Love & Pray for Your Enemies.

   Now, I know you're looking at the title of this post & you probably don't want to read it, but PLEASE keep reading. This morning in prayer, the names of people that have hurt me & those that don't like me popped up in my head, & I was led to pray for them. I mean people that I haven't talked to in a long time just popped up in my head. I didn't quite understand why, but I just prayed for them. That's what I want to talk to you about today.
   
   The Bible says in Matthew 5:44, "But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!". Luke 6:27-28 says "But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you." 
    
   I've read these verses before, but this morning they spoke to me. When God tells you to love & pray for those that hate you & have hurt you, that can be hard! I mean how can you love someone that has spread lies about you, cursed you in your face, or has threatened you? How can you love someone that took all the love you had & threw it all away? How can you love & pray for that mom or dad that abandoned you when you were just a child? How is it possible?  

It's possible with Jesus. Yes, that's right, Jesus!

   See, we must do to others as we would have them do to us (Luke 6:31). That means we must love if we want to be loved. We must forgive if we want to be forgiven. We must treat others right if we want to be treated right. We can't go around hanging on to people that hurt us many years ago. How can you love Jesus, who you can't see, but don't love those whom you can see? When you walk around holding grudges against those that have hurt you, you're only hurting YOURSELF! They could care less about how you feel! You're only making yourself feel bad! 

   Aren't you tired of feeling bad? Aren't you tired of that awkward feeling you get when you see that person? Yes? Let me tell you what to do in order for you to pray for that person with a sincere heart. 

• First, you must forgive that person. "Jamilya, you don't understand! They hurt me so bad!" Yes, I do understand! I've had a best friend that turned on me for no reason in the matter of days! Talk about hurt! I had to forgive her for myself. I was tired of living with a grudge. Also, I had to remember that Jesus forgives me every time I hurt Him, and in order for Him to keep forgiving me, I had to forgive.
• Second, pray for them. Now, I didn't pray that God would make them hurt as much as I did. That's so selfish & cruel! Instead, I prayed that God would bless them & place His love in their hearts. When you pray for them, make sure that you're praying with a sincere heart. Don't pray for things that you don't actually want to happen. No, pray sincerely! When you pray sincerely, God will honor that & be pleased.

   I hope you take heed & apply it to your life. Now is not the time for us to be hating people & wanting to get them back for hurting us. Vengeance is mine, said the Lord (Romans 12:19). He will fight for you. It's time that we forgive, pray & love like Christ has commanded us to do.  Forgive because you love Jesus! Forgive for freedom! Forgive for peace & happiness! You can't be happy & have peace until you learn how to pray & love your enemies. Will your enemies be in your prayers today?

-Jamilya