43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
God, I admit I don’t spend as much time as I should praying for my enemies. God, it’s really hard to pray for our enemies! Really difficult to pray for people we don’t care for! Difficult to pray for people we know are out to get us, speak poorly about us, oppose us, and are deliberately disagreeable toward us! It’s hard to find the right words to pray their good and not their destruction! Praying for our enemy goes against everything in our being, against every (righteous) bone in our body! Maybe that’s why You gave this lesson on prayer to God-fearing and God-loving people. Help me to add my enemies to my prayer list. The ones I have good reason not dislike and the ones I don’t have any reason to dislike! I want to begin my enemy prayers today by praying for the
- Child molester and abuser who does so much damage to beautiful young people
- Drug trafficker who poisons our communities and our children, destroying lives before they can barely begin
- Human trafficker who stalk and steal people for their illicit purposes
- Gang leader and recruiter who preys on the innocent and locks entire communities in fear
- The politician whose politics I don’t understand at all
- The wealthy who have made their riches off the backs of the poor
Help me pray for them with the heart of Christ. Jesus how would You pray? What would You say? What do You want most from and for these broken, wretched people who break and torment the lives of others?
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