Praying for our Enemies, Really?

How ought I pray for them exactly, Jesus? 

I know what you said, but given our current situation, your words seem a bit absurd, Jesus.  You once said to us, Matthew 5:⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  Jesus, obviously you forgot to put the qualifications on that statement.  You should have been more specific.  At what point do our enemies become so dangerous, callous, brutal, and filled with evil that they are no longer candidates for prayer?  Could you help us with that?  I remember the guy that wanted you to put qualifications on “our neighbors,” and you messed him all up. 

But what about our enemy.  Could you be a bit more specific?

And what kind of prayers should we pray?  What did you have in mind exactly, Jesus?  Can we pray the words of Psalm 137, “Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.”  Would that work?  Because that’s how we feel.  That’s the level of hate that seems to surge through our veins.  Should we pray that instead of the rain that you bring on the righteous and unrighteous alike, that our rain, the rain of our bombs finds their hideouts and holes?  Is that how we ought to pray, Jesus?  I’m just asking here, cause I’m not liking your idealism in the dark times in which we live.

We aren’t wired to pray for our enemies, Jesus.  We are wired for vengeance and wrath, fear and violence, vitriolic speech and contempt.  But prayer?  Prayer is dangerous Jesus, we’ve been down that road before.  That’s why we avoid it.  Once we start praying, you start aligning.  You start aligning our hearts with yours.  You begin to open our eyes to see those “others” the way you see them. 

Prayer is dangerous.  We know it, because stuff like broken-hearts, loves, and compassion happens as we pray.  This is not the time for that.  These are desperate times that call for desperate measures.  We can’t risk prayer if you are going to go trifling around in our emotions and ideas leaving us confused in a time when bold stances are required. 

No, not prayer.  We stand boldly and then ask you after the fact if we got it right. 

But pray for our enemies.  What good could come of that?  Isn’t this all a bit idealic, honestly?  Why pray, they’ve been hardened by the enemies lies.  They’ve sold their souls to the devil.  They are breathing out murderous threats…oh wait a minute.  I see what you just did there, Jesus.  That’s why we don’t pray.  We start praying and you go bringing up the Bible again.  Are you saying, Jesus, that it’s interesting that our enemies are located in the very space where another enemy to the gospel once stood breathing out murderous threats?  What was his name…Saul?  Yeah, that’s right, the enemy who was transformed by the very presence of Jesus, who became Paul. 

Enemies can become friends of the Gospel?  Really?  By praying for our enemy we are opening up the possibility that you seek to make our enemies, your friends?  But that’s scary, Lord.  That’s why we don’t pray.  If we go to praying you might pull an “Ananias” on us.  You might call us to embrace the risk of faith and go to our enemies in love and reconciliation.  No, that’s ok.

We won’t pray.  We’ll just stand boldly and ask you later if we got it right. 

But what if, what if, through prayer you were able to change hearts, reveal Christ, and breakthrough with the Kingdom of God in a God-forsaken place?  Now, I’m just talking crazy, Jesus.  See this is why I don’t want to pray, you get me sounding as foolish and absurd as you sound.  These are dark times, we need logic not idealism.   We need a course of action not disruptive movements of your Spirit. 

But what if, what if praying is a way of holding on the hope that you aren’t quite done yet?

What if praying for my enemies means that you might still break in and save?

You know, while we are at it, I’ll just let you know another reason why I don’t really care to pray right now Jesus.  Because in praying, I risk in aligning my heart with yours for you to reveal the places in which the enemy is already at work in me.  The enemy’s work that produces all kinds of hate, fear, and prejudice. 

I don’t want to get to praying, Jesus and you tell me that my hatred is not justified and in fact it is listed in Galatians 5 as an obvious sign of the sinful nature. 

I don’t want to get to praying, Jesus and feel rebuked for my willingness to sacrifice wholesale the lives of the innocent on the altar of my own protection.  I don’t want you to tell me it’s not ok to be afraid.

I don’t want you to tell me that I’ve ripped a few Bible verses out of context to justify my prejudice, suggesting that it’s destiny that the sons of Isaac and the sons of Ishmael are forever locked in battle.  No, I cling to those verses, they are my out.  I don’t want to start praying, Jesus and you go to trifling with my reading of the Bible. 

What ought I pray exactly, Jesus?

“That we might all become sons and daughters of our Father in Heaven?”  Really, I’m not ok with my inability to make my eternal family.  Yet you love? 

What ought I pray exactly, Jesus?  Can’t I just stand boldly alongside the other non-praying people and ask you  later if we got it right? 

What’s that…no.  That’s not how this works.  We seek you first and your righteousness.  Can you make prayer a little less intrusive and dangerous?  No? 

What ought I pray exactly, Jesus?

Perhaps, something like this…

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come (not mine),
your will be done (not mine),
    on earth (right now and even in Syria and the Middle East) as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors (even our enemies).
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.’

Ok, Jesus we will pray for our enemies.  Even if we are labeled absurd.  I guess you wore that label well, maybe it will fit us as well. 

Amen.