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Question Title Posted By Question Date
praying for an enemy cecilia Sunday, December 30, 2012

Question:

Dear Brother,

My daughter recently told my husband and me of a dream she had. She dreamed that her paternal grandmother's husband came to our door pleading to come into the house, but no one gave him admittance. After listening to the dream I have been troubled by it. This man has been deceased for several years. My daughter is a teen now but she was a baby when she last saw him. The death of my mother in law was of a suspicious nature and believe this man may have had something to do with it. While she was in a coma he started spending her money. There is more to say, but the bottom line is that this man caused so much pain for my husband. My husband was very strong during this difficult time. He is gentle and humble and throughout this time was a comfort to me.

However, since hearing about this dream I thought maybe he may need our prayers. We are all still raw from what happened but I think we were commanded to pray for our enemies. I'm not exactly sure how to process this. I know this sounds terrible but we almost don't want to waste our prayers on him. It doesn't sound very Christian but I want to be honest. I just am not sure what my obligation to this person is. Thank you for having this ministry and please pray for our family. I guess we're still in mourning and didn't realize it.



Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), LTh, DD

Dear Cecilia:

Dreams are usually just dreams and hold little significance. But, regardless of the dream it sounds like you need to forgive and pray for this man. 

We are to pray for our enemies, and we are to forgive. If we do not forgive, Jesus says he will not forgive us (Matt 6:15). 

There is no such thing was wasting prayers. We are obligated to pray for each other, to pray for our enemies, even to bless our enemies, and to forgive them. To refuse to do this is sin. 

We have a pamphlet about how to forgive: Delaing with Bitterness and Unforgiveness (pdf)

Pray for him. 

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary


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