April 19, 2011

"PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES!"

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" Matthew 5:44.

This may be one of the most difficult scriptures from the Bible to follow. To actually think about sending out loving thoughts and prayers to people who hate you and who constantly find fault with you, is mind boggling. However, Jesus did this all the time. He asked God to forgive those who despised him. Even while he was on the cross, he asked God to forgive those who crucified him. That is an amazing feat to be able to accomplish, but Jesus is an amazing man. Love and pray for your enemies and adversaries!

How many times do you get consumed by negative thoughts about people who have come against you and who have brought harmful situations into your life? How many hours of each of your days do you devote to wanting to get revenge against these foes? If you sit down and think about your situation, these people who once brought hurt into your life probably are no longer even present in your life. They have moved on, and they are living their own happy, little existence while you brood and pine on the past. You are sacrificing your happiness for a situation that may have happened yesterday, a week ago, a month ago, or possibly years ago. Your enemies have moved on, so why don't you?

Any time you start thinking negatively against someone who has hurt you in the past, immediately start praying for that individual. Get into the habit of changing your thoughts into positive thoughts instead of dwelling on the hurts that someone may have caused you. There is nothing that you can do to change that hurt. It is over and done with, so learn to get over past hurts.

Dear Lord: Please bless all those people in my past you may have once hurt me either physically or emotionally. Please bless all those who do not understand me and who refuse to give me a chance. Please bless all those people who do not accept me for who I am. Please bless anyone who speaks evil against me. Lord, please help me to forgive all these adversaries. I pray peace and blessings to everyone. Amen.