Who Is On Your Prayer List?
Who is on your prayer list? As I think back over my list the majority are family, friends and members at Madison that are facing health challenges. There is only one person on my list that does not fit into the groups that I just mentioned. Jesus never told me to pray for my Mom while she was with us, nor did He tell me to pray for my kids, even though I do daily, but he did tell me to pray for this guy.
"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” Matt. 5:44 NASV.
He did not hurt me directly, but through my daughter. Some times those are the worse kinds of hurt, those done to your loved ones. The sad thing is that he continues to try from time to time to bring more hurt and pain through his words and actions. While it can be the hardest part of my prayer time, it is often the best. You see each time I pray for him I am reminded of my own sinful and rebellious heart. I am reminded that while I was an enemy of my Lord He died for me anyway.
The world’s response to those who hurt us is revenge, hatred and anger. Jesus says, pray for them and forgive them. Freedom from hatred and anger is the wonderful gift of forgiveness. “The word forgive in the Greek language actually means “to send away”. People hurt us and harm us, and we end up caring around these debts they owe us wherever we go. To forgive is to refuse to carry those debts anymore.” Rob Bell, “Velvet Elvis” pg.60. Those burdens can mount up and become unbearable. Not only are we left with the pain of the original hurt, but now the pain is compounded as we smolder under the burden of anger and frustration.
We are never more like Jesus than when we forgive. We were covered by His words from Calvary, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing" Luke 23:34 NASV. Forgiveness does not remove the responsibility of the one who hurt us, but it removes the burden it put on us and “sends it away.”
Many of those on my prayer list are dealing with Cancer. Cancer can fill your life with pain and eventually cut it short. So can un-forgiveness.
posted by Lee Hodges | 6/14/2006 11:38:00 AM
3 Comments:
Yeah... this is the tough stuff. I'm sure anyone considering this type of prayer, this type of forgiveness... would surely be tempted to say, "But you're not talking about MY situation, because this person has SEVERELY screwed up my life and hurt me beyond words."
But to cross that line and be obedient in this... that's the brilliance of God's ways above our own. What kind of tribute to God is it when we love those who love us? Even God-haters do that! The kind of strength it takes to pray for enemies who set themselves against us has to come from God. And it has to be blessed by Him too!
Thanks for modeling it in your prayer life and for sharing it with your blog readers.
Praying for our enemies can be a difficult pill to swallow.
What may be even tougher is to make the effort to help someone who despises us, or has done something bad that has affected our life in an unpleasant way.
Perhaps we need not only to pray for our enemies, but for the strength to help them when things are messed up in their lives.
Angie and Larry,
Your comments are always right on and appreciated.
When we forgive we are not releasing that person from responsibility for the wrongs they have done; we are releasing ourselves from the chains that keep us from being free in Christ.
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