Rene and I started a new Life Group last week. Christopher and Leanne are our leaders. Last week we talked about being "safe" and this week we talked about being dangerous. Our homework, or challenge, for the week is to pray for our enemy.
Huh? How do you pray for your enemy? Or, for me, someone I don't like. Can I do that?
I started last night. At first it was hard because I just wanted to pray for this person to go away. But is that what God wants? No. So I paused and first prayed for my heart. And than I prayed for this person. An amazing thing happened, I stopped being angry at this person.
You have to admit, it's kind of hard to be angry at someone when you are praying for them. I remember before we got married we had to go to a marriage seminar. They had four couples up on a stage telling us about how to make our marriage work. I only remember one thing from that day and it came from one of the leaders. She was an older lady and she said something that I will never forget:
"When you start to fight with your husband, get naked. It's hard to be angry at your husband when they are naked". And it's true!
It's kind of the same thing (just don't imagine the person naked please). When you are praying for someone you don't like, in a way that God wants you to pray for them, they seem more vulnerable, they are being exposed. You get to look at them in a different way, maybe the way God wants you to look at them.
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4 comments:
ABSOLUTELY!!! You are absolutely right. I love the naked analogy. When I pray, I am like Hebrews 4:13, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." When we pray, WE are the ones made naked before HIM. Ironically our prayers for someone else soon turn into a pray of forgiveness for yourself!
At first this was a really hard assignment for me because I thought..."I don't have any enemies. I don't know of anyone who 'opposes' me, etc."
Then I started to think about the people who I oppose. So my person that I'm praying for may not even be conscious of my existence...but in my heart, I am their enemy. How awful is it that Jesus could be telling that other person to pray for me because I am the one who's the enemy to them.
Yick. And much like you, I'd rather the person (or thoughts of the person) simply go away. But that doesn't seem to be happening. Still praying...
So, you're saying next time Rachel gets really pissed at me I should just start stripping and things will all be fine. Hmmm. OK. We'll see how that goes. Hopefully we're not at a dinner party. ;)
Bobby,
I can't promise that things will be fine, but it will help to defuse the situation.
And hey, if you're at a dinner party it might be less emabarrassing then fighting in front of them.
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