How Should We Pray for Our Enemies?

Oh dear!  It’s so hard to remember to pray for some people!  And to pray the correct way. It’s not so hard to pray for God to strike our enemies with every blight and misery we can think of, but is that what God had in mind when He instructed us to “pray for them which despitefully use you” (Matt 5:44)?  I’m guessing not.


So how do we pray for them?  Obviously, we ought to pray for their Salvation, but in addition, I think we ought to pray for God to bless them.  If someone has wronged me, I would much rather pray, ‘Dear Lord, Please let their brakes go out’ than to pray, ‘Dear Lord, Please let them get that new car they need’ but which do you think would be more pleasing to the Lord?  I think we should pray for their health, for their financial success, for their safety, and just for God to bless them in every way possible.  If we are praying for someone in that way, it will be much harder to harbor resentment and anger towards them.

As we pray for others, I think we should also pray for ourselves. We could pray for God to take away the anger, or the hurt feelings, and to replace those feelings with love.  It’s really hard to hate someone if you are praying for God to help you to love them!  It might not be easy to pray for others, but that’s what makes it all the more rewarding.  Things that are easy are never as satisfying as things that bring us out of our comfort zone, and help us grow.