“PRAYING FOR OUR ENEMIES”
Sometimes we get angry, but we must not condemn, Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them
I pray your brakes go out runnin' down a hill, I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I'd like to, I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls
I pray you're flyin' high when your engine stalls, I pray all your dreams never come true, Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you
Those words come from a song by Jaron and The Long Road to Love called “I’ll Pray For You.” As Christians, we know we are to pray for those who persecute us and do evil to us. I am relatively sure that our prayers should not reflect the sentiment of the song. After all, we are to love everyone with unconditional love. True love means that we want the best for everyone. We are also instructed to make every effort to live in peace with all people (Hebrews 12:14). We will never be at peace hoping evil befalls on anyone. That is just not being holy, and without holiness, no one sees God!
Praying for our enemies can be difficult. I am not talking about the quick mention in passing or as an afterthought. I mean prayers that are heartfelt, like when we are praying for friends and family. Our minds often fixate on what happened that made a particular person an enemy. When we think on the bad, it is difficult to ask God to cover that person with grace and mercy and to forgive them. We often begin imagining how God will punish them, and at that point, can we say we are loving our enemies?
As Jesus hung on the cross, watching the soldiers gamble for His only earthly possessions, being sneered at and mocked by the crowd, Jesus prayed these words, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Every Christian is familiar with this scene, yet how often do we stop and think about the gravity of this prayer? How much spiritual fortitude did it take for Jesus to utter these words after the physical abuse He had endured, hearing the mocking and insults, and knowing the worst was yet to come, complete and total separation from the Father as He took on the sins of the world. This prayer was about unconditional love!
We see a similar scene in Acts 7. Stephen had just spoken before the Sanhedrin and what he had said, even though it was the truth, infuriated them. They drug him out of the city and stoned him. As they stoned him, Stephen fell to his knees and said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). Stephen imitated Jesus with this heartfelt prayer for those who considered him an enemy.
Praying for our enemies is not about vengeance or punishment. It is about expressing our faith in a just, and faithful God who always does the right thing. It’s about lifting our enemies up in prayer, demonstrating that we love like God loves. It is about living in hope that our enemy repents, and we can share the grace of God and eternal life forever!
Read Romans 12:9-21