Praying…for the Enemy

by Cherie Hill

We’ve all heard, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Growing up…we might have even truly believed that saying. But as we grow older, we discover that we would actually prefer the sticks and stones…broken bones heal. The fact of the matter is that words hurt, and sometimes they cut deep enough to leave permanent scars. Before we know it, the root of bitterness and anger take hold and we find ourselves wrestling with how to bring justice to our suffering.

At times, there are people in our lives that we just stop praying for; we’ve all done it at some time or other, maybe without really realizing it. We beg God to have mercy on us for the wrongs that we’ve done, but cry out for justice upon those who have committed wrongs towards us. We find ourselves shutting people out who might live life contrary to our beliefs; those who don’t quite meet up to our expectations. (I’m certain there is someone you can think of at this very moment whose attitudes and actions irritate or inconvenience you.) They can bug us so much that it becomes “painful.” If they’ve hurt us in some way, either intentionally or unintentionally, we tend to shut them out. We “sign off” from them and forget the heart of God who is relentlessly committed to sinners. Jesus died for the ungodly. That includes you and me…and those who hurt us or offend us. That means we sin against God when we cease praying for them.

“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.”

(1 Samuel 12:23 AMP)

We can’t force someone to be kind, loving, and considerate towards us. But we can live by example. We can “instruct them” by the way we live our lives.

“Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” —St. Francis Assisi

We so easily absorb the world’s disposition toward prejudice, hatefulness, or reactionary rejection of others. We are confronted with the contrast between God’s love for the world and our own. But, we must daily come to God’s throne of grace and be freed from the attitudes that have dominated our personal and cultural preferences and embrace the Savior who died for us.

The point is this, when others offend or hurt us, we place them in a category…grouped with others, who have offended us…more than likely, they’re not at the top of our prayer list. They’re being held captive by us, so that our suffering is not in vain. But even Jesus called out to God in prayer as He hung on the Cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Can we not do the same? We must make the decision to continue to call out to God on behalf of those who sin and cause us pain. We cannot compromise our discipleship and threaten our faith by turning our backs, instead of turning our cheeks. We cannot forget the Kingdom of God attitude that says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44 NIV)

We must daily ask ourselves if there is anyone we have stopped praying for…we may need God to help us recognize who that might be. We can’t justify our actions to cease praying by spite and through self-righteousness. God never gives up caring—neither should we. God, our Heavenly Father calls us to mirror His heart and never give up praying…for the enemy.

About the Author:
Cherie Hill is the author of Be Still: Let Jesus Calm Your Storms, and an Amazon.com Shorts Bestselling author in the Christian genre. She has a BA in Psychology, a Biblical Counseling Certificate through the AACC, and is continuing studies through the Moody Bible Institute. Cherie is the founder of ScriptureNow.com Ministry that brings the Word of God and prayer, into over 30 countries around the world everyday. (reaching over 100,000 people every year)
Cherie brings instructive and uplifting teaching of the Word of God across the world through the “SpiritWaves™” audio ministry on EzraWebRadio.com and GloryStar Satellite Radio, with a subscriber base of 11 million people.
Cherie’s podcast, “FaithSteps” ranks consistently in the top 100 Christian podcasts in the world on GodCast 1000.