August 27, 2018

Donald Trump’s Response to John McCain’s Death Reminds Us Just How Petty He Is - (The New Yorker)

Father,

I know I've deliberately picked headlines that mirror my views on this presidency.  But on the other hand, there are some situations in life that can only be viewed a certain way.  Donald Trump is petty, right Lord?  I mean, right???

I am sighing right now.  Not sure what to pray about.  I am sad that John McCain is dead only because he is a reminder that the other side is not completely crazy.  Please allow something of his spirit to remain behind.  Allow the president to be forgiving of those he feels have hurt him.  Allow his heart to experience generosity, mercy, love.  Thank you that he kept his mouth shut when the reporters asked him to make impromptu comments about McCain.  Thank you that he had that much self-control, lest he say something completely idiotic and hurtful to McCain's family.  Bless that family and be with them.

Lord, I pray - I truly pray that you would bring this man down.  I mean it.  I hope that you do it, and that you do it peacefully, with an abundance of evidence that he is not worthy of the office.  And then usher in an era of healing and soul-searching.  Take this country where you want it to go.  I believe in this country, Lord.  And I believe in your power to make it a light on a hill, as it once was.  

Amen.

August 22, 2018

Father,

I wonder if anyone prays for Melania and Baron regularly.  Or for the Donald's other kids.

Be with them.  Comfort them.

Amen

August 21, 2018

(From "The Worst Hour of Trump's Presidency Just Happened)

CNN)Two massive clouds that have been hanging over Donald Trump's presidency for months broke open almost simultaneously on Tuesday afternoon -- and poured rain all over the President.

Between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern time, two narratives -- both disastrously bad for Trump -- emerged:

1. Paul Manafort, the man who spent five critical months leading Trump's campaign in 2016, was found guilty of eight financial crimes. On the 10 other charges brought against Manafort, the jury couldn't reach a unanimous conclusion and the presiding judge declared a mistrial on those counts.

2. Longtime Trump personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen agreed to a plea deal with the Southern District of New York in which he admitted guilt on eight charges and acknowledged that he had discussed or made hush payments to two women alleging affairs with Trump in order to keep damaging information from becoming public, at the direction of and in coordination with a candidate for federal office. That candidate, although Cohen didn't name him, is obviously Donald Trump.

Father,

I don't know if I'm supposed to feel sorry for Trump or not, now that I'm praying for him.  I feel gratitude that actual facts have come to light, and that no matter what the president wants, facts can't be turned into "fake news" just like that.  Idiot.  Forgive me.  I'm just grateful, Lord, that the justice system has compelled Cohen to tell the truth, finally.  I'm so sick and tired of the president hiding behind the support of a populace that is willing to turn a blind eye to his lies.  Thank you that justice will prevail.

I am not ashamed to pray that this signals the end of the Donald Trump presidency.  I'm not ashamed to pray that this signals a wake-up call for the Republican Party.  I'm not ashamed to pray that you use this moment to shake those of us who sit on the sidelines -  hating, judging, salivating for this president's downfall - and think of ways we can be a light that shines your love.  

So, Lord, even as I pray that this presidency ends and is replaced by something more reflective of true American values, I pray for this president.  Help him to find his way to a place in his soul that is humbled, vulnerable, and regretful.  Help him to find a way to apologize to the women he used.  Help them to find a way to forgive themselves for willingly being pawns to this powerful, abusive man.  Help him to recognize that his actions were wrong - from his unfaithfulness to his wife, from his dismissal of these women, to his lying about use of hush money during his campaign.  Lord, if I list these wrongs as blatantly as I do, it's only because I feel they are indisputable.  They are the facts of the situation.  And I know they must hurt you.  So I pray for this man who you have chosen to be the president for this moment.  I pray that you alter his soul in some fundamental way.  As Chuck Colson became your servant after a career of hubris and arrogance, I pray that you transform this man who has the power to affect the hearts and minds of so many angry people in this country.  I pray that you use this catastrophic moment for him to change him.  

Amen.

August 19, 2018

Rudy Giuliani says 'truth isn't truth'

By Caroline Kenny, CNN

Updated 4:50 PM ET, Sun August 19, 2018

Father,

It has been a long time since I've come to you in prayer.  I have some things to thank you for.  I thanked you for them at the time but now I can't remember...oh yes!  Thank you thank you thank you that the Unite the Right march was such a complete dud. Thank you that those who were initially going to come thought the better of things and stayed home.  Thank you that this particular group of rightists are not so united at all.  Continue to splinter them.  Continue to inject their planning with shame, non-discipline, weakness.  Think out their ranks.  But more, bring them closer to you.  Show them your love.  Turn them around.

I also want to thank you for the peace I've felt since starting to pray to you about the president and for the president.  I thank you that I could be at a gathering full of Trump supporters and feel only happiness to be among them, eating midwestern food and looking at the corn fields.  Thank you that I was able to share some laughs and conversations with men and women who would certainly be labeled a "deplorable" in other circumstances.  Thank you for the opening of the dark places in my heart.  

But I do pray that next time around, they'll vote differently.

Now Lord, I pray that the above headline be a sign only of Giuliani's lack of articulate coherence, and not an actual belief system.  Lord, let the Mueller investigation reveal the truth.  Let Trump be judged fairly.  If there was collusion between his campaign and the Russians, let that come to light, and quickly.  If there wasn't, let that also be clear.  I pray that you keep all parties honest.  

Amen.

August 8, 2018

Below is an excerpt from a pastor who refuses to pray for President Trump, taken from her blog.  (My prayer follows)

http://www.amyhawk.com/wont-pray-president-trump/

...lots of people make mistakes.  They aren’t evil, they are human. I will happily pray for them.

Evil is something more vile, more despicable, more perverse.  It emanates from a person’s soul with the intent to harm and to dehumanize. If allowed, evil will take control of someone, eventually making itself known by coming out in words and physical actions.

The gospel accounts reveal that a sign of the presence of evil is when someone is unable to control their mouth or their hands. With regards to physical assault, Trump has repeatedly said he “couldn’t help himself.”

Grabbing a woman by the genitals is not “making a mistake.”  It’s evil.

Attempting to discredit a reporter on national television by insinuating she is having her period = there’s an evil presence.

Calling women names, like, “Ugly face,” “Dog”, or “Pig”   is evil making itself known.  Telling women they look better on their knees = evil. Lewdly commenting on women’s body parts every five minutes = evil.  Publicly humiliating and fat shaming a beauty contestant = evil. Calling a deaf person a “retard” = evil. The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Evil is easy to spot. Evil mocks, gesticulates, sneers.

Father,

I don't know if it's okay for me to call President Trump evil or not.  I know I've called him the anti-christ, and that's at least the same thing.  Anyway, I wasn't being completely serious - not completely.  But I truly don't know if he's evil - at least any more evil than me.  I suspect he is.  I'm getting lost on my train of thought.  What I want to say is, I don't know if he's evil, and whether we should pray for evil people, and how.

When your son was dying on the cross, he prayed that you would forgive his killers, "for they know not what they do."  I imagine He meant that they didn't know a bunch of things; that they were killing your son, that they were carrying out an ancient prophecy, that they were just following orders, that they were carried away on the wave of hateful hysteria that filled the streets of Jerusalem that day.  I also imagine they didn't know that their evil act was part of the greatest act of love in all of history.  

I don't know if separating children from their parents on the border just to tell the world that we are a country of "zero tolerance" is even remotely close to killing an innocent man - a son of God, slowly and cruelly.  But I do know that it might just be possible that something good can come of all of this.  I can't stand to think of it, Lord.  That in the United States, some desperate woman somewhere had her child taken from her and may even at this moment be wondering what kind of satanic impulse would compel a country to do such a thing.  But somehow, I trust that you will turn this to good.  

I believe you have a plan.  I've heard you tell me to trust you so many times in my life that it should be the drumbeat of my soul.  But it isn't.  Forgive me for that.  I do trust you, I just need to remember that I do.

So Lord, obviously, I lift up those separated families.  I lift up the little ones, especially, who have no concept of why they can't see their parents.  I pray for the people caring for them.  Let not one single person harm those children.  May every single person who comes into contact with those children be seized with love and care for them, may they do everything in their power to comfort and nurture those children.  Comfort the families.  Fix the situation, Lord.  I believe in your plan for this country, and I know we can be a light on the hill.  Not this, Lord, not this.

I pray for the Unite the Right protestors who plan to march in DC this Sunday.  If any violent thought enters their minds, Lord, remove it.  Bind the hands of those who are planning to cause retaliatory violence.  Help us to think of the examples of Gandhi and MLK, who could stand before a hateful crowd, calm and confident and righteous.  If it's your will, Lord, make it impossible for this rally to even happen.  Place shame and fear in the hearts of the white nationalists and turn them on their heels.  Begin a good work in them, Lord, somehow.  Lord, compel the president to condemn these people and their message.  I feel like that's an impossible request, Lord, but I'm making it anyway, because I know you're bigger than him, and as crazy as it sounds, he will bend to your will.

Be with the people of Iran as they face fresh sanctions.  May the decisions of the president regarding matters of foreign policy be made with the full guidance and wisdom of people who understand the situation completely, and who appreciate the stakes.  

I thank you that the US has imposed new sanctions on Russia for the latest poisoning in London.  Thank you, Lord, that the government of Donald Trump is willing to do something to stand up to this blatant injustice on the part of the man he so seems to admire.  Thank you.

I pray that you will guide my words as I pray, guide my heart, too.  I hope I will always find a way to pray for the president, even when I don't want to.  Even if I think he's evil.  Help me to see the humanity in him, so that I can continue to act and pray in love.

Amen.

August 5, 2018

Trump admits son’s 2016 meeting with Russian lawyer was to seek ‘information on’ Clinton

Father,

Thank you! 

Amen

August 4, 2018

Father,

Thank you that I was able to describe the beliefs of QAnon to Mark calmly.  Thank you that I have faith that insanity eventually meets its match.  Maybe not today, but soon.  I pray for those misguided people, for the influences that surround them, and for their words and their actions.  I pray that you would put it on the president's heart so that he turns away from conspiracy theories that do nothing but distress people unnecessarily.  Lord, I struggle so hard to know how to pray for the president without sounding condescending or superior.  But I guess I will give him the benefit of the doubt and not call him stupid.  Rather, I pray that he resist any cynicism that would have him take advantage of people who need peace in their lives, who need a leader they can trust for the right reasons.  Let him lead from a place of honesty.  That way he can be a leader for all of us.

Tonight, I pray that if he is feeling pain in any way, if he is suffering, that you would ease that suffering and give him a restful night. 

Amen

August 2, 2018

Father,

Just had to get this request in today before I forget.  Help the news media to calm down about the crazies.  Help them to report on something that doesn't FREAK ME OUT so completely that I have palpitations.  Guide the president to stop talking about the deep state.  Guide the people around him that flirt with this dangerous notion to stop.  Guide the people who feed off the paranoia, give them a jolt of intelligence, rationale, wisdom, anything to make them stop and think.  Lord, if there is such a thing as a secret cabal of world leaders involved in a child sex ring, may they burn in hell.  But since I'm sure that's not even remotely a thing, please lift up your hand over the flame that the conspiracy theorists are fanning and then drop your hand over it.  Cover it.  Suffocate it.  Suffocate Alex Jones' voice.  Suffocate the delirium and fear that drive his followers.  Suffocate the delirium and fear that drive me.

Let your glory reign.  Now.  Now.

Amen.

August 2, 2018

Father,

Forgive me for so quickly falling off a prayer schedule of any kind.  Forgive me for giving up. 

I praise you because I genuinely feel less angry about things.  I ask your guidance because I feel guilty if I'm not angry.  I feel like I'm doing something wrong, turning to the dark side or something...

I'm very tired Lord.  You know the prayers of my heart, the requests for healing for those I love, praise for friendships.  But Lord, I pray now for the president.  I pray that he understand what true leadership looks like.  I pray for the children who are still separated from their parents.  Lord, please place them in caring hands...hands that care for them as they would for their own children.  No more, Lord.  No more.  I pray that you put in motion a chain of events that change the president's heart on immigration.  I pray that you touch some deep part of him that experiences compassion as an on-going, foundational thing, and not on a spur of the moment and temporary basis.  Bless those little children who had no choice but to be here, keep them safe.  Give peace to their families. 

I pray also that you work in the president's heart to free him from whatever connects him to Putin.  Give him the wisdom and the courage to deal with Russia as it must be dealt with.  Help him to see that ongoing Russian meddling in elections is damaging to this country.  Help him to put his country first.  Remove the influence Putin has on him, and by extension, on this country.  Wisdom, Lord, and mercy.

For all of us.

Amen

July 27, 2018

Lord,

I don't know if all the families got reunited with their kids today.  But I thank you for the court order that made the effort possible.  Thank you for the lawyers and the advocates, and for the HHS officials and employees that were caught up in all of this but kept working on behalf of those families.  Please help those families who now have a case number and an ankle bracelet around their ankles to reach safe havens soon, and begin to build their lives in this country safely.  Thank you for the rule of law. 

Thanks that the president went out to face the farmers in the midwest today.  Please Lord, help him make good on this trade war.  Please help him to find away to balance trade so that people who voted for him, people whose lives are impacted by free trade in negative ways, can regain their dignity and rebuild their communities.

I'm not interested in talking about anything negative tonight.  I'm tired, Lord.  Bless the president.  Touch his heart.

Amen.

July 25, 2018

Dear Father,

So...today we got to hear recordings of the president discussing paying off a Playboy model with his ex-lawyer.  Let me begin by saying I don't feel like listening to anything about casting the first stone. I know I'm a sinner.  I know I've done some pretty deplorable things.  So forgive me for those, but can you please, Lord, open people's eyes and hearts on this one?  When will your church stand up and call him out?  When is too much too much?

Help me to know what I'm afraid of...and to pray more specifically about that.  I think I'm afraid that truth doesn't matter anymore.  That dignity and integrity don't matter anymore.  I'm afraid that your church is associated with all of this in the eyes of the unbelievers.

Help me put my faith in you.  Restore your Eden in my life; help me shed my sense of responsibility for doing what only you can do.  I know you have allowed him to be in power for a reason.  May that reason glorify you.  Not the Evangelical right, not the moral majority, not me.  May your perfect plan be something I put my trust in.

Amen.

Oh yes.  I'm supposed to pray for him.  In love.  I pray that he has a good night's rest tonight and wakes up refreshed and positive.

July 24, 2018

Headlines:

R.I.P. Ivanka Inc.

As the first daughter folds her fashion brand, a to-do list. (New York Times)

Jared Kushner Flames Out 

(New York Times)

Trump, Cohen discussed 'financing' of possible Playboy model payment on secret recording (Fox News)

Feds on track to reunite more than 1,600 families separated at border by deadline (Washington Times)

So Father, I'm here on my bed, ready to go to sleep, and I remembered I'm supposed to be praying for the president.  So let me start by thanking you for today.  Thank you that it didn't rain as hard as it was supposed to.  That was nice.

I'm asking for your forgiveness again, Lord, because in trying to figure out what's been happening in Trumpland today I automatically went to the sources I know will scratch my itch.  I want to apologize for wanting to be angry at him.  I'm sorry for reading about Ivanka's business struggles with a certain glee.  I'm sorry for being so righteously indignant about her not being a more effective advisor to her father.  Because I don't know what sorts of pressures she faces as a daughter, and as a person who cares about her family's legacy.  I pray that you'll bless her work.  I pray that you strengthen her voice so that she can speak out for women's rights; like the right not to have their president back abusive candidates, or hire abusive employees.  Help her to speak to the special strength that women have, but also to the vulnerabilities that they experience every day.  Let her be a champion.

I pray that you'll be with Jared Kushner, too.  And again, I know I've deliberately clicked on links that predict his imminent demise, and that I do it because it's satisfying to be angry at him for just...being.  But bless him, too.  Bless his work; his responsibilities are huge.  Whether or not he's qualified, he's trusted by the president to carry them out.  Don't allow him to use his position for financial gain.  Bless his marriage, bless his children.  Lord, I honestly don't care at this moment about either of those things, but I know you do.  And I'm trying.

I guess...thank you that the president isn't going to leave the Americans hit hard by his trade war high and dry.  I don't know if it's right or wrong, but thank you that farmers will not be left hanging by retaliation to the president's trade policies.  But I pray that if it's that easy to hand out $12 billion, that it also be used to support education programs, and programs that support Americans that are struggling with making ends meet.

Lord, I don't even know what to say about the president and his shenanigans with porn stars.  I pray for both Stormy Daniels and the president.  I pray that the seediness of the situation not merely be a laughing stock, but strikes us all as a deeply disturbing occurrence that denigrates just about everything a healthy relationship should be.

I'm tired Lord.  I thank you that this experiment is already working, somewhat.  And that I was able to log on to some fairly conservative news sites and read some balanced articles.  I needed to do that.  Lord, it does smart to read that some officials congratulate themselves on the reunification of over 1400 families separated at the border, when such a reunification wouldn't have been necessary absent Trump's zero-tolerance policy...but I'll take it.  I pray for the 450 families that remain separated, and whose parents have been deported with no way of contacting their children.  Lord, guide the officials and lawyers involved in reconnecting these families.  I can only imagine the fear and anxiety that consumes them.  Be their comfort, Lord.

Amen.

Why?

Why pray for Trump?  It's simple.  I'm a Christian.  There are no ifs, ands, or buts.  Hate is wrong.  Two rules guide us:  Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul.  And love your neighbor as yourself.  Jesus made it even more clear, as was his custom.  He issued this intense challenge: love your enemies.

Trump?  He's my enemy.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  I feel attacked by the very notion that he occupies the presidency.  I feel attacked when I think of the women he bragged about groping.  I feel attacked by the shamelessness that has gripped some Americans as they rail against people of color and immigrants. I feel attacked by his impetuousness in his relations with those who are worthy of his respect, including foreign powers. I feel attacked by his inability to stand up to powers that have sought to undermine our electoral process.  I feel attacked and terrified by his tweeting habits. I feel attacked by his choices for those who shape the law of the land. I feel attacked by his utter disregard for American democracy as it should be.  I feel attacked by the very sound of his voice because I feel it delivers too many bogus claims and lies, spoken in moronic English, and with the smug cadences of a little kid.

And more, I feel attacked every time I hear his supporters on the radio, or see their pictures in my facebook feed, or sit beside them in church.

Trump is my enemy, no ifs, ands, or buts.  But I'm his enemy, too.  This is not the dynamic Jesus intended for His people.  He did not say "Love your enemy" while indicating certain loopholes.  He understood that any quarter given would be a quarter taken; let a little hate in, and you'll be consumed by it.

I am consumed by hatred of our president.  And it feels wrong.  It feels heavy.  It hurts.  In other words, it feels like sin.  Which it is, if you take seriously what Christ commands.  Which I do.

I have tried to use reasoning to release myself from the burden of this much hatred.  I have read analyses of his actions so that I can understand them better, I have searched for silver linings and any good news, and when neither of these courses of action proved effective, I swore off the news, altogether.

But the news is everywhere.  It's unrelenting.  Even the media outlets I rely on to inform me - the reasonable but clearly somewhat left-leaning papers and radio shows - have set their anchors in the reliable silt of the presidents' words, thoughts, and actions.  All Americans seem now to be at the complete mercy of the roller-coaster ride that has been the Trump presidency thus far.  All of these loops and turns and the insane trajectory of the thing are making many of us sick.

But are we truly at the mercy of this presidency?  Am I truly at the mercy of this roller-coaster ride?  Or could it be that this is the moment when I put Jesus' challenge to the test and ask for His mercy?  Because if I'm truly to love President Trump, then I will need all the mercy I can get.  You can't love your enemy until you first recognize the sheer intensity with which Christ loved his enemies. He didn't love them just a little bit, or in a socially acceptable way.  He loved them completely.  Enough to die for them.

Who am I to accept that sacrifice on my behalf, and then reject the example it's supposed to set?  Who am I to say "Thanks, but no thanks"?  Who am I to call myself a Christian and then say - without shame - that I hate President Trump?

I'm a nobody.  It starts there.  It starts with me bending my knee at the cross, thanking my savior, asking for His mercy, and then starting from scratch.  Because I can't carry this burden of hatred and fear.  I can't carry this much anguish and uncertainty.  I can't walk around with this much disillusionment.  It feels like poison.  It feels like sin.  It is sin.

So this blog is me bending my knee.  Thanking Jesus.  Asking for mercy.  And then doing what He did when faced with His enemies.  I will pray for President Trump.  I'll try to do this one day at a time.  I will be sincere.  I will try not to showboat.  I will make this a public record of my prayers only because I want to shine a light on Christ's example.  And because I want others to pray for the president, too.

Some days my prayers might be long and anguished.  Somedays, God willing, short and full of praise.  They will never be particularly eloquent.  They will rarely resonate with anyone but me, and thankfully, the one I pray to.  Sadly, in my experience as a Christian, I use prayer as a last-ditch effort to salvage something important to me.  I don't want to do that anymore.  I want to use prayer as a daily exercise to strengthen my faith in the power of Jesus' example, and in the power of His words to save humanity and reconcile it to the good, loving, and generous God who made us.  To date, I don't think anything I have felt or said about the president or my country has reflected any of this power.  Rather, I have allowed myself to be dragged down in to the mire by negativity.  Enough.  I am reaching my hand out towards the cross in the hope that Christ will lift me up and show me what it's like not to walk around burdened by hatred anymore.  I've been thinking more and more often of the example of a fellow Christian, and someone who faced worse circumstances than most of us could possibly imagine.  Here's what he said:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.).

So I'll pray.  I'll pray for Donald J. Trump, and I'll try to do it in love.  What's the worst that could happen?  I wouldn't be a Christian if I didn't believe in the power of prayer to change people.  Whether God chooses to change something in how the president thinks, acts, or speaks is completely up to God.  But it's the change in me I need most desperately.  And right now it feels like prayer is about the only thing that might drive out the darkness.

If you come across this blog and wish to add a prayer of your own in the comments, it will be music to God's ears.  Even if it contradicts my prayer.  Don't overthink that; we pray to a God who's way smarter than we are.

July 23, 2018

Headlines:

Trump Threatens Iran’s Leader in All-Caps Tweet

FBI Document Alleges Trump Adviser Carter Page Conspired with Russia

Trump Reverses Course Again, Calling Russian Election Meddling a Hoax

Trump Calls on NFL to Suspend Players Who Protest During Anthem

North Korea Starts Dismantling Key Missile Facilities, Report Says

Father, thank you for letting me come to you.  Thank you for listening.  Thank you for never changing.  Thank you for being good.  Thank you that your mercies truly do not end.  Limitless mercies...what a thing.  Thank you for that, Lord.  Thank you that you extend these mercies to good people and bad people.  Thank you that we're all the same to you.  That we're all worth dying for.  In spite of how stupid we are sometimes, and how petty and how bitter.  Thank you that you carry my burdens with me, and feel the stings of my hurts just as acutely as I do.  Thank you that I'm not alone.  Thank you that you feel the hurt and anger of Trump supporters just as acutely as they do, too.  Thank you for being that kind of God.  Thank you for not playing favorites.  It makes it easier for me to know that no one is beyond loving.  Not them, not me.  

Forgive me for saying "them" and "me".  Forgive me.  You created a garden that we were all welcome in.  And we destroyed it.  We're still destroying it.  Forgive me for doubting you.  Forgive me for thinking you don't have Donald Trump in your care.  Forgive me for thinking you're not watching over him.  Forgive me for thinking you fell asleep on the job and he snuck in.  Forgive me for thinking I have to handle it because you've lost control.

Help me.  Giving so much power to fear has removed you from the picture.  No wonder I sometimes feel like I'm floundering.  But still, help me.  Help me to accept your plan in all this.  Because it seems insane.  Every day brings news that cannot seem to contribute to the work of your kingdom.  There are children deliberately separated from parents at the border, Lord.  How can it be that Christian friends justify it by stating immigration laws?  Be merciful to me as I listen.  Be merciful to them as they listen to me.

Today, Father, President Trump has floated the idea of revoking security clearances of former high ranking intelligence chiefs.  I hear this and I hear goose steps.  I am scared, Lord.  Today, President Trump also tweeted that if Iran threatened the US again, they would suffer a fate worse than...whatever he said.  Lord, I am scared.

Please, Father, hear my prayer.  Please let calmer voices prevail whenever he wants to tweet something to challenge an adversary.  Please surround him with wise, assertive advisors that he will listen to.  Please bend his will so that his ego is not so easily wounded.  Please help him to truly put the interests of this country first, rather than the need to project his own personal will power.

Lord, if I've judged him wrongly, if I've misjudged his motives and character, help me to see that.  Help him to show me that.  I know he constantly feels attacked, and this can't be easy.  Comfort him. Guide him.

For my part, Lord, please allow me to see that he loves his country.  That's about all I can give him, right now.  Oh, and Lord - thank you that North Korea is actually dismantling some of its rockets as part of the nuclear disarmament discussions.  Thank you that something positive seems to be coming out of that, Lord.  I do praise you (sometimes), that Trump is not always a business as usual guy.  I just pray that he doesn't get us all killed.

Amen.