About the prayer for deceitful people by PASTOR VASILE FILAT

About the prayer for deceitful people
by PASTOR VASILE FILAT on JANUARY 23, 2010
Question:

Is it good to pray to God for deceitful people?

Yes, we should pray and here it is what God teaches us in the Holy Scripture regarding the prayer for those working with deceit.

Ask delivery from the deceitful men

King David many times faced with this kind of people and prayed about them like this:

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man! (Psalm 43:1)(NASB)

Pray for the victims of the deceitful men

In Psalm 10, King David describes the sly man as it follows:

He says to himself, “I will not be moved; throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.” His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression; under his tongue is mischief and wickedness. He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the hiding places he kills the innocent; his eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate. He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair; he lurks to catch the afflicted; he catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net. He crouches, he bows down, and the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones. He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see it.” (Psalm 10:6-11)(NASB)

Then he prays for the victims of the deceitful men this way:

Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand do not forget the afflicted. (Psalm 10:12)(NASB)

Pray for the destruction of the deceitful men’s counsel

The Bible tells us about Ahithophel, a very cunning man who made evil plans against David and his house. When …

someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom ” And David said, “O LORD, I pray, make the counsel of Ahithophel foolishness.“ (II Samuel 15:31)(NASB)

The Apostle Paul confronted the deceitful man

When they arrived on the island of Paphos, Paul and Barnabas were called by Sergius Paulus, the proconsul, who had shown willingness to hear God’s Word


But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord? Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13:8-12)(NASB)

God deliver us from deceitful people and give them repentance.

Translated by Felicia Rotaru