Praying for our Enemies and Melting Butter

I truly can’t think of a better time than now to do what’s seemingly the most unnatural……..to pray for our enemies.  Not only for those in our social circles, but for those around the world.

In all honesty, as a Christian, I’m called, you’re called, we’re all called to pray endlessly for each other. Even for those who hurt people.

Should we pray for murderers, terrorists, gossips, slanderers, liars and abusers?  You bet.

We all come from humble, simple, organic beginnings.  It’s a pretty weird concept to grasp.  Even the most evil among us were born into this world as babies.  They wake up everyday, they breathe, they eat, they drink, they sleep…..similar to all of us.  Somewhere along the line, something happened.  A paradigm shift occurred.  The bad trumped the good.

As human beings, we will never sever the root of evil, that’s God’s job.  He’ll complete His work someday, but for now, our job is to love, encourage and welcome God to change lives all around us.

Praying for our enemies doesn’t condone their senseless acts.  It just simply releases them to the One who created them.

Not because they deserve it, but because we all suck sometimes.  We all mess up in various ways, some of which are more serious than others.

There’s a change in the heart when we begin to lift others up in prayer.  It’s kind of like a hard stick of butter, freshly removed from the fridge….I see our hearts like that.  The longer the butter sits at room temperature, the softer it becomes.  Similarly, the more that we pray for others, the softer our heart becomes.  The defensive barriers slowly come down and God gives us His eyes for others.  Our judgement of other’s actions now becomes an understanding of their disposition….of the fallen condition as human beings that we all fall subject to.

So let’s pray friends.  Let’s pray for healing, for freedom, for God’s intercession in even the most wrecked lives.  For an understanding and belief of who Jesus is.  That’s the stuff that matters and that’s the stuff that flips worlds upside down.

We’re not capable of knowing other’s motives.  We’re not capable of understanding it all.  We’re only capable of conversation with the One who does.

 

God Bless,

Paul