Pray for Our Enemies
But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
Luke 6:27-28
There are people in the world that are out to imprison or kill Christians, and they often do evil things that can us make angry. We ask ourself how can we pray for such evil people? God’s love is unconditional, and when his love fills our hearts our love is unconditional. The verse above tells us to love our enemy and pray for them, because they are created in the image of God and have been deceived by Satan.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12) Our enemy is Satan, and we hate how he has deceived people and uses them to destroy Christians. If we love people and hate the deception Satan has done to them, the more we will hate sin and the more we overcome sin.
Hate evil, you who love the Lord, Who preserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked. (Psalm 97:10) There is no place in the Bible that tells us to hate people, but to love all people and hate evil. We treat everyone with love and truth, and example is given when Jesus confronted the Pharisees. And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. (John 8:23-24) Jesus spoke calmly to his enemies, the Pharisees, and he told them the Truth. And after the resurrection of Jesus, some of the Pharisees remember what Jesus had said to them, and they understood and believed and became Christians.
This is an example of how we treat our enemies, with love and care, remaining calm and explain God’s truth to them. It never does any good to argue or get mad, it just triggers an angry emotion and they typically stop listening. Like Jesus, speak the truth with a caring heart with a clam emotion. People can believe anything they desire, but God’s truth never changes, and all people will be judged by God.
Our war is a spiritual war against Satan and his evil ways, and people who don’t know God’s truth are by default living with their sins. We fight this war with prayer and with Christ guiding us to bring God’s truth to the world with love and a caring heart.
Today pray for our enemies, pray for those who don’t know Christ, and love the person and hate the sin. Remember all sin and evil comes from Satan.
Prayer: Lord help me to love everyone and to hate sin, and to realize it’s a spiritual war, and not against flesh and blood. In Jesus name, Amen