From the least to the great, those who love you or hate,
All family and friends, those whom Jesus would win;
The rich and the poor, the Pharisee and the whore,
The victim, the killer, the community pillar;
The homeless in the street, one in the president’s seat,
Them that backstab you, those whose tongue jabs you;
Who lie to your face, who hates all your race;
Who would steal your last meal, with not a thought how you feel;
Who would slander your mother and come between you and your brother;
Pray for them; say to Him, who made heaven and earth,
The One whose great Love sustains us from birth,
“Forgive them my Father and show them your Love,
May their hearts and their minds look to above.”
A fact that remains about all women and men,
They were made in God’s image, fashioned like Him.
He Loves saint and sinner, losers and winners.
He invites every last one to a heavenly dinner.
But we are His hands as He looks from above,
Not hands of trouble, but hands made for love.
The thumb and the fingers work as we kneel,
And great things are done when to God we appeal.
Hard hearts are softened into God’s Love they slip,
Satan’s power is broken and He loses his grip.
Healing is given for the sick and downcast,
And the Doctor still heals as He healed in the past.
But what is eternal is the greatest of needs.
We must keep that in mind whenever we plead.
The things of this world will one day be gone,
But the souls of all men are just beginning to dawn.
The Son of God, Jesus, gave the greatest of clues,
When He said, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”
All will not listen, even unto God’s Son,
But we pray for them all and pray for the one.
For one of the soldiers who dropped the cross in the sod,
Said, “Surely this man was the true Son of God.”
Can it get any worse than him who took Jesus’ life?
Then pray for them all and do not think twice.
Someone prayed for you, believe it or not,
It might have been little; it might have been a lot.
Now God’s hands they move in mysterious ways,
So pray for all people, all of your days.
Tertius
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving
be made for all people.
1 Timothy 2:1
A note about “Intercession”: I’m sure the majority of my time in prayer is for others, although for a time I was befuddled over the conflict between man’s free will and prayers for God’s intervention in the path someone chooses. I believe now that we are not puppets, but according to scripture (2 Peter 3:9) God desires all men to come to Him and also according to scripture the prayers of one person can bring about forgiveness for another. (Numbers 14:19-20, II Chronicles 30:18-20, John 20:23) In the New International Version of the Bible John 16:7 refers to the Holy Spirit as the Counselor. A counselor could also be referred to as an advisor or a persuader. Although God does not force Himself on anyone our prayers would seem to move His Spirit to persuade lost souls and those who follow Him (though perhaps not so close) to desire Him more. Courtship between a man and a woman in preparation for marriage is all about persuasion. Preceding my return to the Lord my father was stuck in a wheelchair unable to speak for over 8 months and I believe he must have spent a great deal of that time praying for me. There was a time in my life that although I was this side of the grave, Satan probably thought that in my condition I was as good as his behind his gates. The prayers of the saints, the mighty hand of God and the blood of Jesus brought me out of the darkness and into the light. Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18