Melania Trump attacked for reciting ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ at campaign rally
Yes, believe it or not that is one of the headlines this fine morning.
Fox news wrote:
Leftists on social media tore into First Lady Melania Trump, mocking her accent and religion and branding her everything from a hostage to a whore – all for the secular offense of reciting “The Lord’s Prayer
Breitbart wrote:
After First Lady Melania Trump opened President Donald Trump’s campaign rally Saturday in Florida with “The Lord’s Prayer,” she was savagely attacked by leftists on social media, disparaging her for her religious faith, her accent, and other things.
Hmmm . . . The crowd in Melbourne Florida received it enthusiastically, but all the liberals are up in arms. Why? What is in this prayer that makes them so vicious?
One thing the left doesn’t get is what Rick Hamlin eloquently wrote in the Huffington Post of all places:
“I’m not the first person and I certainly won’t be the last to point out that the Lord’s Prayer is largely in the first-person plural. “Our Father … give us this day our daily bread . . . forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us . . . lead us not into temptation.” It’s as though Jesus was reminding the disciples and us that you really can’t pray for yourself by yourself without somehow praying for others. Put it another way: When you pray for yourself, you’re also mystically involving everyone else who has needs. We’re all in this together.
As an old friend of mine, Elaine St. Johns, once wrote,
There is no way to pray this prayer for one person or one family alone. The minute I consciously addressed “Our Father,” I was including my family, friends, strangers, enemies. I was praying for them as well. I realized the universal intent of Christ when he gave the prayer to us. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” we make supplication not only for our own known and unknown needs but also for the needs of his children everywhere.
I have to admit I’m always praying for myself. I can become painfully self-absorbed in prayer, asking God for all those worries that consume me, but then when I turn to “Our Father, who art in heaven . . . ” I end up tuning into something bigger. My mind expands, my heart expands (like that Grinch at Christmas) to include others. Prayer is other-oriented. It’ll take your right out of yourself. “Not just the daily bread I need, but something for everyone else as well. Please.”
Though they don’t seem to appreciate it, please join me this morning in praying the Lord’s Prayer to include all those tormented individuals who bemoaned the fact that First Lady Trump began a rally for her husband with the prayer that Jesus said we should use as a model.
Different subject: We had a great weekend ministering to inmates in the jails and prisons of the panhandle of Florida this weekend with hundreds of souls being added to the Kingdom of God. Then on Sunday at Honey Lake Church we had a rousing service with guest speaker Sheila Rae Charles, daughter of the legendary singer and performer Ray Charles. The Lord was with us as we joyfully praised His Holy name.
It wasn’t lost on me this morning that Jesus told us to forgive others as we have been forgiven. It is His desire that we love others. That includes those incarcerated and even those who despise us. The Kingdom of God is founded on the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.
As I pondered why so much hate was fomented over this seemingly simple gesture by the First Lady, I recalled the verse below. I’d like to tell that beautiful gal that she must always remember that the world hated Jesus Christ first and we are in the best of company when it hates us too.
Keep up the good work Melania! We are with you honey . . .
1 Peter 4:12
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory . . .
February 20 2017 – Click here to listen