I know, it sounds impossible. What could be harder than loving someone whose number one goal is to hurt me? This concept, while very hard to swallow, is in fact the most freeing, the most strengthening, the most healing strategy in spiritual warfare. And, yes, the most difficult.
Let's go to scripture:
Matthew 18:7 is recorded as, "For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" While we should not rejoice in the words of Matthew, we should take comfort in them. The Bible tells us that "all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) All means ALL. All good, all bad, all things. So, you have to ask yourself: "What is it that I need to take from this situation? What is the lesson here? What does this matter say to me and say about me?" Let's go deeper: "How did I react to this? Did I respond with holiness, with a contrite spirit?" Another good question would be, "What was my role in all of this?" Being truthful with yourself, and allowing God to shine His light in those dark corners of your heart opens the door to a healing for you. My mother says often, "things come to either work something in you or to work something out of you." You will become better able, better equipped to work on the things in your life that might be keeping you from a higher walk in the Lord.
Proverbs 25:21-23: If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. Again, we find that it is really for our betterment to walk in love. We will be rewarded.
You can also take comfort in Psalm 11:4 which tells us, "...He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them." So, nothing happens without his knowledge and we also know by Proverbs 16:2 that the Lord knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. Yours and the heart of your enemy. He knows if that person truly has evil intentions toward you and you can be assured He knows how to deal with it.
Still looking for another reason? Well, Jesus said so!
~Matthew 5:44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
~Luke 6:27 But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
~Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
So, now you see you should pray for your enemies, but your questioning how exactly do I pray for them?
We've all heard the saying, "Hurting people hurt people." This is so very true. The one attacking you has no doubt been under attack themselves. They lash out, like we do. People react from within. The response you see comes from things inside that person that you may not see or know about. Things such as fear, rejection, pain, resentment, jealousy, bitterness and the list goes on and on. Pray that the root of the matter is exposed. The expose may never be revealed to you, but more importantly that person needs to see it in order to dealt with it.
This is a stretching experience. It is so very hard not to pray for revenge or for devastation to fall upon them. While that may be what we'd like to see, we should instead pray for the perfect will of God to be performed in their lives. His will be done in this earth! If God is working in them, He will weed out those things that are not like Him. He will also do that for us. He will show us what we need to work on so we can truly walk in His love and extend mercy just as He extends mercy and forgiveness to us. You will soon find that when you are interceding on behalf of that person, a powerful work will be performed inside of you!
Most importantly, we have to release these people to Him so He can perform His work in them. As long as we are trying to fix it, He won't. Trust me when I say this. He is the perfect gentleman and will not compete with us nor will He go where He is not invited. I'd rather He take control. I don't want to have to reap for my bad attitude or vengeful acts. I choose His way!
So, love your enemies, really? Really.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Let's go to scripture:
Matthew 18:7 is recorded as, "For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!" While we should not rejoice in the words of Matthew, we should take comfort in them. The Bible tells us that "all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) All means ALL. All good, all bad, all things. So, you have to ask yourself: "What is it that I need to take from this situation? What is the lesson here? What does this matter say to me and say about me?" Let's go deeper: "How did I react to this? Did I respond with holiness, with a contrite spirit?" Another good question would be, "What was my role in all of this?" Being truthful with yourself, and allowing God to shine His light in those dark corners of your heart opens the door to a healing for you. My mother says often, "things come to either work something in you or to work something out of you." You will become better able, better equipped to work on the things in your life that might be keeping you from a higher walk in the Lord.
Proverbs 25:21-23: If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. Again, we find that it is really for our betterment to walk in love. We will be rewarded.
You can also take comfort in Psalm 11:4 which tells us, "...He observes everyone on earth; his eyes examine them." So, nothing happens without his knowledge and we also know by Proverbs 16:2 that the Lord knows the thoughts and intents of the heart. Yours and the heart of your enemy. He knows if that person truly has evil intentions toward you and you can be assured He knows how to deal with it.
Still looking for another reason? Well, Jesus said so!
~Matthew 5:44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!
~Luke 6:27 But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.
~Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
So, now you see you should pray for your enemies, but your questioning how exactly do I pray for them?
We've all heard the saying, "Hurting people hurt people." This is so very true. The one attacking you has no doubt been under attack themselves. They lash out, like we do. People react from within. The response you see comes from things inside that person that you may not see or know about. Things such as fear, rejection, pain, resentment, jealousy, bitterness and the list goes on and on. Pray that the root of the matter is exposed. The expose may never be revealed to you, but more importantly that person needs to see it in order to dealt with it.
This is a stretching experience. It is so very hard not to pray for revenge or for devastation to fall upon them. While that may be what we'd like to see, we should instead pray for the perfect will of God to be performed in their lives. His will be done in this earth! If God is working in them, He will weed out those things that are not like Him. He will also do that for us. He will show us what we need to work on so we can truly walk in His love and extend mercy just as He extends mercy and forgiveness to us. You will soon find that when you are interceding on behalf of that person, a powerful work will be performed inside of you!
Most importantly, we have to release these people to Him so He can perform His work in them. As long as we are trying to fix it, He won't. Trust me when I say this. He is the perfect gentleman and will not compete with us nor will He go where He is not invited. I'd rather He take control. I don't want to have to reap for my bad attitude or vengeful acts. I choose His way!
So, love your enemies, really? Really.
Proverbs 16:7 When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
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