Praying for Satan's Soul?

A child's innocent question provokes a lively Beliefnet debate.

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In mid June, Beliefnet member Corpus sought some parenting advice by posting a rather tough question on our message boards. In typical Beliefnet style, you accepted his challenge and gave Corpus--and the rest of the Beliefnet community--plenty to think about.


	June 21, 2001 When praying with my four year old son one evening, I explained to him that it's important for us to pray for those people who do bad things in hope that they will seek forgiveness and return to God. My son thought carefully and asked if we could pray for the devil. After a few minutes of humming and hawing I said yes. When I later suggested to him that the devil had already made his decision, he pointed out that mom and dad told him God can do anything and that he (my son) needs to believe in the power of prayer. I'd like to give a straight answer to my son, but am not sure what the answer is. Is praying for the devil good, bad or simply ineffective? --corpus