Praying Punishment on Others

[JoeinPA]

Is it wrong to pray for justice on evil people?

 

[Valekhai]

I think it depends on your attitude and what you think about when you wish for "punishment."

If God is God, then of course justice will be done. No harm in praying for that; it will happen, in accordance with his will. But you have to understand that God's justice does not really meet what our expectation of "justice" is, so try not to supplant your own ideas into the prayer (don't sit there and pray "please, God, send so-and-so to the lake of fire for all eternity for doing x).

Spiritually speaking, I think it would be more beneficial for your relationship with Christ if you pray for forgiveness and mercy on behalf of the person you think should be punished.

 

[JoeinPA]

I don't really say cast them into the lake of fire,I simply ask that justice come swiftly for those unrepentant souls...and I know these people,they are satans(opposers).

 

[Episcoboi]

Is it wrong to pray for justice on evil people?

I don't think it's wrong to be honest about your feelings before God. I mean, what is prayer if it isn't being completely open to God?

Will God necessarily answer your prayer? Yes, but maybe not in the way you expect. One beautiful thing about being honest in prayer is that God can take the anger, the rage, the hurt and transform it. When we lay all before God, God can take it and make it something beautiful. So, your prayer for "justice on evil people" may very well transform you in new and amazing ways.

 

[AgapeBible]

I get really angry with a lot of people that I consider to be trash. There are a lot of bad people out there. It's hard not to wish for a lot of scumbags to bur in hell. It's bad when some of the people you know and love behave badly and you feel they need punishing. My sister is crazy and needs to straiten up her mind is so warped and sick, she thinks all sorts of crazy things that are not true and accuses our parents of all sorts of outrageous things. My uncle is a right wing nut, he claims to be a Christian but does not act like it, he has send terrible emails to my dad telling him off for voting for Obama. he thinks you cannot be both a Christian and a democrat. My great aunt is also a religious fanatic and nut case, she sends us crazy right wing republican emails and tea party nut stuff. She is nuts. She's an independent baptist and has judged and condemned my family for years. She's a big hypocrite, is old and senile now. And, the people in Surname, the South America country she worked as a missionary at, treat her and her husband the minister as if they're God and not God's ministers.

Then there are all the nonChristian people that make me angry. But I don't know many of them.

 

[bocannes]

It is not wrong to ask God for justice. Do not think that sin will go unpunished. However, be glad if you have not been given the responsibility of executing justice because God will demand an account from each of us.

There is a lot of evil in the world - hypocrites, liars, murderers, thieves, adulterers. Yet, we are all sinners. When you stand before God, you will want His mercy. Unlike Earthly judges, His judgment will be eternal.

For those that reject God, they will get their desire. Do you have any idea how terrible existence without God is? Without love? Act out of love, here, while you still can. Be merciful and compassionate, so that when you stand before God, He will be merciful and compassionate. We are all broken and we all need love.

 

[sunsong12]

It takes a lot for me to say someone is evil as opposed to simply just a sinner. God wants all His children back.

We all need God's will and prayers of others in our lives.

 

[Nobleone37]

I am always very hesitant to pray for justice, as I do not want God's judgment upon me. Grace and Mercy are strange things, you can not have them without justice. You can confront people with God's word, but praying for punishment imply you judged them guilty, however you do not know heart of a person, but God does.

Pray for your enemy. That is the best solution.

 

[Willie T]

Biblically, it is completely wrong.

 

[cutekittycat]

took a penny out of the penny jar evil?
or
blood on their hands evil?

 

[CGL1023]

Is it wrong to pray for justice on evil people?

God only hears and answers prayers that are within His will (1 Jn 5:14,15). I don't know the answer to your specific question. What I have been taught, and practice, is to ask the Lord to remove an evil person from my presence or to take them to a place/people where they will receive the teaching/counseling they need.

 

[sdburtis]

I don't believe punishment is our place. That right belongs to God alone. I think it is acceptable to pray for their souls and for them to see the error of their ways and for God to do whatever is his wil to do about the situation. Than, I say we leave it in God's hands and leave t alone.

 

[Spiritlight]

Here is my understanding of our place regarding this. I will quote these 2 verses first:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.


Ecclesiastes 9
9 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad,[a] the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.

*******************

God looks after the wicked and good while alive on this earth. He loves all men and waits for them to turn to him if they will.

You see if you pray for bad things to happen to evil men. You pray judgment on yourself.

If you pray "God punish that guy because he is not a christian and I view him as wicked". You might as well pray
"God send me suffering so I can learn I am no better than anyone else and please keep sending it until I work out you just want me to love people and not think myself superior"

You should pray good things happen to people no matter how bad they are, you pray they become good or improved you never wish evil for them...

 

[nota]

I get really angry with a lot of people that I consider to be trash. There are a lot of bad people out there. It's hard not to wish for a lot of scumbags to bur in hell. It's bad when some of the people you know and love behave badly and you feel they need punishing..

Egads! Yowl!
THAT is exactly the attitude from loving christians I have been exposed to all of my life.
Have been labeled [and treated] as subhuman scum/trash so many times by loving christians I lost count looong ago.

A few years ago I had the additional misfortune to get aquainted with recon calvinists. But I see clearly that they are not the only christians siccing imprecatory prayers on their [perceived] enemies and feel that being punitive, vindictive, vengeful....with those they deem deserve it is somehow their right. kinda like manifest destiny.
I have been told that god hates me, that part of the bliss of heaven for christians is to watch the damned roast in hell forever.....and much, much more expressions of similar sentiment.
All I can say is that with this kind of christian hate who needs non-christian hate??

Sorry for the sarcasm but this example of a common christian viewpoint was just too extreme for me to let pass without commenting on it.
But not to worry, lovedragon, I refuse to return the favor - hate in return or retaliation.
Regardless of what you and others who think like you say or do, I consider all of you FULLY HUMAN.
[trash/scum is by definition NOT HUMAN]

If my response to your rant causes you to think I am pleased.

nota

 

[Purge187]

From Luke 18:

4 “For some time [the evil judge] refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”

6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Don't pray for vindication. Pray for justice instead, and let God be the avenger.

 

[Lilly Owl]

I think it's perfectly fine. If someone imagines God is malevolent and does their bidding to exact evil for evil.

 

[humblewatchman]

I think that there are a couple of ways that we can fall into a desire to have others punished.

Christianity, via the enemy, contains a great many people who become self-righteous and judgmental. This is an invasive spirit of the enemy... it is called the "religious spirit". We must be ever watchful of it, as it lurches in the hallways and meeting rooms of the churches the most. The religious spirit thinks its more righteous or on a "higher level" than other Christians, it is nearly unteachable, it thinks it's never wrong, thinks it is loving...(yet does not know what real love, compassion, and grace are), and it seeks the admiration of others even to the point of hurting others to accomplish it.

Another factor that can come into play is that we forget as sinners ourselves, how graciously we have been (and still are being) forgiven, loved, and not judged by God... and other godly people in our lives... So, how can we turn around and want others to suffer for their flaws and mistakes. How can we not be as patient, gracious, and kind with them as He and others have been for us. It is as if we are thinking that the kindness and graciousness of God is only here for me and not for anyone else. Where is the love and grace in that?

We are His ambassadors, and we have been given a ministry of reconciliation not judgementalism. (2 Corinthians 5:18) " this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation".

Isn't it better to want them to become healed, happy, and restored to God, rather than to wish destruction on them? We should deliver reconciliation, not practice witchcraft by calling down a curse.

The Holy Spirit says it best in Matthew 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

He told us to pray for our enemies, for three good reasons;

1.it keeps us in line with His will so that we are blameless by taking no offense in others....and as a result we can keep our inner peace
2. by giving our time in prayer, we are ministering with that same positive loving heart that He has for us. There is power in prayer, and this is "the right way" to help them and place them back into the hands of the Lord. We cannot change anyone...but He can.
3. others who are watching us and hearing us as we deal with difficult people see something that they don't normally see and hear from unbelievers in those kinds of situations. We become true witnesses for others to see the reality of His love and compassion for all people.

 

[Cactus Jack]

Is it wrong to pray for justice on evil people?

Yes. Matthew 7. Judge not.

I've been there. And what I do is I pray to Jesus and tell Him "Lord Jesus, I think this is wrong, I think what the did is wrong, it really bothers me, but Lord Jesus I have far better things to do in my life than worry about someone else's conduct. I'll leave it up to you Dear Lord Jesus. You know more about what's going on than I do."

 

[Mediate]

Is it wrong to pray for justice on evil people?

Yes, it is wrong to pray for persecution, for vengeance, for eye for eye, for harm, for torture, for damage. Sometimes words, or morality, is impotent.

There are times in life when we are overcome by deep emotions, or wishes, and we act. We do things that we shouldn't really do. And this is normal. But it can be cut-out.

I propose looking at 'justice', at least the kind you 'wish for', from a different view.

A man died, to save the world, even though the world often hates him, or their view of him. That is God-justice. Love.

A loving, tender creator, tended to every blade of grass, every tree, every molecule of air, designed by his own hand, and gave it away to man, whom he made in his image.

Man broke from God and left like prodigal sons, and throughout the ages they have often come further and further away from him.

Yet he sacrificed the perfect man, a man who also sacrificed himself, and gave the world a way to be freed. That is God-justice. Love.

An evil man is no more than simply ignorant of such love. Perhaps his childhood was one devoid of that selfless affection and giving that God gives to us, and that a mother gives to her only child, and that a good husband gives to his wife.

Don't hate them.

'there is no greater love than this; that a person lay down their life for another' - Jesus of Nazareth

You have heard it said 'you shall love the one who is near you, and hate the one who is at enmity to you', but I say to you, alove those who are averse to you, offer prayer for those who persecute you, speak well of those who curse you, do good to those who hate you'. - Jesus Christ

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but by love alone - Buddha

My perspective on justice is that we all are trapped in a world that is neither fair, nor loving. It is a harsh, arid environment often devoid of traits and people who can make a real difference to all the suffering in it.

And the 'evil men' that we see are just victims in some way, like everyone else.

When we label someone 'evil', instead of 'having evil as part of them', then we can often come to justify wishing, or even doing, them harm.

Yet then we become people who simply do, or wish, evil, and call it 'for the sake of good'.

No evil is for the sake of good. Because there is no good deed that has evil as any part of it.

War is a game of old men, and war is war, It's easy to say 'so if there's a man killing thousands, we should do nothing about it? We should kill him'.

But what's stopping him being captured and imprisoned in a rehabilitation environment instead?

that is the humane answer.

But there is also a more profound deeper idea; that hatred ceases from within each person.

It's okay to say 'them, them, them, what if, how come'.

But unless we begin to cease hatred from inside ourselves, then hatred and evil will never cease.

To one bystander, killing an evil man for his evil, is an evil act, to another it's righteous and warranted.

The question, though, when it comes down to it, is 'would I kill him myself?'


Each person, rather than having a moral system based on what is outside oneself, ie. 'do THEY deserve to be hanged?' should instead look within and ask 'do I want to hang that person?'

that in itself is a scary thing to own up to. That I myself have wished a person dead in the past.

Morality, and justice, and what is 'evil', become all a completely different concept then, once we realize our own evil.

Wishing another dead is what eventually leads a killer to make another dead.

Think about that.

'For God has kept all humankind in disobedience that he may have mercy on all'.

 

[Jonathan Jarvis]

Having been a Lawyer for the last 20 years, I have found that Justice and the Law have very little in common. The State makes up the laws primeraly for its own purposes without much or any consultation with the people. The law is administered by the state, enforced by the state. Now and again the state dabbles in restorative justice.

Someone deliberately damages your car. The felon is arrested. He fess's up. He his fined or does time. Sometimes a compensation order is made to pay the cost of the repair to the car if the felon can afford it.

Justice done? No! What you want is to beat the living daylights out of him.

Hang on. The felon's mother comes to your door dragging the felon by the ear. She says he has something to say to you. Looking down at his feet he says sorry. It was a stupid thing to do and wishes to make amends.

Up to that moment you were enjoying your rightious anger. You had already fixed in your mind the lamp post the felon was to be tied to before you flogged him.

His mother looks at you. There is a long silence. You crack first. You get a bucket, water, sponge and car wash. You point the felon to your car and say get on with it.

His mother declines the coffee you offer. The car is cleaned. They leave.

The whole incident leaves you very unsettled. You phone the police and say that you no longer wish to proceed with the charges. You explain why. They say the process has gone too far down the road and a court date has been fixed.

You feel bad. May be you acted rashly when you reported it. You receive the court order telling you the hearing date is next week. What do you do next?