What do you think about praying for "our troops"?

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I liked your train of thought. I do agree that we shouldn't mistake the warriors for the war. I also agree that Jesus did come to die on the cross for our sins and that was part of the reason why Jesus said what did.

The Bible teaches also that God doesn't want anyone to perish. So in addition to praying for the American troops (in and out of harms way and with or with out chicken) perhaps it should also be in our prayers the innocent people there and also (a not so popular prayer) the not so innocent al Queda that are trying to kill our troops. Pray for them to that they change, or surrender, or that their plans are thwarted, etc., really the best thing to do is to pray for God's will be done.

God knows what's going on there. The Bible also teaches to pray for our leaders. If we agree with them or even if we don't agree with them we should pray for our leaders. God does allow good things to happen to bad people & also He allows bad things to happen to good people. If you really take a look at Job, he was a righteous man and yet he lost almost everything.

In the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) there were numerous healings. Some of them had been blind or crippled for years and Jesus said that they did not sin to deserve what they had. There are Biblical stories of a small number of warriors that with God on their side destroyed much greater armies.

It is not contridictory to say that (#1) God is a God of Love - as God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will have ever lasting life.

In the next breath say that (#2)God is a God of War that is intolerant of sin. There are many war stories in the Old Test. of the Bible. Ephesians 6 talks about the armor of God - why would God's people need armor? War?!? It says though that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers.

Revelations has many references to war. In chapter 12 there is war going on in heaven, Satan knows his time is short and has already been defeated (by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony it says)

I'd be more worried about finding and being in God's will for your life and finding a way to defeat Satans attempts because Satan wants to kill, steal and destroy (or hurt your relationship with God, make you be bitterly unforgiving, have a hard heart that won't trust God or very few others, or get you so busy that you don't have time for God) because Satan wants to distract you from God's plan for you and your loved ones.

Jerimiah 29:10-14 is one of my favorite section of scripture. God does has a plan for you. If you are argry at a "so-called" Christian - forgive them for they are only human. Don't let whatever was said keep you from experiencing God's love for you. We all deserve to die because we have all fallen short of the Glory of God because of sin in our lives. The only thing that is different about Christians is that they are forgiven by God and because I've been forgiven the Bible says that I need to forgive as well. The greatest commandments are to love your neighbor as yourself and to love the Lord your God with all your heart. (also note you need to love yourself to fulfill that).

I honestly am not sure I know the Bible reference you refer to about "Return evil for evil to no one". If you do actually find it, please post it on your question. I believe that you have taken a scripture a bit out of context. I hope that I have helped get you and others thinking more - whether or not I get points on this (as this seems to not be the popular belief around here) doesn't matter if it has helped you and others to reevaluate each of our personal relationships with Jesus.

(I didn't say it out of context - I asked you for where it was - as you seemed to know so I could look it up in context!) It is true that vengence is the Lords. We all have the right to not fear being attacked and I think it is to a certain extent right to go after those that have (and plan to) attack us. I want my family to be safe. The following I typed from the New International Version and any totally capitallized words was emphasise from me to point out to you that I believe that you are to a certain extent taking it out of contence too!

If you read the first part of the section in Romans 12

(vs 9) "love must be sincere. HATE WHAT IS EVIL. Cling to what is good...(12)Be ...PATIENT IN AFFLICTION, FAITHFUL IN PRAYER. (13) Share with God's people who are in need."

{notice that you are to pray faithfully in affliction and be patient - the troops over there are helping people that are in need. You don't hear about it a lot on the secular news but there is still a revival going on there with many people wanting to know about Jesus.} The whole point of the next section is about having love for anyone.

(14) "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. "

{the United States has given more to other countries by far than what it has received back

(15) Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. (16) Live in harmony with one another.

{the troops are there to try to help the new government create harmony - it's very hard when there are extremist that want to kill all americans}

(16 continued) Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (17) Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. (18) IF IT IS POSSIBLE, AS FAR AS IT DEPENDS ON YOU, live at peace with everyone

{well sometimes with suicide bombing freaks, it is NOT ALWAYS possible to live at PEACE with them. Do what you can to try to as much as you can be at peace. That does not anywhere say that war is never a POSSIBLE option.}

(19) Do not take revenge...

{the troops are not taking revenge - they are following orders and are trying to protect innocent lives of the (now) free people there.

...(19 cont) my friends but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.

{so the Lord is not ALL NICE & HAPPY & JOY (He is those things yes) AND HE IS also the one that has WRATH and VENGENCE!}

(20) On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

{again the US is the most generously giving country to feed other countries in need - the list goes on and on and on and ON!}

(21) Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

{excuse me but how do you not be overcome by evil - if evil is attacking you - counter attack evil so that you are not overcome by evil ....PLEASE NOTICE I'M NOT SAYING MUSLIMS ARE EVIL BECAUSE I'M AM NOT SAYING THAT AT ALL!...and how do you overcome evil with good exept in a battle to OVERCOME!}

PLEASE KEEP READING ESPECIALLY "TANIC" (Chapter 13 vs 1) EVERYONE MUST SUBMIT TO HIMSELF TO THE GOVERNING AUTHORITIES, FOR THERE IS NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT THAT WHICH GOD HAS ESTABLISHED. THE AUTHORITIES THAT EXIST HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED BY GOD. (2) CONSEQUENTLY, HE WHO REBELS AGAINST THE AUTHORITY IS REBELLING AGAINST WHAT GOD HAS INSTITUTED, AND THOSE WHO DO SO WILL BRING JUDGEMENT ON THEMSELVES. (3) FOR RULERS HOLD NO TERROR FOR THOSE WHO DO RIGHT, BUT FOR THOSE WHO DO WRONG

{it's saying don't rebel and don't worry if you aren't doing bad things and that government has a right to "hold terror" judgement on those that do wrong!}

(3 cont) DO YOU WANT TO BE FREE FROM FEAR OF THE ONE IN AUTHORITY? THEN DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND HE WILL COMMEND YOU. (4) FOR HE IS GOD'S SERVANT TO DO YOU GOOD. BUT IF YOU DO WRONG, BE AFRAID, FOR HE DOES NOT BEAR THE SWORD FOR NOTHING. HE IS GOD'S SERVANT, AN AGENT OF WRATH TO BRING PUNISHMENT ON THE WRONGDOER.

{well man you answered your own question... again... "for he does not bear the sword [or you could say M-16 or 50 cal for more modern day weaponry] for nothing. He [speaking of a soldier kinda sorta] is God's servant, and an AGENT of WRATH to bring "WHAT"???? did that say "PUNISHMENT"??? I think it did... to who?? oh lets see ... "ON THE WRONGDOER."}

I close with (vs 5) "Therefore, it is necessary o submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience."

{I hope that you enjoy your freedom of speach! - I certain enjoy mine! Think about for a moment that in many countries including in the Middle East you would be (at least threatened to be if not) killed if you were caught saying such things about their military and their religion! You should submit - know what that means? be obedient, go along with it ... yes you do have a right to your opinion and you should pray. - pray that the soldiers continue to fight for your freedoms including your freedom of speech and also of religion. What does your conscience tell you??? It seems obvious that you think something is not right. If you agreed with everything that Bush did and said would you really be actually "submitting" or being "obedient"??? NO! you'd be thinking and doing exactly what you wanted and it just so happened that Bush was doing what you thought too... well so what - you aren't the man in charge - he is, so yes say a prayer for Bush too that he'd have wisdom in directing our troops. You seem to have not read the whole scripture following your "return evil to evil to no one" is also closly followed by chapter 13 vs 4: "FOR HE IS GOD'S SERVANT TO DO YOU GOOD. BUT IF YOU DO WRONG, BE AFRAID, FOR HE DOES NOT BEAR THE SWORD FOR NOTHING. HE IS GOD'S SERVANT, AN AGENT OF WRATH TO BRING PUNISHMENT ON THE WRONGDOER."

.... any other questions??? I recommend reading in context as you own advise stated!!!

Jesus didn't want Peter to fight for Him because Jesus came to die and it was His time to die.

I am currently living on a multi-service base in Misawa, Japan (my hubby is Air force). When they say pray for your troops, they aren't necessarily talking about the ones in combat. What about the ones who are 1/2 way across the world? We miss our family and our country. Japan doesn't offer a lot of the oppurtunities that America does (and you have NO idea how often we have earthquakes).

Personally, I would ask for prayer concering job safety, peace of mind, the education of my children. Not all military members go to war. When you pray, you're not asking the Lord to help someone take the life of another person. You are asking the Lord to be with the soldiers; help the soldiers to complete His will; pray that the soldier's familiy is ok, pray that we receive all of our supplies (the commissary ran out of chicken for 3 months one time)....

you pray for the soldier's daily needs just as you would pray for your own.

Ask God that HIS will be done, regardless of the person or the circumstance.

I think that we should pray for everyone, not just our troops.

ADDED MARCH 9 ( direct quote from article sited below)

Ecclesiastes 3:8 declares, “there is…a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. In a world filled with sin, hatred, and evil (Romans 3:10-18), war is inevitable. Some wars are more “just” than others, but all wars are ultimately the result of sin. Christians should not desire war, but neither are Christians to oppose the government God has placed in authority over them (Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:17). The most important thing we can be doing in a time of war is to be praying for godly wisdom for our leaders, praying for the safety of our military, praying for quick resolution to the conflict, and praying for minimum casualties – on both sides of the conflict (Philippians 4:6-7).

I think you're mistaking the warriors for the war. I consider our troops overseas to be innocent victims of an unjust war, and so to pray for their safety is not contradictory.

However, the details of your question imply praying for the sucess of the military campaign as a whole, which I agree is contradictory. I've been trying unsucessfully to figure out how to phrase this, but I think it's basically blindly following two conflicting authorities (Bush and the bible). If you believe you have to unconditionally support everything affiliated with the US government, and you have to be Christian, you arrive at the conclusion that you have to pray for the war to go well.

Many soldiers are in combat situations not by choice. There are various reasons for them to be in the military. It's never a bad thing to pray for anyone. We should even have compassion for our enemies as Jesus did. There are many stories of buddhist monks enprisoned and tortured that had compassion for the torturer. What about the Pope forgiving his would be murderer? I don't know any soldiers who really want to go to war to hurt or kill people. How can it be wrong to pray for someone who may be scared every day that they may not be able to see their spouses or children again? I understand what you are saying about "Love your enemy", but are these troops really your enemy? My suggestion: pray for the troops and the people of the other country involved.

When I think about praying for our troops, I don't so much think about asking God to bless the cause they are undertaking, but to protect them and help them make right choices. I often say a seperate prayer for the military leadership (up to and including the President) that they make right choices regarding use of weapons against other nations.

It depends on what you pray for, doesn't it? A real prayer is built around love.

Praying for the health and welfare of any human being can hardly be bad for them, or for you.

War is a mean business. Asking God to intercede to make the war as short as possible, to judge the merits of your cause, or to make the suffering of those sure to be affected are honorable things.

I think praying for all those men is just fine and dandy, they need someone to pray for them, after all the scary days they have to face. Not knowing if it could be their last. Fighting sucks. Make love not war.

Good point. I have often wondered that myself. MY best guess is that it has to do with religious wars. America wants their god to be more supported than another...so I guess they think he's being preached.

The NT Greek never makes use of God's own call, it extremely is why you will never come across a verse the place Jesus makes use of that call. The NWT is the only translation that makes use of "Jehovah" contained in the NT. frequently, the recent international Translation continuously renders "Kurios" contained in the Greek New testomony as "Jehovah" whilst it refers back to the father, yet "Lord" whilst it refers to Jesus Christ. anyplace the recent testomony costs the previous testomony, the recent international translators ought to tell no remember if to apply "Lord" or "Jehovah" by way of noticing if the Hebrew notice which the recent testomony quoted substitute into "Jehovah." In I Peter 2:3, even regardless of the indisputable fact that, they confronted a actual project. The passage costs Psalm 34:8: "flavor and notice that Jehovah is powerful..." (New international Translation). In I Peter 2:3, they translated: "offered you have tasted that the Lord is variety." Why did they no longer persist with their rule and translate, "Jehovah is variety?" study on in I Peter and you will discover that the passage is relating Christ. to conceal the indisputable fact that Jehovah of the previous testomony is the Lord Jesus Christ, the recent international Translation broke its rule and used "Lord" in I Peter to translate "Jehovah" contained in the previous testomony passage. Latin would not have a "y" sound, and Hebrew would not have an "j" sound. it extremely is how own names contained in the Bible that began with "y" sounds ended up with "j" or each so often "i" sounds, and is how we've been given Jacob, Joshua, Jehovah, Jeremiah, Issac, etc., that have "y" sounds contained in the Hebrew. The 1611 authorized KJV stated God's call with an "i." because of the fact the Jews respected God's call to the factor they does no longer pronounce it out loud, they might replace that notice with Lord ("adonia") whilst interpreting it aloud. The Masorites, whilst including vowel factors, substituted the vowel factors from "adonia" into the 4 consonants used for God's call. maximum all Bible translations, alongside with the KJV, makes use of the Masoretic textual content fabric for the OT. it extremely is how we ended up with Jehovah. thankfully, God's call additionally seems in Egyptian heiroglyphics and likewise in cunniform, the two one in each of that have vowels, and his call substitute into stated Yahuweh in those.

We should always pray for our troops and ask our Lord to be with them, to help them and keep them from danger. If it be His will they will return home to their families and loved ones.

i agree...