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Why would we ever pray for our enemies?

R

rachelm

Member
Why would we ever "love and pray for our enemies"? Our time each day is finite anyways, so why not use the finite time we have instead to pray for the well-being and blessings for those who actually care and love us, rather than wasting our time and prayer space on our enemies (I would rather use that prayer time 100% for those who love me, and then just forget about my enemies after quickly forgiving them)? By not using that extra time for those who truly care for us, aren't we not giving those who love us as much love as we could?
 
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Because maybe people are lost, confused, brainwashed, trapped in a false system and don't know any better, they believe lies, get duped, don't know how to be content and have a stable foundation, so you should always hope people can and will seek and accept the truth and straight path and find that foundation of life. That rock that no matter what will never leave or forsake them. People call there husband's ands wives there rock, but how many end up divorced, you cannot place your trust in man. Without faith and trust in God what do we have.

This world is a joke and infested with lies and deception and falseness and it infects peoples brains.
 
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kiwidan : Why not pray extra instead for those who are truly important in our lives then (again, because time is a finite quantity)? By wasting prayer time on those who have tried to hurt us, aren't we inadvertently allowing them to continue to occupy space in our minds, while also not giving as much love to those who care about us as we could be (since we're spending time on our enemies)?
 
rachelm said:
kiwidan : Why not pray extra instead for those who are truly important in our lives then (again, because time is a finite quantity)? By wasting prayer time on those who have tried to hurt us, aren't we inadvertently allowing them to continue to occupy space in our minds, while also not giving as much love to those who care about us as we could be (since we're spending time on our enemies)?
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It's hard to do, but Jesus commands it. He said, "if you love me obey my commands." John 14:15

Luke 6:32-36 New Living Translation (NLT)
32 “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! 34 And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return.

35 “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. 36 You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
 
rachelm said:
Why would we ever "love and pray for our enemies"? Our time each day is finite anyways, so why not use the finite time we have instead to pray for the well-being and blessings for those who actually care and love us, rather than wasting our time and prayer space on our enemies
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The simple answer is because Jesus commanded us to.

Shocking isn't it, that Jesus loves those who hate him and actually expects his followers to obey him.
 
Best to get very specific about this.
Say my enemy is my brother.
I pray to God for his goodwill. I pray for help in dealing with the bad relationship. I pray for wisdom in dealing with difficult people.
But even our best friends can feel like an enemy sometimes.
Just pray for people.You dont have to dwell on how they hurt you. Let God worry about justice.
 
rachelm said:
Why would we ever "love and pray for our enemies"? Our time each day is finite anyways, so why not use the finite time we have instead to pray for the well-being and blessings for those who actually care and love us, rather than wasting our time and prayer space on our enemies (I would rather use that prayer time 100% for those who love me, and then just forget about my enemies after quickly forgiving them)? By not using that extra time for those who truly care for us, aren't we not giving those who love us as much love as we could?
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Because Jesus said to do so.
 
Thanks for the responses so far everyone. When you pray, do you need to actually sincerely want goodwill for your enemy (is it enough to just be "neutral" to them afterwards, e.g. not really care either way whether their life becomes good / bad and then just quickly move on with yours since you're busy)? I don't really see how it's humanly possible for anyone to TRULY want goodwill for an enemy from the bottom of their heart (unless you're Jesus)...
 
rachelm said:
Thanks for the responses so far everyone. When you pray, do you need to actually sincerely want goodwill for your enemy (is it enough to just be "neutral" to them afterwards, e.g. not really care either way whether their life becomes good / bad and then just quickly move on with yours since you're busy)? I don't really see how it's humanly possible for anyone to TRULY want goodwill for an enemy from the bottom of their heart (unless you're Jesus)...
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Are you asking how to love your enemy, instead of how to pray for your enemy?

This is more then an emotional feeling. Love is an action. In justice and the courts this means fairness to everyone, and to not favor one set of people over another set of people. In work relationships this means celebrating when a coworker get a promotion even if it is a promotion that you were trying for. Celibrate for their good fortune, instead of be jealous. In everyday situations it means that those you don't agree with you pray for, so that God will tend to their needs and they are not left without hope.

A secondary question rachelm, is " what does it mean to be your enemy?"

Are we talking about people who perscute you? Jesus even says to pray for that situation. Are we talking about a rival in work, or in romance who might steal your job oppurtunities, or your love interest? If nothing else love for them would be to be there with them when you see they are struggling instead of celebrating that you've won. More so then that would be to not be their enemy (or thank of them as an enemy) unless they are actively harming your marriage. Are we talking about a soldier on a battlefield? Even then you can pray that your side wins the battle and pray that the other side suffers little or no casualties.

There can be love and looking out for another even if we stand against one a pet or another from that person.

Another rule of thumb is to treat them the way you want to be treated. Pray for them as you would pray for your own needs and hopes. In general be concerned for their well being, if for no other reason, then because God loves them, so you should at least try to do the same.
 
Because the Bible tells me so . . .

God needs our help. Love transforms people. It helps them change. It makes them want to change. So Jesus loves them and if we love him then we have to follow in his footsteps. We do not pray for our enemies out of pity, but to help them change. To be good role models. Remember, that when it comes to our enemy we are allowed to love them from a distance.
 
rachelm said:
Thanks for the responses so far everyone. When you pray, do you need to actually sincerely want goodwill for your enemy (is it enough to just be "neutral" to them afterwards, e.g. not really care either way whether their life becomes good / bad and then just quickly move on with yours since you're busy)? I don't really see how it's humanly possible for anyone to TRULY want goodwill for an enemy from the bottom of their heart (unless you're Jesus)...
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personally i think "neutral"is a realistic aim. Liking them is not the aim anyway.
 
Someone said our greatest enemy is our mind. Or in our mind.
When we react to an insult, isnt the enemy within agreeing with the enemy facing us? The enemy facing us notices our weak point. Our lack of confidence.
Touching a nerve "I am not good enough. I am imperfect."
A wise person might say " work on the enemy within" so he doesnt agree with the enemy without. " Build your self esteem.
 
rachelm said:
Thanks for the responses so far everyone. When you pray, do you need to actually sincerely want goodwill for your enemy (is it enough to just be "neutral" to them afterwards, e.g. not really care either way whether their life becomes good / bad and then just quickly move on with yours since you're busy)? I don't really see how it's humanly possible for anyone to TRULY want goodwill for an enemy from the bottom of their heart (unless you're Jesus)...
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If what you mean by "good will" you mean that they would see the error of their ways, repent, and turn to God then I would say, "Yes."
 
I want to add that I don't pray for my enemies right away. I work on the process of forgiveness, which takes awhile, and then I pray from them. I also pray for your enemy that they don't hurt you anymore. ? :nod
 
Another prayer in the Bible comes from the Lord's prayer: "Deliver us from evil."

I have successfully prayed before--as in God answered it, in major fashion--a more elaborate version of that, as in: "Deliver me from evil. Please keep these specific enemies from doing evil to me, nor let me commit any evil myself."

Apparently, God considered that prayer good enough. And it was done.
 
Reality check. Sometimes our prayers do not work. I was interviewed for a jury that was going to decide if a man was going to death row. I was a Quaker at the time and we do not believe in the death penalty. The district attorney asked me why. I said Quakers want to give criminals plenty of time to repent. I glanced over at the man who had murdered for women and he gave me a "drop dead lady" look. Still we should at least try. You never know when our prayers might work.
 
Because believe it or not, our enemies are just like us. Fearful anxious corrupted sinners. Just rheir behaviour or world view might be different.
We might feel disconnected to humanity as if we are different or special. But when we see that , regardless of our status, we do have a connection to the human race, it should be an "aha" moment.
 
Going off of humble soul , is it okay to just not try to associate too much with the human race and just do your own thing (with God as the center of course)? I mean I don't hate humanity as a whole, but as I'm sure we all do I honestly find a lot of people really evil (just look at what's happening in the world as of now).

I think the main reason I asked this question is because I don't want anyone in this world to (even a little bit) stop me from reaching my full potential. I would rather it be the opposite and have everyone in my life help me reach my goals even better and faster (while also loving them). Eg. even by praying for my enemies, I'm using (let's say 1/2 an hour a week) that I could have used to exercise or study or something else more productive, and thus in that way I technically lost time I could have done to better myself. Taking this over the course of a year, I "wasted" 25 hours praying for enemies that I could have easily used to learn a new language with etc. It's already bad enough that by "hurting" me, my enemies already tried to block me from reaching my full potential, so to counteract this, I always try to find a positive out of each interaction (e.g. a lesson I can take to the future, even just developing a thicker skin) so that the "net" result of each interaction (benefits minus cons) is still positive, even in cases where someone tries to hurt me. By thinking about them further, though, the net result decreases into negative territory. Does anyone else relate to this?
 
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