Lord, teach us to pray (Part X)
Posted By admin1 on June 1, 2009
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neigbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (St. Matthew 5:43-44).
It is much easier for many of us to love those who love us and to wish them well. Yet it is another story trying to love those who persecute us in one way or another. We reason and justify our acts and thoughts of ill will to those we do not prefer, and those we do not particularly like. However, Jesus is giving us a new commandment: to love our enemies and bless instead of cursing them (St. Matthew 5: 42-44). It is a new commandment to many of us everyday, because it goes against human nature (Romans 8:7).
Jesus was in pain, being crucified for the sins of all men, including those who were crucifying him. Amidst expressions of hatred in words and in deeds, still Jesus cried out: “Father,forgive them; for they know not what they do”. (Luke 23:34). For many of us, this seems easier said than done. Yet Stephen, as he was being stoned to death, cried out: “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge” (Acts 7: 60). David deliberately refrained from killing Saul, even though Saul persecuted him (I Samuel Chapters 24; 26).
“What has this to do with my prayers?”, one may ask. The Bible teaches: “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalms 66:18). Our ill wishes and ill thoughts towards each other, may cause us to ask amiss, thus create an infirmity. A condition of spiritual weakness, which often results from us walking in the flesh instead of the Spirit (Romans 8:1).
It is when we are in the flesh that sometimes we pray amiss, the motive being to consume what the Lord will give us through prayer, on our lusts (James 4:3). We benefit when we pray for our neighbours and enemies with loving thoughts and well wishes. Praying for our enemies and blessing them will make Christ abide within us, and the devil will have a run for his life. We have to resist the evil thoughts, and the devil will flee from us (James 4:7).
If left unchecked our infirmities will hinder our prayers from being heard and our requests being answered. For our prayers to be heard, and for us to receive when we ask, our words and our thoughts, must first of all be acceptable to God. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O’ Lord my strength and my redeemer” (Psalms 19:14).
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