The Evangelical Universalist Forum

A Prayer to Jesus

Evangelical Universalism
#1

Hello everyone,

I sometimes pray to Jesus by typing out my thoughts (rather than speaking them). My prayer life is very personal, obviously, but since my username is a pseudonym and I don’t know any of you personally anyway, I thought I would post it here. I don’t exactly know why, but I just want to share my feelings and you guys can pray for me or give me encouragement.

I know this sounds very sensitive and emotional, and I was raised in a home where that is kind of frowned upon, but I really just need some encouragement from other Christians and I don’t know any who know a lot about this subject anyway. (Plus, I’ve been a boxer since the 7th grade, so at this point I don’t care who thinks I’m sensitive and emotional. :smiley: )

I’ll post it in the next post.

#2

Dear Lord Jesus,

I am praying to You this night because I am perplexed. I am depressed. I am despairing.

I cannot stop thinking about the Big Picture. I cannot stop thinking about eternal destiny. I do not have peace in my heart. I do not have hope, it seems. Even now that I have jettisoned my belief in eternal suffering, the terrible shadow of Annihilation hangs over me. I am so very sensitive. I am a hyper-sensitive person who feels everything so deeply. You know this, you made me that way.

I have tried to stop thinking about Annihilation, but that is how my obsessive mind works. I vow to put it away in my mind, but again and again it crops up. Even if I do not believe you will subject anyone to eternal misery, how can I have hope when so many will be annihilated out of existence? How can I have hope if one person will be annihilated out of existence?

The thought is so terrible, my Lord, I cannot wrap my head around it. If you annihilate a person, they will never come to know you as you know them. They will never come to know the God who made them and who died for them. Their family members will be eternally bereft of their presence, a presence which, here on earth, was at least of some comfort and joy to them. These annihilated individuals will miss out on an eternity of bless and ever-increasing knowledge of You, Your Father and Your Spirit. They will never know You. How can this be?

Sweet Jesus, can you not save them? I am begging you, my Lord, please save them. Please do not annihilate them (or allow them to annihilate themselves). I cannot judge you, my Lord, but I feel that to annihilate your creatures is so beneath you. Do you not want to save them? Do you want to save them, but are not able? How can I, a wretched sinner, judge You, the King of all? Still, I cannot imagine that You would look upon the unconverted, deliver your harsh sentence with a stony face, then completely obliterate them. Far be it from me to judge you, Lord, but I cannot stand this thought!

Is there no hope for them? How can I have hope when this is the eternal destiny of so many (or any?)

Please save them, Jesus. Please save them. Amen.

#3

That’s half the process, Warren. Now write down what you hear Him say to your heart. Yeah, you’ll definitely get it wrong sometimes, but that’s okay; it’s how we learn. You don’t need to share it here, but you’re welcome to do that. Thanks for giving us this window into your heart. :slight_smile:

#4

The God of your hope, is all that you hope He is and more.

In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the gathering together into one of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. Eph 1:9-11

For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the [ab]fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. Col 1:19-20

Behold, I am making all things new!

#5

I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to pray, as long as it’s done from the heart.

#6

Why are you making this statement, Randy? Do you think someone in this thread is suggesting that there is a “right way to pray”, and that someone else is doing it wrong?

#7

The original poster said this:

So I made the statement, in case they thought that was not a right way to pray - in the world of technology and social media.

Besides, if you are trying to follow the Russian Orthodox Holy Fool tradition, you don’t always do things that are logical or make sense.