SCRIPTURE: You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:43-45 NIV
THOUGHT: Some days, I just sigh when I get a glimpse of how far I am from being God-like in my attitudes and actions. I mentioned after the National Day of Prayer that I had seen some things in my heart that needed examining and that I would talk here about them. And here it is. Time for confession.
As I tried to pray through the list of national leaders, I encountered the strange truth that I didn’t want some of their names to cross my lips, as if those very words would feel evil on my tongue. It reminded me that this was not the first time I had felt this way. I have struggled to pray for certain others all of my life, and when I compare that to the sinless son of God who literally lives to intercede, and to my heavenly Father, who loves the whole world and sends rain and sun to even those who hate him, it is a pretty stark contrast.
In the end, I did pray for these leaders, using some words from the Psalmist as my guide, but it didn’t feel very loving and I’m pretty sure that’s not the way Jesus is interceding for them.
So, I’d be curious, am I alone here? Do you struggle to follow Jesus into love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, or is it something that comes as easily and naturally as praying for your children or friends? I’d love to hear from you, and the thought for today is simply a challenge: what does it look like to love our enemies?
PRAYER: Oh God, I feel so puny beside you, despite the years of spiritual growth and training, and the love that has been poured into my life. I am so grateful that you have promised to finish what you started in me. Help me follow you even to this: loving enemies and praying for persecutors.
Dear Reader,
I’m glad you’re along and I pray you will be blessed, challenged, and encouraged in your faith by something you read here.
There are archives by topic below – now more than 1000 of these daily meditations to browse.
ABOUT ME:
Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
FREE TO YOU:
If you’d like to be notified of this blog each weekday, please look for the little blue “follow” button below (just above the topical search), and welcome!
asipoblog.com 
You are not alone.
<
div>I strugg
LikeLike
Thanks, Shirley. Don’t know what the last part of that was supposed to say, but I hope you’ll try again. It’s a blessing to not feel alone.
LikeLike
Good morning Amy. Thanks for being so honest. I had found it easy as a younger Christian to forgive and pray for my enemies. After entering the work force, I found a challenge, I once didn’t see that I had enemies, but it quickly became apparent some where full of hate and slanderous to me. For ten years I forgave, showing love and kindness. Eventually I became depressed and struggling to be objective to God’s heart for them. I prayed for forgiveness, for Him to fill me with His love for them. I tried to see God was with me. After 5 more years of this, I became angry at how hateful others can be, I saw many and still do, see those broken by the struggle to live in a hostile environment. Worst of all was the shame of not loving as Christ did, and having some Christians react in shock if I dared share my feelings and struggles. Thanks again for sharing this, it helps to know, I’m not condemned for not finding it easy to love my enemies.
LikeLike
It is hard for us to accept that we just aren’t completely like Jesus yet and I am alternately sad for and proud of you over that story. I think God is giving us a little taste of what it is like to be in his shoes, don’t you? He loves and loves and forgives and forgives and died to forgive, and still people don’t love or respect him. Thank you for your comments and story. Glad to have you reading along.
LikeLike
You are not alone. I think we all find it hard to pray for our enemies. But first, maybe we need to define who our enemies are. I donât have anyone th
LikeLike
(It looks like my comment got truncated. Here’s the entire comment.) You are not alone. I think we all find it hard to pray for our enemies. But first, maybe we need to define who our enemies are. I don’t have anyone that I’m fighting, no one who is out to get me or do me harm. (Although we know our fight is not against flesh and blood.) So I see my enemy as someone who is actively fighting against God’s authority on a grand scale – a politician, media member, entertainer, social media influencer, etc. Or, it could be someone you dislike and would rather be judgmental towards. (Someone else’s definition could be different.)
I see praying for these people like this: I would rather have them be on our side than continuing to fight against them. How cool would it be to see someone who was outspoken against God suddenly start preaching the Gospel of Jesus (think Paul)! I also don’t want to be like Jonah who didn’t want to preach God’s message and got angry when the people repented. But most importantly, God loves these people and commands us to pray for them.
It’s not easy, we all struggle with it, but as evil continues to grow, this might the most critical time ever to pray for our enemies.
LikeLike
Thanks, Terry. I say Amen! We have no idea how praying for our enemies could change the course of history.
LikeLike