full extent of their illness. I offer this prayer assuming they have the virus.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou love everyone and everything, because you want the good of all. You love those who live mostly virtuous lives. And you love those who are far from virtuous. You seek to promote the well-being of everyone and everything, including those who \u2013 like me \u2013 sometimes sin and do evil.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI am grateful for your love!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI believe you want to heal everyone, including the President. You’re not causing or allowing the pandemic. You don’t desire<\/span> evil. <\/b><\/span><\/strong>Illness and death are not your punishment. But you face forces, factors, actors, and circumstances resisting your healing efforts. You <\/b>can’t <\/em>heal singlehandedly. So not all that occurs is your will. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou are not in control, because you\u2019re not a controlling God.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou love President Trump, his family, and associates. That\u2019s part of what it means to love everyone. But I don\u2019t think you \u201clike\u201d all they do and how they act. You\u2019re disappointed, angry, sad, and frustrated by attitudes, actions, and policies contrary to the ways of love. And we’ve witnessed those contrary ways in recent years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou\u2019re urging the President to be wise, humble, and loving. You call his family and associates to the same. They don’t always respond well. But you never give up. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nMy prayer, then, is not that you start <\/em>loving or begin <\/em>to try to heal. You always love and want to heal. I don’t think you’ve given him the virus to “teach the President a lesson.” You try to teach us in whatever circumstances, good or bad. You try to squeeze good from the bad you didn’t want in the first place.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nInstead, I\u2019m asking you to give me <\/em>wisdom on how I<\/em> might cooperate with what you\u2019re already doing.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\nProvide me insights into how I might talk, resist, promote, encourage, criticize, show compassion, and more. Inspire my imagination to love in ways that forgive, create, and seek justice. I pledge my loving cooperation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI\u2019m not as wise as I would like to be. I don\u2019t love as consistently as I want. I need your help! Help me to encourage the President and others in whatever ways I can. Help me to condemn the President when he speaks or acts contrary to the common good. And give me wisdom to discern the two. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYou want healthy leaders, healthy countries, and a healthy world. You love this land and these people, just as you love all lands and all people. Help me do the same.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI love you, God, and I adore you. I praise you for your excellence. You are amazing! I also thank you for your love, wisdom, and guidance. I am grateful!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nYour friend and partner,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nTom<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What would you add, change, or clarify?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Trump announced on Twitter today that he and Melania tested positive for Covid-19. Most news outlets are assuming the announcement is true. I’ve been wrestling with how to pray for the President. I believe we should pray for our leaders, even though I don’t think the President is leading well. “Praying for the President” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[415,7051,7056],"yst_prominent_words":[1553,2004,2702,4219,5330,5388,5648,6047],"class_list":["post-5703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-postmodern_philosophy_theology_and_culture","tag-donald-trump","tag-virus","tag-pray-for-the-sick"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5703\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5703"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasjayoord.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=5703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}