Prayer for, not to, Satan

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I asked this in Ask an Apologist, no reply yet, and I’m curious as to the answer…

Jesus says we should pray for our enemies. This is a fact as taught by the Church and the Bible. I do this normally and have had no trouble at all with this teaching.

Then I read a quote somewhere, I believe from Mark Twain, who pointed out that Satan is the ultimate enemy yet nobody prayed for him. This struck me as a good point, so I said a prayer that Satan would stop his temptation of souls and that, despite his case being hopeless, he would be shown mercy and after repenting be allowed to come back to Christ.

Is this sinful? I would think probably not, but I want to be sure. I’m also pretty sure that if it is grave matter it’s still not a mortal sin because of lack of sufficient knowledge…Thoughts?
 
Marc_Anthony said:
I asked this in Ask an Apologist, no reply yet, and I’m curious as to the answer…

Jesus says we should pray for our enemies. This is a fact as taught by the Church and the Bible. I do this normally and have had no trouble at all with this teaching.

Then I read a quote somewhere, I believe from Mark Twain, who pointed out that Satan is the ultimate enemy yet nobody prayed for him. This struck me as a good point, so I said a prayer that Satan would stop his temptation of souls and that, despite his case being hopeless, he would be shown mercy and after repenting be allowed to come back to Christ.

Is this sinful? I would think probably not, but I want to be sure. I’m also pretty sure that if it is grave matter it’s still not a mortal sin because of lack of sufficient knowledge…Thoughts?
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Definitely not sinful. Possibly ineffectual, but perfectly well-intentioned. I’m not actually sure the Church teaches that Satan cannot change his ways, so a prayer like this strikes me as a good idea.
 
Hi, the Church teaches that because the devil is a spirit (used to be an Angel), - his will is now set for all eternity. He freely chose to reject God and has not changed his mind. If he had changed his mind, - God is so infinitely merciful that I believe He would have accepted him back. But the devil is really proud and that is keeping him from repentance…just as the good Angels will forever serve God, so the demons will forever hate Him. They are not like us, they can not change their decision.

I personally don’t think what you did was a sin… your intention was good… It would be incredible if the devil repented! But I don’t think it’s something that can actually happen. If you’re really in doubt, I suggest asking your priest at Confession 🙂

But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with praying for God to lessen the enemy’s attacks on the world and temptations against souls. That is a very good thing to pray for, - for spiritual protection against the enemy. But try to focus on God, it’s sometimes spiritually dangerous to think very much about the devil, unless your calling is somehow related to that, ie; being an exorcist. 🙂
 
Marc_Anthony said:
I asked this in Ask an Apologist, no reply yet, and I’m curious as to the answer…

Jesus says we should pray for our enemies. This is a fact as taught by the Church and the Bible. I do this normally and have had no trouble at all with this teaching.

Then I read a quote somewhere, I believe from Mark Twain, who pointed out that Satan is the ultimate enemy yet nobody prayed for him. This struck me as a good point, so I said a prayer that Satan would stop his temptation of souls and that, despite his case being hopeless, he would be shown mercy and after repenting be allowed to come back to Christ.

Is this sinful? I would think probably not, but I want to be sure. I’m also pretty sure that if it is grave matter it’s still not a mortal sin because of lack of sufficient knowledge…Thoughts?
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Its not sinful but its a waste of time. Satan is in Hell for eternity as is everyone who goes to Hell.
 
Hell, and all of it’s residents, are not objects of our charity. They have have made their choices and are now left to it.
 
The best prayer for the devil is the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.
 
prayer for someone in hell is useless

the only one we know for certain who is in hell is Satan
 
Excellent answer. Especially that we can effectively pray that the devils temptations be lessened and that people are protected against him. We cannot effectively pray for the devil’s repentance. An angel’s (devil’s) will and a human’s will are completely different and work in different was as Monica says.
Monica4316 said:
Hi, the Church teaches that because the devil is a spirit (used to be an Angel), - his will is now set for all eternity. He freely chose to reject God and has not changed his mind. If he had changed his mind, - God is so infinitely merciful that I believe He would have accepted him back. But the devil is really proud and that is keeping him from repentance…just as the good Angels will forever serve God, so the demons will forever hate Him. They are not like us, they can not change their decision.

I personally don’t think what you did was a sin… your intention was good… It would be incredible if the devil repented! But I don’t think it’s something that can actually happen. If you’re really in doubt, I suggest asking your priest at Confession 🙂

But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with praying for God to lessen the enemy’s attacks on the world and temptations against souls. That is a very good thing to pray for, - for spiritual protection against the enemy. But try to focus on God, it’s sometimes spiritually dangerous to think very much about the devil, unless your calling is somehow related to that, ie; being an exorcist. 🙂
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Thanks all for the helpful responses. I think you’re right-prayer to St. Michael is a bit more useful. I already like St. Michael a lot anyway. He almost became my patron (it ended up being St. Nicholas).
 
Also keep in mind that God gave the Angels the fullness of his knowledge. They all knew what the consequences of their choice would be when they made it. That is why their is no repentenance for them.

Angels are marvelous creatures. They have infinitly more knowledge than any human will ever have. They have infinitly more power and strength than any human will ever have. The one thing they were not given is being made in the image and likeness of God. This honor God bestowed on humans.

This honor so enraged the devil that he rebelled against God. With all of the knowledge and power that was given to the Angels Lucifer thought himself to be as powerful as God. The human element also played a large part in his choice.

These reasons are why the devil so hates the human race that he tries with all his might to kill as many of use, both spiritually and physically, as he can. It is also why we can never secumb to his pompts (Words right out of the traditional baptism rite.)

I think we know of more than one demon and person that is in hell. The devils are required to name themselves when commanded by a Priest in God’s name. It would be incorrect to state that we only know that Satan is in hell.

Finally, it would be misguided to pray for the devil. Once you know of the great gifts he was given by God, and how he utterly rejected them, it is easy to see why there is no redemption for him.

Talk to your Guardian Angel. You may not know your Angel’s name, but I guarantee that they can interceed on your behalf!
 
Hi Moon1234,

re what you said about why and when Lucifer chose to rebel.

I have understood that the reason for his rage and rebellion was not the creation of man nor said creation in the image and likeness of God, but the reason was when he was shown God’s plan for salvation history would fulfilled through Christ, and not himself (as he imagined himself a great prince), and more so, Christ in a human form, a form defiled by flesh. Thus, Lucifer didn’t mind that mortal, enfleshed creatures were created (he considers himself vastly superior to us in that respect – no competition) but that those same creatures would occupy a post-redeemed position of the same if not greater glory than the angels.

What are your thoughts?

Brad
 
We should pray for the fulfillment of the Word of God in which He prophecies the serpents head will be crushed. We pray for our human enemies because they can become children of God and heirs of eternal life.
 
bradwilcox said:
Hi Moon1234,

re what you said about why and when Lucifer chose to rebel.

I have understood that the reason for his rage and rebellion was not the creation of man nor said creation in the image and likeness of God, but the reason was when he was shown God’s plan for salvation history would fulfilled through Christ, and not himself (as he imagined himself a great prince), and more so, Christ in a human form, a form defiled by flesh. Thus, Lucifer didn’t mind that mortal, enfleshed creatures were created (he considers himself vastly superior to us in that respect – no competition) but that those same creatures would occupy a post-redeemed position of the same if not greater glory than the angels.

What are your thoughts?

Brad
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Which is the essentially stating the same thing another way. It really boils down to Satan rebelled because of Man’s creation in the image and likeness of God. This naturally entitles us to be Sons of God (If we are so worthy). Something the Angels were never offered. The Angels received power and knowledge. We received neither. What we did receive is something far greater, the ability to be Sons of God. Satan could not stand that, as you stated above.

The OP wanted to know if praying to satan had any benefit, it clearly does not.
 
choy said:
prayer for someone in hell is useless

the only one we know for certain who is in hell is Satan
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Prayer for those in the Lake of Fire is useless. Prayers for those in Hades is not.

It’s popular to call Purgatory a waiting room for Heaven - it is, but, non-dogmatically, I’d like to point out that it’s more consistent with tradition that all the souls of the dead descend to Hades. The righteous dead were loosed, yes, but Christians belabored by venial sin are not righteous; they are on their way there. Hence, Christians who have not yet been freed from their sins ARE in hell, and that is why we pray for them.

When we say people are in hell right now, it means Hades. The fallen angels, Hades, unrepentant humans will not be cast into the Lake of Fire until the end.

It is good and meaningful to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins. We should not give up hope for any human being, but continue our supplications.

As for Satan? A prayer for him is probably well-intentioned, but his heart is hardened. He’s also not in the Lake of Fire yet.
 
It seems no one here knows what the church teaches about angels. For one thing angels do not have free wills they were created with concrete wills and were able to make only one decision their will became fixed forever with that movement toward or away from God.

Second the damned either fallen angels or humans have all been judged there can be no reversal of God’s justice. Do not think of God as a push over or a wimp he has no qualms about condeming the souls who chose to reject him. His judgment is always perfect.

Today most Catholics get into a lot of trouble trying to create a God who wont punish anyone for anything but be assured St Theresa of Avila who made numerous trips to hell was permitted to question the residents. The youngest person condemned for all eternity to Hell and its torments was 8 years old and guilty of only one mortal sin for which she was not sorry she took our lord’s name in vain. Think about it. Then take a look at the modern world. Maybe it is easier to understand Our Blessed Lord’s statement, “when I return will I even find faith?”

This seriousness should make us all pray for the living who must prepare for their judgements to come.
 
Really? I could be wrong, but I’m almost sure that the Church’s teaching on Angels is that they do indeed have free will.
 
moon1234 said:
Also keep in mind that God gave the Angels the fullness of his knowledge …
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Can you support this? It’s not something I am familiar with.

I think a catechism citation or canon would be sufficient.

From my perspective, no one can ever have the fullness of God’s knowledge so I am wondering if I am misreading your intended meaning.

Thanks,
 
WetCatechumen said:
As for Satan? A prayer for him is probably well-intentioned, but his heart is hardened. He’s also not in the Lake of Fire yet.
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I like your point, and also wonder about his present state.

How does he get away with so much if he is consigned to hell? Who else gets to come out of hell and mess with us like he does? :confused:

What is hell … really?
 
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