May they -- including President Trump -- be open to all faiths and their teachings about those who live among us.
By Rodger McDaniel
Allah, God, Yahweh, or what name gives the Divine Creator of us all the honor and praise our creator deserves:
We pause from the time wasted with our flaws, partisanship, prejudices
and fears, and in the spirit of your guidance, we pray for those with whom we disagree, even as we pray for our president, Donald Trump.
Your people live in times that try our souls and test our faith. Though we have all been created in your image and, therefore, have so much in common, we are so divided that there is danger we may not be able to adequately serve as your faithful partners in achieving the hope you have for humankind and all of creation.
Grant us the faith to understand that if Trump is as good a leader as his supporters believe, then he, with your guidance, will work to right the wrongs of our nation and world. Likewise, let others find comfort in the assurance that if Trump is as deficient a leader as they fear, you will lead others to work toward righting the wrongs he might otherwise bring upon our nation and the world.
Our deeply humble prayer is that our faith can overcome our fears, our prejudices and our partisanship as you guide his decisions.
Your people have been directed where to search for truth. We recall it was Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish rabbi, revered by Islam, and the one whom Christians follow who said, “I was born and have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
It was, we also recall, the oppressor of the people, the one who denied their humanity, and the one who sought to marginalize and persecute those who were different, the defiant one who couldn’t distinguish the truth from the lies. It was Pilate, who ordered Jesus be executed, who wondered aloud, “What is truth?”
It is the truth we seek, while knowing it is found through following your teachings, and not those of any human being, that we will find it.
It is because of your word that we pray Trump’s heart will be opened to the immigrant and the refugee. The Holy Quran of your Muslim children speaks of those who were “oppressed in their own land, fleeing violence in their homes” when it asks, “Was not the Earth of Allah spacious enough for you to move yourself away from evil?”
The Bible Jesus read, the Hebrew scripture, says, “When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the foreigner. The foreigner who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself.”
Our prayer is that Trump’s heart be opened to these words you have spoken and those about whom you spoke.
In your infinite wisdom, you have shown us what is good. When asked, “What does the Lord require of you,” you told us it is to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. You told us we will all be judged by what we do for the least of these, our brothers and sisters. We lift up our prayer that this president and all who come into places of power will lead us in that manner.
You also warned us against placing a human king over you in directing our lives. We place trust in the Hebrew scripture’s teaching that you can see the hearts of leaders when we cannot. You told Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
We pray together with, and for, those with whom we disagree. Our purpose in this life matters more than our differences, and it matters enough that we seek to find common ground in your hopes for the world. For that we pray.
Amen.
Rodger McDaniel is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He lives in Laramie.
We pause from the time wasted with our flaws, partisanship, prejudices
Your people live in times that try our souls and test our faith. Though we have all been created in your image and, therefore, have so much in common, we are so divided that there is danger we may not be able to adequately serve as your faithful partners in achieving the hope you have for humankind and all of creation.
Grant us the faith to understand that if Trump is as good a leader as his supporters believe, then he, with your guidance, will work to right the wrongs of our nation and world. Likewise, let others find comfort in the assurance that if Trump is as deficient a leader as they fear, you will lead others to work toward righting the wrongs he might otherwise bring upon our nation and the world.
Our deeply humble prayer is that our faith can overcome our fears, our prejudices and our partisanship as you guide his decisions.
Your people have been directed where to search for truth. We recall it was Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish rabbi, revered by Islam, and the one whom Christians follow who said, “I was born and have come into the world to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
It was, we also recall, the oppressor of the people, the one who denied their humanity, and the one who sought to marginalize and persecute those who were different, the defiant one who couldn’t distinguish the truth from the lies. It was Pilate, who ordered Jesus be executed, who wondered aloud, “What is truth?”
It is the truth we seek, while knowing it is found through following your teachings, and not those of any human being, that we will find it.
It is because of your word that we pray Trump’s heart will be opened to the immigrant and the refugee. The Holy Quran of your Muslim children speaks of those who were “oppressed in their own land, fleeing violence in their homes” when it asks, “Was not the Earth of Allah spacious enough for you to move yourself away from evil?”
The Bible Jesus read, the Hebrew scripture, says, “When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the foreigner. The foreigner who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself.”
Our prayer is that Trump’s heart be opened to these words you have spoken and those about whom you spoke.
In your infinite wisdom, you have shown us what is good. When asked, “What does the Lord require of you,” you told us it is to act justly, love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. You told us we will all be judged by what we do for the least of these, our brothers and sisters. We lift up our prayer that this president and all who come into places of power will lead us in that manner.
You also warned us against placing a human king over you in directing our lives. We place trust in the Hebrew scripture’s teaching that you can see the hearts of leaders when we cannot. You told Samuel, “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
We pray together with, and for, those with whom we disagree. Our purpose in this life matters more than our differences, and it matters enough that we seek to find common ground in your hopes for the world. For that we pray.
Amen.
Rodger McDaniel is the pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne. He lives in Laramie.
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