Luke 11: 1
And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples
In our past studies, we looked at how we ought to pray. We saw from Scriptures that we are to pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus. We also saw that we are to pray according to God’s will. We can know God’s will from the Bible. Thirdly, we learnt that we are to ask in faith, nothing doubting. When we pray, we are to believe that we have received. Then, we saw from Scriptures that God expects us to come boldly to Him, not timidly. We ought to be bold, because we have been made righteous by the Blood of Jesus. In our last lesson, we briefly looked at how not to pray. Jesus told us not to pray as the hypocrites do. They love to pray to be seen of men. There is no eternal reward to that. Also, we shouldn’t pray like the heathens pray. They think they will be heard for their much speaking, so they go on and on repeating their prayers, thinking they can talk God into the notion of giving them a hearing. We don’t need to do that, for we have a loving and caring Father, who loves to hear and answer our prayers, no matter how short.
Having looked at how we ought to pray, let us study what we should pray. Remember, we are discussing the topic, “Lord, teach us to pray”. So we are learning about prayer and our text book is the Holy Bible. What should we pray about?
Matthew 5: 44
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
In Matthew chapter 5 verse 44, Jesus tells us that we are to love our enemies. We are to bless them that curse us and do good to them that hate us. We are to pray for those who despitefully use us and persecute us. Here, we are instructed to pray for our enemies. Now what are we to say? Instead of cursing, we are to bless them. We can speak a word of blessing over them. Romans 12:14 says, “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not”. Stephen was the first martyr. In Acts 7, just before he died, he prayed for his killers. What did he say? “O Lord, as they have done this to me, do back to them. Let their mothers die childless. Let their wives become widows. Let their children become fatherless”. Is that what he said? No, no, no! The Bible says, “And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:60). Lord, lay not this sin to their charge! The NIV puts it this way – “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. He prayed like His Master Jesus prayed on the Cross. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We can, therefore, pray for God’s mercies and forgiveness for our enemies.
Now, did you notice Jesus said “they know not what they do”? How could that be? You mean, they whipped Him, slapped Him, spat on Him, drove nails into His hands and feet, placed a crown of thorns on His head, and still didn’t know what they were doing? Yes, Jesus said, they didn’t know what they were doing! You see, there is an influence Satan has upon men who are not saved. Ephesians 2:2 speaks of “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”. That spirit is the devil. He influences the hate and strife we see today in the world. He is behind the persecutions. Unbelievers are under his control and they can hate us, do evil against us and still not know what they are doing, because they are under Satan’s influence. In fact, Jesus told His disciples that “yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:2). When Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, consented to the death of Stephen, he was under the influence of the devil, working through religious spirits. He thought he was doing God service. How sad! So you now see, that our enemies need our compassion, not our judgment.
Luke 9: 51-56
And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
Note that it was time for Jesus to go to the Cross, to fulfill the mission God sent Him to do on earth. Then, the Samaritans stood against Him. By their actions, they were actually standing against His mission. Do you think they knew that was the interpretation of their actions? Obviously, they didn’t know. When James and John saw this, they asked the Lord, if they could call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans. Have you heard of people today who pray down fire to consume their enemies and justify it like James and John did – “even as Elijah did”? Elijah walked under the Old Covenant. Jesus has fulfilled the Old Covenant, and established for us a New Covenant. This New Covenant is a Covenant of Love. We are not to call down fire upon our enemies like Elijah did. We are not to curse. We are to bless. We are to love. Jesus didn’t take the request of His disciples lightly. He rebuked them. “To rebuke” means “to charge sharply”. He wasn’t mealy-mouthed about it. “You don’t know what manner of Spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them”, He charged at them. The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). The love of God constrains us (2 Cor. 5:14). We are to let that love dominate us. It is very natural to want to get back at people who have hurt us, but “be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).
What then should we pray for, concerning those that hate us? Pray God’s blessings over them. Pray God’s mercies and forgiveness for them. Also, pray God to open their minds that the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ would shine unto them (2 Cor. 4:4). The reason they do not know what they are doing is because the devil, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience, the god of this world, has blinded their minds. So, break the devil’s power over them, that God will give them “repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will” (2 Tim. 2: 25, 26).
If you pray this way for your those who hate you, you will be filled with compassion for them. You will realize they need help. But if you pray that they die, that evil comes upon them, you will be playing into Satan’s territory. You will realize that you are growing in bitterness, grudge and hate towards them. Then, your prayers won’t work and you will just be frustrated. We have been called to walk in love towards all men, especially towards those who hate us, despitefully use us and persecute us. We can choose to walk with them on the lower path or we can choose the Higher way. Love is the Higher Way!
Glory to God!
The Word Seminar 