I heard a story once of a man and his family who spent time daily praying for the death of a certain neighbour of theirs. They had been told by a ‘prophet’ that the neighbour was an enemy and the reason they were not progressing. Therefore, during their prayer time each day and on the advice of the prophet, they would invest significant effort in calling out the names of their enemies and commanding them to die – as this was necessary to restart their progress. They eventually discovered that these neighbours were neither their enemies nor the cause of their stagnation, at which they ceased praying for their deaths.
As I pondered on this story, several questions were raised in my mind about our capacity as humans to understand the pertinence and potential consequences of our desires and actions. How would this family had responded if the perceived enemies had died before they were discovered to not be enemies? Would they have brought them back from the dead having realised that they ‘killed’ the wrong enemy? Did they consider how they would feel if someone else considered them as enemies and prayed for their deaths? Would you still be here? Imagine that God decided to answer all the prayers made for the deaths of enemies? Would there be anyone left on earth by now? I don’t think so!
Sometimes when I raise these questions some people quickly opine that even though they pray in such a manner they do not expect their enemies to die literally. I usually respond by asking why they expend energy on a prayer that they know cannot hurt a fly. If your enemies will not die literally, why pray for them to die?
The truth is that in one way or another someone somewhere perceives that you are an enemy that should die for them to live or make progress. One reason why God does not answer such prayers is because just like that family, we do not know who our true enemies are. Another reason is that God expects us to forgive those that have wronged us just as He forgave us. We all were once enemies of God as a result of sin but He did not kill us. Rather, He forgave us and sent His only Son to come and die for our salvation. This is why we are instructed to love even our enemies, to bless them that curse us, to do good to them that hate us and to pray for those who despitefully use us (Matthew 5:44).
I often tell people that grace starts and ends with love. We put grace to work in our lives when we forgive those that have wronged us. Always be ready to show love to another as this is the only call we have received to live. Love one another just as God loved us when we were still sinners and sent His only Son to come and die for us. Stop wasting your energy asking God to kill your enemies. Rather, start by showing them love and praying for them to come into the light of God’s word.
I called you the reform.
Manpenmen – Reforming the Mind
