Pray for Our Enemies?

Jesus could not have made it any plainer when he said in Luke 6:28, "Pray for those who mistreat you." (NIV) All of us have been wounded by someone. It hurts! God does not expect us to endure a deep hurt or abuse.

Reconciliation may not be possible because the other individual may not be willing to work things out. In the additional features of the DVD Unbroken, Louie Zamperini tells how he met one-by-one with the guards of his WWII POW camp and forgave them. The leader of the camp would not meet with Zamperini, but he forgave him anyway.

Whatever the circumstance, we can forgive and part of forgiveness is to pray for them. Forgiveness means we let go of the bitterness in our hearts and turn the matter over to our Lord to deal with the aggressor as needed. Holding grudges, getting revenge, and the like rob us of peace and joy. We need to be honest before God and pour out our hurts to him. He has big shoulders. This release of emotion will jump start the healing process and give us strength and courage to excuse the injustice.

Praying for politicians and for our enemies are both tall orders. Next time, I will discuss another difficult group of people we are commanded to pray for.