The following blog is pulled from the book “Prayers for your enemy: 5 simple prayers to help you ‘love your enemies’“, which we’ve made free as eBook this week.

On July 13, 2024, the world witnessed the most serious assassination attempt on a US president or presidential candidate since 1981.

As leaders across the political spectrum responded, there was a resounding theme: unity.  Even the presumptive nominees of the two major parties emphasized this:

“Unity is the most elusive goal of all, but nothing is more important than that right now.”  President Biden
“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United.”  Former President Trump

Most people like the concept of unity… so why do we struggle to live it out, even in the Church?

Part of our struggle is that we like being unified with those who are like us or agree with us, but when it comes to opposition and enemies, we hit a wall.  How can we be united with those that disagree?  How can we stand alongside those tearing us down?  Jesus gives us a simple — and profoundly difficult — first step:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Luke 6:27-28

In light of the recent events in the United States and ongoing tension globally, we want to give you a resource to help you live out this call to prayer.  From today until Saturday, July 20th, the eBook of “Prayers for your enemy: 5 simple prayers to help you ‘love your enemies’” will be free on Amazon (but if you miss the sale, let us know and we will get you the PDF version.)  To get you started, the introduction is below.

Yes, we are called to unity, and yes, it can be prohibitively difficult; fortunately, Jesus has given us a way forward.

Introduction

“There are a lot of books on prayer – so many books on prayer – and in preparing for this [sermon] I’m like, ‘Well, it would be great for me to close with a prayer for our enemies, right?’ I’m starting to look through all these books on prayer, and not one of them mentioned prayer for enemies. But Jesus was explicit about that.”

Yesterday, my friend Oldson Duclos used the story of Sodom and Gomorrah to challenge us in what it means to love our enemies, and the moment above impacted the congregation. My wife turned to me and jokingly said, “I guess you know your next book,” and I immediately sensed that she wasn’t wrong.

I want to state a difficult truth: we tend to let our engagement of “love our enemies” stop at a verse or sermon, because to implement this invitation in our lives is costly.

If we love our enemies, we give up our comfort, safety, and often much more.
If we love our enemies, they may not know the harm they’ve caused.
If we love our enemies, they may still continue to wound us.

So why should we love our enemies? Jesus calls us to:

“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is 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.
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48

“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’” Luke 23:34

In fact, scripture is filled with this mandate, both directly and anecdotally. Despite its prevalence, we find it incredibly difficult to live out, and understandably so, because not only does it seem unfair to those of us hurt by our enemies, it can feel – and be – beyond our capacity.

So what are we to do if we find ourselves incapable of loving our enemies, whether from lacking desire, or strength, or knowledge? We can give all of it to God and take a simple step forward, and one of the simplest steps is prayer.

Prayer can occur where you are, as you are, and even if it feels like hollow words spoken into a void, we should not underestimate the power of prayer. As James 5:16b puts it, “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

When we do not feel particularly righteous, the Spirit can intercede, as Romans 8:26 reminds us: “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

When we feel like our prayers are small and the injustice large, we can remember that Jesus took a small kid’s meal and fed thousands, so he can likely do “abundantly more” with your small prayers too.

Our excuses should not lead to dismissal of this beautiful invitation, nor cause us to shirk a responsibility. As Oldson puts it, “There is inherent responsibility incumbent of the righteous to intercede in prayer for the wicked.” Prayer can be a simple way to begin accepting this invitation and responsibility to love our enemies.

In the pages ahead, you will find five simple prayers you can pray from the comfort of your home. Now, when I say “simple”, I don’t mean “easy”; you may feel resistance with some of these prayers, and that’s okay. In fact, the last prayer exists for that purpose.

“Love your enemies” is a hard invitation and frustrating responsibility, and I hope these prayers not only equip you to step forward, but to discover the unexpected joy in the midst.

Before moving forward, take a moment to record what’s going on in your mind and heart.  Here are a few questions to guide you:

• What is your gut response to “love your enemies”?
• Who is your enemy?  If that’s hard to answer, for whom do you find it hard to pray?
• Are you excited to engage the prayers ahead?  Anxious? Resistant?
• What do you hope God will do through this process?

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