What About Praying In Behalf Of The Disobedient Dead?
Categories: Church of Christ Bulletin ArticlesA querist asks, “It would seem that death is all around us. Someone dies – you know the lifestyle they lived was not good, and you know their feelings about God were not good – does one pray for God’s mercy regarding that person?”
As long as we are living here upon the earth, we have the power of prayer at our disposal. We can ask God to forgive us of our sins by our sincere repentance and prayers to God as well as through the prayers of others (1 John 1:9; cf. Acts 8:18-24; Genesis 20:7; Genesis 20:17; 1 Samuel 12:19; 1 Kings 13:6; Job 42:8; James 5:16). However, when this life is over, the avenue of prayer will no longer be available (cf. Luke 16:19-31 – KJV). Thus praying in behalf of the disobedient dead would be pointless.
The prophet Isaiah (referring to the continued disobedience of God’s people, Israel), points out to us that in His judgment, He “will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favour” (Isaiah 27:11 – KJV; cf. Jeremiah 8:7 – KJV). Thus, we need to emphasize the importance of our preparation for that certain event “” death (2 Kings 20:1; Hebrews 9:27).
An additional study of this subject is provided by Brother Wayne Jackson, editor of the Christian Courier.