Imprecatory song and prayer

But surely your theology requires you to think that the Psalms were inspired by God, that those are in fact his words. You can't say the same --- can you? --- of whichever prayers come into your head, and that if you decide to pray against Bart Ehrman then your words have the same status as Holy Writ.

I thinik I'd spend some time asking God to show me who to pray against.

If God always answered prayers, the world would be a very different place.If I were a Christian, which I was, I'd play it safe by asking God to bless and help people, not to hurt them. "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

Faith, what is the purpose of prayer?Is it not to venerate, to glorify, to praise your god? Or do you use prayer to list you wants and needs beseeching him to do your bidding?Your imprecatory prayer is a prayer for vengeance, violence, evil to be done upon your enemy. It is an old testament doctrine invoking the wrath of a vengeful god that has no place in the love-thine-enemy, turn-the-other-cheek doctrines of your god-on-earth jesus. It is anathema to christianity.If your god is real, Faith, he does not need some lowly vassal telling him who his enemies are nor presuming to instruct him on what he should do about them. Just like the pope you hate so much, you assume upon yourself the power to interpret your god's mind, judge who are his enemies and pour forth in prayer the hatred of your own heart towards them.If the stories of your jesus are true, Faith, he just might be quite upset at you right now. Which is OK since, as I understand, he'll get over and forgive you. Which is, apparently, more than you can muster in his name.

Wow. Go into prayer asking his guidance on who to hate.That's not your place, Faith.

Reminds me of World War One, when God was on both sides.

No, not on my enemy, I'm to pray for my enemies, as I've said over and over here. This is about God's enemy. That's what this discussion is about.This is an old thread that Phat resurrected. I'm sorry he did. I don't have any real interest in this subject.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

That is what I said. To reiterate: He doesn't need you to tell him who his enemies are or what he should do about them. If he is real then he is big enough to take care of himself without your egocentric intercession.To put a fine point on it, Faith, there really is no distinction between your enemies and his. They both spring from your own judgement within your own mind. And to seek his guidance, which really means to search your own heart, on who you think he should hate is just wrong.Edited by AZPaul3, : No reason given.

I'm sure you know everything about Christian theology. Thanks for your input.

That is true, yes. You're welcome.

Why would god need to show you who to pray against? What could he possibly gain from it?Surely he listens to all prayers and notes who prays for what. Is it not enough to pray as your conscience dictates and if your prayers happen to coincide with what god wants it will happen and you will have some evidence that you are in tune with his wishes?1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:If gays not being able to marry is according to his will those prayers to stop gays getting married would have prevented the current state of affairs. Don't forget the governments of the Earth are appointed by god.Romans 5:14 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.Romans 13:2 - Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.Him showing you who to pray for in some way (but not completely) abrogates your free will.Given that gays can marry now and at least some people have prayed for that to change the fact that god has allowed it to happen (therefor ignoring those prayers) may be some indication that he is not currently against gays getting married.

You don't need to do much reading of the Bible to know that a prayer hate list isn't Christian. Wasn't Jesus very explicit about how to pray and for what to pray? I'd be happy to provide a reading list if you've forgotten how to find those verse.Perhaps you need a break from us. You're on a terrible roll right now.

Does anybody bother to read the whole context of a thread? This was started eight years ago when I had just become aware of the "Imprecatory Psalms" which are basically prayers against the wicked, as something considered to be acceptable in CHristian life. I had heard a sermon saying these do not contradict the Christian life -- they aren't prayers against OUR enemies, for whom we are to pray, but prayers against God's enemies, those who are dedicated to destroying God's work. The thread got revived and I went to find more sermons on the subject, found a short one I posted a link to that says the same thing, these are prayers against the forces of evil, not sinners, and not our personal enemies.I always pray in a general way against the forces of evil anyway. What the sermon suggested was that there are people who are apostates who are dedicated to destroying the Church, whom it makes sense to pray against, but the preacher also warned that we have to be sure we know what we are doing and don't pray against other sinners, who are just people like ourselves who may yet be saved. My response was that I'd have to pray to find out God's will in a particular matter.I have not determined what I think about all this. You can rest easy.Oh but need a break from you all, yes. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Maybe you should spend less time listening to Preachers and more time reading the bible?Why put some one between you and Jesus?