POLITICAL PRAYER HUMOR TURNED VICIOUS

I like to laugh and in my lifetime I have seen some funny cartoons and heard humorous jokes on both sides of the political fence; however, recently there continues to circulate an e-mail under the guise of a joke that has reference to scripture and prayer as well.
The fact is this so-called joke takes one Bible verse out of context to create “humor.” Heard by the wrong ears and taken the wrong way, it sounds like a threat to the one who holds that office; therefore, it could be conceived as a punishable crime. However, people are making it into a joke by saying, “I can pray this for the one with whom I disagree.”
In this Christian nation, I have received this message many times over, and finally I looked at the further verses in that passage and wondered, “How many others have thought to do this? Do they realize what these verses say?” I further wondered if people realized all of this, would they/could they continue to propagate such under the appearance of a joke?
In an effort to help folks understand the full impact of the circulating joke, before you automatically hit forward the next time you receive it, please take out your Bible, find the scripture referred to and read not only the verse referred to but the following couple of verses as well. Figure out if you, as a part of God’s Family, really want to be a part of “praying” this way when God “desires all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (I Timothy 2:4)
© Marilyn Sue (Libby) Moore 3-19-2010