Praying for Our Enemies

Hello, tender friends!

While unrelated to this post, Jacob is so happy that we’ve got our first autumn squash of the season. 🙂

Every day, I send Jacob off to school by praying over us. I pray that God will protect us with his ring of fire, that God will fill us with his love, that Jacob will know how much God loves him and how much Anthony I love him.

I pray for the health of my family members. I pray that God will help me and Anthony to perform well at our jobs and to remember the skills and information that we need to perform well.

Every once in awhile, I get bold like Jabez and ask God to bless me.

These prayers are fun. I get to feel godly and obedient because God says to pray without ceasing, all while asking for things that I want to pass.

But let’s be honest – praying for our enemies isn’t as fun. And it turns out that praying for your kid’s (or kids’) enemies is even less fun. This may remind you of this post.

But about 2 weeks ago, I felt call to pray for a boy in Jacob’s class whose behaviors are… less than desirable. I was familiar with the student from teaching reading at Jacob’s school last year. I’m also familiar with his father. And to be blunt, I would prefer that Jacob and I never have to see either of them ever again.

But after praying Jacob and myself up for the day, I told Jacob that I was going to pray for the little boy in his class. I prayed and have continued to pray every day that God will fill the little boy and his father with his perfect love.

Because that’s the antidote, isn’t it? I behave at my worst when I’m struggling because I feel unloved. And I become my best self when I feel secure in God’s love.

I have always struggled with “calling out sin” as many Christians exhort others to do. I struggle mainly because I feel like a lot of what we call sin is rooted in an insecurity in the Father’s love, childhood trauma, and other adverse experiences that have hurt humans over the years.

To be clear, I’m not saying that God doesn’t call us to take a hard line on certain issues. To be clear, there is nothing that justifies or excuses particular sins. There may be some Christians who are called to focus heavily on sin and repentance because that’s the gift that God has given them.

But for right now, that’s not the calling that I feel led to. Right now I feel led to pray that those who vex me will be filled with the Father’s Love and receive help from the Father in breaking generational curses. Part of the reason I feel like I’m on the right path doing this is because it’s not what my flesh wants to do.

When I started praying for the little boy and Jacob’s class and his father, I asked Jacob if he would join me in praying for them and how it would make him feel.

“Ugh!’ he said.

I laughed. “That’s called dying to self,” I told him. “That’s what we’re called to do for the rest of our lives.”

“Ugh!’ he said again.

I reminded Jacob that God doesn’t say he has to be friends with the little boy. (Although I did encourage him to consider it in case that’s what the kid really needs).

But I did remind him that God tells us to pray for our enemies, and that this is one way to pray for them. I reminded him that the Bible is very clear about the fact that it is the Lord’s will that all should be saved.

So I’ll keep working on the ugly part of my heart that wants to hoard all of God’s grace and love for the people that I love and withhold it from the people I don’t, like Jonah.

Your will Lord, not mine.

Okay, that’s all for today tender friends. Thank you for stopping by and thank you for sharing!

You can learn more about how this blog got started here!