But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44
He blames his son for the fracture in their relationship. No amount of apologies make a dent in his cold heart. No measure of humility is enough to make him take a single step in his direction. Childhood wounds pierce a middle-aged man's heart.
She'll never admit what she did. Her memories are piled under a mountain of avoidance and rewritten history. She didn't protect her children. They wear the shame she won't confess.
When I or someone I love experiences deep hurt my natural reaction is retaliation. My heart incites to anger and hatred. In God's upside down economy, he asks the impossible of me - to pray for those who hurt me.
In A Street Called Freedom, I shared prayer is the door through which forgiveness walks. But it feels like the words will pass through a hypocrite's lips - insincere and meaningless. How can I begin to utter those life-giving words in prayer over my enemies?
Start simple with this prayer: Lord Insight Me.
When we pray for insight and understanding of our opponent, God fills the spaces of our resentment with the healing balm of grace of mercy.
Lord Insight Me. I long for the freedom of forgiveness.
Lord Insight Me. I can not forgive apart from you.
Lord Insight Me. Your well of grace and mercy never runs dry.
