This post is all about how you can pray for your enemies in a godly way today.
You’ve probably heard the verse before “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), but how can you realistically apply those words to your life? Below are 5 ways to not only pray for your enemies but to pray in a way that will change you in the process.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Pray daily for your enemies
Often, it is easy to just pray for that annoying person when they offend you and then forget about them. But if you build up the habit of praying for them every day, you can start to have God’s eyes when you see them.
Prayer is simply communicating with God, and God desires to have a daily relationship with us (John 3:16 anyone?) God wants us to know him. Acts 17:27 says that God wants us to “seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” Not only does God want to have a relationship with you, but he wants a relationship with that person who has offended you. Keep both those things in mind as you pray daily.
Pray for God’s Heart
It is so easy to focus on the offense and how this person has wronged you. As Christians, however, God wants to give us His heart for His people. Acts 13:22 describes David as a Man after God’s heart. But what does it mean to follow God’s heart? It means to listen to and obey His voice in your life. It means that in having a relationship with God, you begin to rejoice with the things God rejoices in and mourn the things that cause God to mourn.
When you pray for God’s heart with this person, you are praying that you will see them as God sees them.
Pray for what’s real
When praying for your enemies, don’t pray for their souls as if you know their relationship with God. Rather, pray for what is real in their life. Maybe you know of a struggle that they are going through. Pray for that. Pray that God gives them peace and wisdom in overcoming what they are up against.
In Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis, writing from the Devil’s perspective, talks about prayer. He writes that it is best to keep a Christian from praying, but if that is not possible, then make sure that the Christian is praying for their general mood, rather than for God’s presence and wisdom.
When praying, you can pray for the person’s relationship with God – specifically where they are lacking. This will undoubtedly make you feel better about your relationship with God, eventually making you feel like you are better than they are.
Instead of praying in this way which can make you feel more righteous, you can pray for their current situation, enabling you to have empathy and compassion for them. When you pray for someone, pray for them as a child of God. Pray for them as you would pray for your best friend. Pray for them in a way that the focus is on them and their concerns, not you and yours.
Pray for your enemies needs
Similar to the last point, instead of praying about how bad you think they are and how they’ve wronged you, pray for their physical needs. It can be so easy to get caught up in how they’ve offended you and how you are right in this situation, but part of having God’s heart is considering other people’s needs (Philippians 2:3-4).
Related Post: How To Pray The Lord’s Prayer Over Your Life
So, the next time you are praying for those who’ve wronged you, pray for their physical needs. If you aren’t sure what they are, pray that God will show you. If you do know what they are, is there any way you can provide for that person? If they need help with groceries, can you be the one to supply them? If they need someone to mow their lawn, can you dedicate an hour a week for the job, stopping to have a conversation about how good our God is while you work?
Pray that God will use you to be His hands and feet, serving His people in humility (1 Peter 4:10).
Pray with Good intentions
There is a song called Pray For You that says
“you can’t go hatin’ others
Who have done wrong to you…
Let the good Lord do his job, you just pray for them.
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I’d like to”
While that sentiment is understandable, God calls us to have empathy for those who hurt us. Luke 6:27-28 says “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
God calls us to see our enemies through his eye. So even when it’s tough, pray for your enemies the same way you would want people to pray for you.
Pray for yourself
The last point seems a bit contradictory. Why would you need to pray for yourself when you are praying for your enemies?
Jesus tells us “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5). Often, when someone has offended you, it is pointing to one of your insecurities. That insecurity exists regardless of what your enemy has said or done.
Related Post: How To Pray God’s Blessing Over Your Life
Ask God to give you his wisdom, both in dealing with your enemy and in overcoming your own shortcomings. Pray that God grants you His vision. Pray that God would help you see the person the same way He does. God loves that person desperately, just as much as he loves you. So pray that God grants you the patience and wisdom when dealing with that person, and the eyes to see them as God’s child.
Use a prayer Journal
Sometimes our minds can wander when we are trying to pray. If you have this problem, consider using a prayer journal to help you focus your thoughts. There are so many wonderful prayer journals out there, like this daily prayer and gratitude journal that guides you with a few prompts each day. The Clever Fox Prayer Journal is a daily devotional as well as a prayer tracker. It gives dedicated space to reflections and thoughts from each days Bible reading, as well as focusing on gratitude and prayer. The Prayer Map Journal uses a creative approach to keep you engaged in prayer. This beautiful leather journal is perfect for anyone who wants a blank slate without any prompts for their prayer journal.
Reflect on how you can pray for your enemies today
Do you need to pray for your enemies today? Which of the steps can you implement to help you have God’s heart for His people as you pray for them?
