Praying For Enemies
Haralan Popov’s book is hard to read but it puts things in perspective. In our free, comfortable Western world, we can’t even imagine the suffering that others have gone through for their faith.
Praying for Compassion Amidst Torture
Popov was accused of being a spy, and the guards would regularly take him into a room to torture him and try get him to confess to this. And Popov writes this on page 30: “In the years ahead, I had time to reflect on these guards and interrogators. I always tried to pray the most for a guard while he was beating me. I realized that in one sense they were sadder cases than those of us they beat. What a tragedy was theirs!... We prisoners would eventually recover, but the guards suffered a permanent crippling of their humanity. Thus, during the beatings I tried to keep my perspective and prayed for them. I found that it actually eased the pain of the blows.”
I read this in awe. Could I forgive those who physically torture and beat me? I thank God that I have never had to find out, so far in my life.
But this was the way of Christ. Remember how he did the same thing? When he was beaten, flogged and nailed to a cross, what did he cry out? “Father, punish them?” No. He said “Father forgive them.”
And for those followers of his who go through similar pain and brutality, Christ gives them the ability to say, along with him, “Father forgive them”.
Forgiving Those Who Hurt Us
I wonder if there is somebody you need to forgive today? Somebody who makes your life hell? Who hurts you? Somebody who ruined you? Somebody who was brutal with you in some way – maybe emotionally, or physically? Perhaps there is somebody who did awful things to your family? Somebody who hurt someone you love?
Humanly speaking, it is not possible to forgive such things. But in Christ… in Christ alone… we can forgive. We can utter the words that He uttered and pray “Father, forgive them”. We can pray for them and ask God to either bring them justice, or let them find forgiveness and grace at the foot of the cross.
You see, we Christians know that we don’t deserve God’s forgiveness. But he gave it to us. And so even for those who do evil to us, we plead with God to move in their lives, that they might truly repent and turn from their evil and find his love.
Pray for your enemies. With the love of Jesus filling your heart, pray for your enemies and ask God to intervene in their lives.
For one thing, you will be freeing your own soul of hatred and bitterness. But more than that, your prayers may be effective and a brutal, sinful person might find God’s transforming grace and be born again.
I have more to share from Popov next week – and just a reminder that those who support my ministry also get an exclusive Saturday devotion each week, click here to find out about getting those.
