#11 “Why Should I Pray For My Enemies”

 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion,

‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies.

Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.

When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer,

for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.”           

            Matthew 5:43-44 - The Message (MSG)

Even the nicest person in the world has enemies, even if it makes no sense it true.  Even I have enemies, people who have for one reason or another, have chosen not to like me. What do you do when this happens?  I just start praying for them. Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a person's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” However, the Lord wouldn't allow me to leave it there; it wouldn’t be long before I was in deep intercession and agony over their soul.

We must realize that people may not like us but it doesn’t give us a reason to not love them back. Jesus said, "...you have heard the old law, Love your friends/neighbor as yourself,” but do you also remember the verse which says, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It’s not hard to pray for those who love us, however, nothing within us wants pray for those who are bring us pain or grief. But this is just what the Lord has instructed us to do.  But why should I pray for my enemy? Can I give you five reasons, why you should?  

1.       That God bestows His grace on their lives – So that God will bless them and cover them with His grace. Would you pray this for your friends and love ones? Then you must do so for your enemies as well.   Love always looks beyond our faults and sees our true need, and their true need is not that they love you; rather that they love the Lord God.

2.       That God’s grace would cover you – When we take the time to pray God blessings on someone, this opens the door for you to be blessed as well. The truth of the matter is this, if we will not forgive others their faults, God will not forgive us our faults. Sounds like a fair exchange to me, how about you?

3.       Our praying is an act of humility – It requires a lot of us to pray for someone we know don’t like us and is out to get us.  Just remember Romans 12:19 says, vengeance belongs to Him and He will repay them. So don’t become the object of God’s vengeance yourself while, trying to get back at them.

4.       Because they belong to God – The Psalms 24:1 tell us, “The earth and everything it contains is the LORD's. The world and all who live in it are His.” We do not have a right to touch what belongs to God negatively, if we do we’ll have to answer to Him. 

5.       For the peace of God – Matthew 6:15 “But if you do not forgive people their offenses, your Father will not forgive your offenses." It’s hard to hate someone you’re praying for on a daily bases. Why, because you start to love their soul and pray for its salvation, you begin to care for them.

My Prayer: Farther God, we lift up before You this morning those who contend with us, who speak all kinds of evil against us. Father, today we ask you to bless them to come to know you as Lord. Bring them to repentance and save them from destruction. Father, turn their hearts towards you and help them and us to walk in peace. Help us to be a light shining into the darkness, which is within their hearts. Give us the words to speak to them that will cause them to see their true heart and relent for doing evil. In Jesus’ name Amen!

Have a blessed day...go in Gods peace!

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