Why is it so hard to Pray for our enemies.....

[K stunna]

I always think about it but i can never do it, sometimes i fight myself to do this but something always in the back of my head screams "NO! They've wronged you The don't deserve Prayer!" but i course it have no dought its the influence of demons afraid that if you pray for them God will help them change......

I was really wondering is it hard for you too? :D

 

[Mike]

Yes, it's very hard for me. And to address the question in your title, I have the answer. Five letters that account for our difficulty in praying for the enemy.

P-R-I-D-E

We all have it, and we can't set aside our own selfish pride to view our enemies as God's Created people. "I saw what you did to me, and I'm seething with anger. The only way for me to feel better is to see you suffer. So, hear ya go

 

[God's_gift]

I always think about it but i can never do it, sometimes i fight myself to do this but something always in the back of my head screams "NO! They've wronged you The don't deserve Prayer!" but i course it have no dought its the influence of demons afraid that if you pray for them God will help them change......

I was really wondering is it hard for you too? :D

yes i can relate with this. It is not an easy thing to deal with people who hurt us . In life there will be times when we are lied about, unjustly treated, and sometimes there are times when we feel as though some people were on a crusade to make our life miserable. In our natural human way we have self preservation to fight back. However , even if that is natural , it doesn’t mean it is also spiritual . As a Christian we are called to live a spiritual life , that is why even if it is hard what we should do is to pray for them the people who have wronged us, our enemies and leave a room for God to defend us. This verse would always remind us “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse (Romans 12:14)

 

[Classik]

Mike is right. It is 'pride'! (Although he's wrong about American Football;))

It's not an easy thing to do. Forgiveness brings about freedom and healing. Unforgiveness will give you headache and put you in bondage.

------
How about antiBarcelona fans?:angry
I am justified to break their heads.

 

[Tina]

I have no problem praying for my enemies at all ...

I always pray that God will take revenge on them ! :fight

 

[Classik]

I have no problem praying for my enemies at all ...

I always pray that God will take revenge on them ! :fight

God taking revenge? :dunno :shocked

 

[Tina]

Romans 12:19

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,†says the Lord.

 

[Classik]

Romans 12:19

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,†says the Lord.

Yeah though. I was just wondering who can save them when God deals with them.

I like Jesus' response: Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.

 

[Christ_empowered]

Honestly, sometimes I only pray for my enemies because somewhere in the NT we're told that doing so helps bring peace. Or am I wrong? I get my Bible verses confused (I read it straight through, like a novel or something).

Anyway, we are commanded to love our enemies and to pray for them, so I do it. I hate doing it. I mean, I feel ashamed, talking to God (big privilege, after all), and I can't even bring myself to pray for some enemies from relatively long ago without beating down my pride and anger. I think there's also a sense of entitlement at work, at least for me. As in, I feel somehow entitled to forgiveness from God and others, but I somehow feel as if I can hold on to my anger and my un-forgiveness because, well, its ME, right?

What's helped me is thinking about how much I've been forgiven. I'm working on that now, actually. I pray for certain enemies who made my life very difficult for a couple years when I was younger, simply because I...I don't know. I was in a tough spot, being crazy and all, they had more power, and I dared to breathe their air or something. I don't get it. But I pray for them and it doesn't always help immediately, but it pays off in overall growth and maturity and accepting the past, which can be difficult.

 

[bpfine]

Nothing will keep us in bondage to our past more than unforgiveness, and it displeases God. God Himself will turn us over to the torturers if we don't forgive others from our hearts (Matt 18:34). God doesn't want us chained to the past.

The greatest access Satan has to the church is our unwillingness to forgive those who have offended us. People who have struggled with thoughts like: I can't forgive that person, or I hate that person, or I don't want to forgive them, I want them to suffer as much as I suffered.

Forgiveness is the means by which we set ourselves free. We are to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. He did that by taking upon Himself the consequences for our sins. When we choose to forgive others, we are agreeing to live with the consequences of their sins.

You may be thinking, that's not fair! True, but you will have to live with the consequences anyway. The only real choice is whether you do it in the bondage of bitterness or the freedom of forgiveness.

Then where is the justice? You ask. It is in the cross. Jesus died once for all our sins.

You may ask, why should I let them off the hook? That is why you forgive, so that you are no longer hooked to them. They are not off God's hook, though. Revenge is His, and there will be a final judgment.