(PC to me)
From your fellow latter-day saint in the pews with you.Stop praying that your friends, family members, and loved ones will return to the church.
Instead, pray that they will be able to feel Divine love in a way that resonates with them.
Stop praying that your loved one will be led to the specific place you think they need to be.
Instead, pray they will have confidence to recognize & courage to go wherever God is leading them.
Stop praying that your loved one will understand God and God’s plan for them exactly as you do.
Instead, pray that you will have faith and trust in a loving God’s perfect, individual plan for them.
Stop praying that your loved one will follow you on your path back to God.
Instead, pray to know how you can walk with them on their path back to God.
Stop praying for opportunities to show them the truth of your way.
Instead, pray for trust that none are ever lost to God, who is The Way.
Stop praying that your loved one will experience God the way you do.
Instead, pray that they will share the ways they experience God with you.
Prayer is powerful.
But it has been hijacked into a method of asking God to impose what we think is best on others.
The true power of prayer is in asking God to help us see, love, & walk with others as they are; not asking God to make others what we want them to be.
I know prayers offered asking God to bring loved ones back to church are given in full sincerity and love.
These prayers asking for specific outcomes too often act as a wedge between us and those we pray for.
Rather than listening to their experiences and seeing God in their lives, we push for a specific path that may or may not be what God has in mind for this person.
So rather than praying that others will be led to where we are, let's pray that they will feel Divine love, see Divine presence, and follow Divine guidance, without assuming we know what that will feel like, how it will look, or where it will lead.
Our Heavenly Parents know each of Their children. They love them. And They will lead them.
Our job is to love and walk with them as our Heavenly Parents lead them.
