You have heard it said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemies." But I tell you: "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...if you only pray for those who love you, what reward will you get?" -Matthew 5:43,46 (NIV)
I often spend my mornings thinking and praying about people whom I love. Seldom do I devote any significant amount of time thinking and praying about people for whom I don't have special regard. Take yesterday for example. I spoke with two different friends who were upset because of hurtful things that others had said about them. I know for a fact that the things being said about these two friends are not true.
For the rest of the day, I found myself praying for these two friends whom I love, asking God to heal their hurt, affirm their value to Him and to me, and make them more keenly aware of God's presence and peace. What I didn't do was pray for those who hurt my two friends. I didn't ask God to soften their hearts. I didn't ask God to give them more information in order to see that what they said was not true and not fair. I didn't ask God to help them realize that the tongue is a deadly poison (James 3:7) and that one day we will all have to give an account of the empty words that we have spoken (Matthew 12:36). I prayed for my friends who had been hurt but I did not pray for those that hurt my friends. But then I wake up this morning to the assigned reading about loving enemies and praying for those who persecute. Could God be trying to tell me something?
Today, in addition to praying for those I love, I feel compelled to pray for those I do not love. I confess that I am reluctant to pray for those who hurt me and/or the people I love, but Christ calls me to pray for them.
Today, may God grant you the desire to pray for those whom you're tempted not to pray.
If you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year, tomorrow's scripture readings are 1 Samuel 22, Psalm 17, Psalm 35, and Matthew 6.
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