“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:44-45
I remember the first time I ever heard John Bevere preach he said,” the only people Jesus ever commanded us to pray for were our enemies.” He went on to quote this verse and say something to the effect that we can absolutely pray for other people, the lost, our families and friends, but how much more should we pray for those Jesus commanded us to? Those people would be our enemies.
Who constitutes as an enemy you might ask? If you’re in let’s say elementary school, that’s an easy one. Whoever makes fun of you, steals your snacks, tells you that you have coodies (spelling? It’s been a long time since I used that word ;-) ) & tells the teacher on you. As an adult, our friend Webster and his dictionary ;) define an enemy as,”one that is antagonistic to another ; especially : one seeking to injure, overthrow, or confound an opponent”. In the Greek it can mean people who hate you, but a broader definition would be people who hate God and are being influenced by the devil.
I clearly am not a theologian, but coming from personal experience, I believe one of the reasons Jesus commanded we pray for those who persecute us and spitefully use us is to keep our own hearts pure. People can do and say horrible things at times and wound us. If we allow the enemy to have his way, we become offended and cold towards the things of God. We develop ugly patterns of resentment, criticism, and judgement if our hearts remain broken.
If we are to stand against the enemy and his schemes, we must learn to live with unoffended hearts and pray for our accusers. While this may begin on a small scale, if properly applied, we will have pure hearts to stand in the face of persecution one day.
Of course we need to pray for our loved ones and those we know, but we must give special attention to these words in red. Who knows if the “Sauls” in our lives might become “Apostle Pauls” if we pray rightly.
Who can you pray for today?