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How to Pray for Your Enemies

How to Pray for Your Enemies
by: John Piper
This article is part of the How to Pray series.

“Pray for Those Who Persecute You”

Jesus gives numerous examples of the kinds of behaviors involved in loving our enemies. The first mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount after the command to love is prayer. “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt. 5:44). And “Pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:28). This is enormously important in telling us how Jesus thinks about what love is. First, it tells us that love really wants the good of the enemy. This is confirmed by the supplementary command, “Bless those who curse you” (Luke 6:28). To bless is to desire someone’s well-being and turn it into an expressed longing directed to God. For example, Jesus knew the famous blessing from Numbers 6:24–26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” Do this, he says, for your enemy. Your enemy needs the light of God’s countenance to shine on him and melt his heart.Therefore, it is clear from this specific command that love is not merely behavior. To be sure, it is doing good for the enemy, but not merely that. It is also a heart desire. I base this on the assumption that when we pray for our enemies, we ask for God’s blessing from our heart. Jesus is not commending hypocritical prayer. He is not calling for show-prayer. He is calling for real prayer, that is, real Godward desire for the good of our enemy. Love really wants the enemy to experience God’s best. Doing good things is not enough. The heart must aim at the best we can hope for the enemy.Read More – Go to SourceThis article is adapted from All That Jesus Commanded: The Christian Life according to the Gospels by John Piper.Need a prayer? Prayer RequestsPlease subscribe to our main Ministries daily scripture study – Koa Sinag MinistriesHave a Testimony of how God has changed or intervened in your life? Tell us your story! Give God Praise!Need some inspiration? Check out others Testimonies!Have you checked out our online store? We have a tonne of fascinating and colourful PDF books, toys, kids’ apparel, and much more, including complimentary PDFs for home schoolers!
John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; and Providence.
Go to Source Author: John PiperThe post How to Pray for Your Enemies first appeared on Koa Sinag.

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