Ye have heard that it hath been said , Thou shalt love thy neighbour, 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; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5:43-45 - KJV)

There is no doubt that the Christian life should be filled with prayer. And not just prayer for things to go good or for those we care for. Reading Jesus’ words from Matthew should remind us that we should be continually praying for even those who would be considered our enemies, those who persecute us and those who do bad things to us.

I am seeing a trend of professing believers who are forgetting the words of Jesus and instead are turning to hatred and misusing imprecatory prayers because things are not the way they want them to be in our society. Indeed there will be a day when God will judge all evil and wickedness but we are to leave that to him and instead we need to pray for the souls of those whom we deem to be wicked.

Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
(Matthew 5:7 - KJV)

We so many times forget the mercy that God has had on us and as a result, we forget to show the same mercy to others. And the “others” is meant to be both believers and unbelievers. Both those who are currently following Christ and those who are currently shipwrecking their faith. We know from Romans that Jesus died for the “ungodly” and that includes the entire world--yes, including you and me. Remember, we didn’t become godly until we repented and believed in Christ, resulting in Christ cleaning us up.

And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
(Luke 6:33-36 - KJV)

If you are upset at President Obama and his choices, pray for him. If you are upset about what these false preachers are doing, pray for them. If you have been wronged by someone, pray for them. And be willing to forgive. For Jesus gave us a stern warning in regards to what happens to those who do not forgive:

Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."
(Matthew 18:21-35 - NKJV)

We are not only required to forgive those whom we like but also those with whom it God’s grace to be able to be pleasant to. Unforgiveness will cause us to neglect looking out for another person’s soul and instead want to take vengeance, which the Bible says only belongs to the Lord. Remember it is the Lord who will repay. In the meantime, we are to be agents of His mercy.

You may have heard people tell you that it is no use praying for people like Osama Bin Laden, Creflo Dollar, and any other person that is deemed to be wicked and evil. But our Lord is not this way. Consider what Peter says in His epistle:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish , but that all should come to repentance.
(2 Peter 3:9 - KJV)

This is God’s heart brothers and sisters. If it could be, everybody would be saved and would not have to experience His wrath and judgment. But part of what it means to have free will means that while He can invite us to salvation, you and I have to be the ones to accept that invitation under His terms. Pray that hearts will be changed and let us stop caring so much about this world and this life that we neglect the severity of what it means for a person to go to hell.

For we know him that hath said , Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense , saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(Hebrews 10:30-31 - KJV)

If we understand the severity of Hebrews 10:30-31, we would be crying out for people’s souls instead of tearing people down because our way of life on this planet is being affected. Read through the epistles of the New Testament and point out where the believers of the early church were concerned with all the politics and all of the things of the world that we are in America today. While American believers are not being executed or persecuted on the scale that other believers are in various countries around the world, our fight is against a society that promotes evil and glories in it, especially greed. Be careful brothers and sisters of the grip of the love of money.

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust : save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces , while there is none to deliver . O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy :) Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. Arise , O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies : and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded . So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about : for their sakes therefore return thou on high. The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end ; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready . He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors . Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made . His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
(Psalm 7:1-17 - KJV)

This is an example of an imprecatory psalm/prayer. Imprecatory means that there is a call for God to judge one’s enemies and to judge the wicked. Yet notice in Psalm 7, that there is a consideration for repentance on the part of wicked. Indeed we all want God to be a God of justice and to make things right (and He will) but I also pray that people will repent so they do not have to endure the wrath of God. And this is how we find a balance with imprecatory prayers and also wanting souls to be converted to Christ.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved , and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
(1 Timothy 2:1-4 - KJV)

Let’s remember the words of Paul, who encourages believers to pray for all people (believer and unbeliever). And instead of bad-mouthing those who are in office, let us pray for them that God will work within them. But understand that the Christian live is not about living in comfort. It’s about being a living sacrifice unto our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pray for the lost people out there along with the saints. And love as many people as you can.