Pray for your Enemies

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foundling

Guest
#1
#1
Jesus wants us to not only pray for our enemies but to love them. Until I accepted Christ I was an enemy to Jesus and to those who believe in Him. But someone took the time to not only pray for me but to love me as well, they could do this with Christ's love. Do you have enemies that God wants you to pray for and love? I do. In that case we all have a ministry, may The Lord help us all show brotherly and sisterly love to each other and to our enemies. "You heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:43-45.
 
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Need2Know

Banned
#2
Jun 7, 2013
147
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#2
Just to clear something up. Personally I agree, yeah I'd pray for my enemy. But why are some people here so happy about the rapture? Some people here can't wait for end times and the suffering of millions
 
joeyruready

joeyruready

Banned
#3
Mar 10, 2013
329
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#3
Yes we should be praying for our enemies. The one enemy I have is Satan. I hate everything he stands for, but as God told us, love our enemies, I love satan. Love defeats satan entirely. yea probably not exactly what God was talking about but still...satan has no hold over me.

I do pray a lot for people I disagree with or people I witness doing evil things but then I pray a lot anyway.
What I see tho even on this site is people who are supposed to be Christian biting and devouring one another. This shouldn't be the case. I don't think of them as my enemies but I do consider it an opportunity to witness God's love. It is important that we practice love. The more we practice the better we get, and when we see others who are not even loving the members of their own body, well we know they need our prayers too.

May God's grace and peace be with you.
 
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enoch1nine

Guest
#4
#4
If we read psalms as though the destruction of the enemies is figuratively referring to their hearts being changed, we can add a lot of prayers to our arsenal.
 
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enoch1nine

Guest
#8
#8
Well, yes, my question was actually where else in the Bible does it say so? Where in the law and the prophets?
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Several places in Jeremiah, and the focus on the difference between the commissions to "not pray" or "love and pray" for enemies, is to point out that our enemies are not who we always think they are. It is not as simple as a contradiction in God's instruction.

Someone who you think is your enemy might be doing better off than you think in their walk with God, and someone who you think has it all figured out might have secretly sleepless nights contemplating how they are gonna deal with you for their own benefit.
 
RedTent

RedTent

Banned
#9
Oct 31, 2011
8,200
182
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#9
I am not suggesting my way as good, but here is how I see it.

I live in a world surrounded by people who are part of God's family. A family next door, and a gang of neighborhood boys are not in that family, even my sister isn't. They live in a different world. My prayers center on my family, but I know there are enemies to this family. Muslims, the inroads of voodoo ideas, the world idea of sex that has eroded our earthly family are a few. I live a life with this in mind, not to fight them but to invite them into my family. When one comes close enough to be an actual enemy, I do not fight the person who brings the attack, but the forces behind them to make them attack. So I fight the forces, and keep prayers for the person.
 
P

piper27

Guest
#10
#10
enoch1nine said:
Several places in Jeremiah, and the focus on the difference between the commissions to "not pray" or "love and pray" for enemies, is to point out that our enemies are not who we always think they are. It is not as simple as a contradiction in God's instruction.

Someone who you think is your enemy might be doing better off than you think in their walk with God, and someone who you think has it all figured out might have secretly sleepless nights contemplating how they are gonna deal with you for their own benefit.
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Who is the real enemy? Is it really people? Curious. :eek:
 
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kimdel

Guest
#11
#11
Read 1 John 4:7-8, the Bible clearly teaches us to love one another so is our enemies. For God is love and whoever does not love does not know God. I understand from these verse that God and Love are an item,they walk together and if you have hatred you hate God for where there is love there is God and where there is hate there is no God and as we all know that its satan who hates for he comes to kill,destroy and steal. so lets love one another for He(God) loved us when we didnt know Him. God bless you
 
tribesman

tribesman

Senior Member
#12
Oct 13, 2011
4,612
274
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#12
enoch1nine said:
Several places in Jeremiah, and the focus on the difference between the commissions to "not pray" or "love and pray" for enemies, is to point out that our enemies are not who we always think they are. It is not as simple as a contradiction in God's instruction.

Someone who you think is your enemy might be doing better off than you think in their walk with God, and someone who you think has it all figured out might have secretly sleepless nights contemplating how they are gonna deal with you for their own benefit.
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There are several places in the OT who harmonize with the teachings of Jesus to love our enemy. The saying "hate your enemy" is not from the OT.
 
HeRoseFromTheDead

HeRoseFromTheDead

Senior Member
#13
Sep 4, 2012
14,424
689
113
#13
tribesman said:
There are several places in the OT who harmonize with the teachings of Jesus to love our enemy. The saying "hate your enemy" is not from the OT.
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Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Psalms 139:21-22
 
zone

zone

Senior Member
#15
Jun 13, 2010
27,214
164
63
#15
tribesman said:
There are several places in the OT who harmonize with the teachings of Jesus to love our enemy. The saying "hate your enemy" is not from the OT.
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a-a-a-a-and, so WHAT was Jesus referring to?
another religion.:rolleyes:
 
tribesman

tribesman

Senior Member
#16
Oct 13, 2011
4,612
274
83
#16
HeRoseFromTheDead said:

Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Psalms 139:21-22
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That is God's enemies. Our enemies are not always necessarily God's enemies. See also Lev.19:18.
 
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cfultz3

Guest
#17
#17
HeRoseFromTheDead said:

Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. Psalms 139:21-22
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Are we to hate the person, or their deeds? So says Jesus: it has been said. Yet, He says not: it has been written.

Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Rev 2:6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.


The Son has given to us an understanding:

Heb 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

P.S. Perhaps Jesus was referring to the traditions of man......
 
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enoch1nine

Guest
#18
#18
tribesman said:
There are several places in the OT who harmonize with the teachings of Jesus to love our enemy. The saying "hate your enemy" is not from the OT.
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Right, right, I just mean that people read things like the Jeremiah examples and Psalm 26, and what they incorrectly hear from those types of passages are "hate your enemy"
 
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