Prayer To Love Your Enemies
ark 12:30-31 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”
Everything we do should be motivated by love. Love should be our driving force in all our relationships, including our relationship with God.
If we are not motivated by love, if we do not have a genuine love for others, then the good that comes from what we do will be empty.
It is easy to love those who love us. But, it becomes difficult to love those who hate us, who mistreat us, who hurt us purposely, or who enjoy seeing us in pain.
How do you love a colleague who is always trying to get you in trouble with your boss? How do you love a father who deserted your mum and was never there for you, or an alcoholic and abusive father?
Today’s world encourages us to put ourselves first. It teaches us to be self-centered and to do what pleases us. But this is contrary to all that Jesus taught.
In Luke 6:27-30, Jesus says
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you and pray for those who spitefully use you.
To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods, do not ask them back.
In Luke 6:32, Jesus continues by asking, “Are you really showing true love by loving only those who love you? Even sinners love those who love them.”
Are you really showing compassion, when you do good deeds only to those who do good deeds to you? Even those who don’t know God will do that!
Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return.
If we can’t love those who accuse us and those who plot against us, then we are pretty much the same as unsaved people of the world.
If we only love those who love us, then we are not like our Father God. We are to love our enemies, without seeking revenge and without waiting for God to repay them. That is true love.
Pray for your enemies. Pray for something positive in their lives. Pray for their salvation, and for God to touch their heart. Pray for the light of God to illuminate them.
Let Us Pray
Dear Father, it is so amazing how you loved a world that did not love you back, and You gave Your Son to die in the place of those who did not even acknowledge You.
The Bible says that You are love, and we can testify because of the many things You have done for us. Oh Lord, I’m in awe of your love.
Heavenly Father, I ask for forgiveness of my sins. For the sins I committed knowingly and unknowingly, Father, please pardon my wrongs, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, I have not been walking in love for my enemies; I have wished them bad. I have wanted to seek revenge and avenge the wrong done against me.
But that is not the character of Jesus. I do wrong every day. Yet, He loves me and forgives me, over and over again!
Lord, I want to be like You. Give me a heart that will love my enemies. I want to walk in love and in obedience to your word.
Abba Father, sometimes I allow the hateful comments to get to me. Sometimes, I can’t stand the hatred and selfishness at work.
Lord, I die to my will. I die to myself. I die to my desires. Please, not my will but yours, my Lord.
Have your way in my life now. I open up my heart to You. I let go of all the pain that those who hate me have caused me.
I open up my heart to receive God’s healing and love. I choose to forgive those who wronged me.
Oh Lord, I pray that you shine your light upon them. Let your mercy speak for them and save them, in Jesus Christ’s mighty name I pray, AMEN.