You need to know that Alexander,the jeweler, has done me great harm. May our Lord give him what he deserves for all he has done.
-2 Timothy 4:14, TPT
“Are you praying for her (him)?” asks a concerned Christian.
This is the “magic bullet” of spiritual healing. Maybe you heard of it? The idea is if you pray for those who have wronged you, then you won’t get “bitter” towards them.
The question really is about assessing your forgiveness journey.
I question the question.
Why make someone who has harmed us central to our spiritual journey by making them the focal point of our prayers?
Is it not better to hand them over once (or as many times as needed) to God and move onto our own business with God?
This is different than cursing them or dwelling upon ways to make them pay. The end state is one of indifference. They are no longer your problem but rather God’s.
I think that is the proper state to aspire to in dealing with cheaters or others who have wronged us deeply. This demonstrates forgiveness:
We no longer need something to happen to the unrepentant cheater in order to move on with our own lives. God will deal with them.
I know this flies in the face of conventional Christian “wisdom” on the matter. However, I do believe this is the proper stance.
Indifference and irrelevance to our daily life is the target. We live in peace and trust in God’s justice and wisdom.
Not that I see praying for our “enemies” is wrong. However, I see it as unnecessary to a point–i.e. after handing the perpetrator over to God in prayer–and a bad barometer for measuring the forgiveness journey.
I am with you on this DM.
Handing an intransigent spouse over to God only comes after long time earnest prayer. It is frequently the case that the Spirit of God has been moving in their life, but they are too resistant in their sin to comply. Let them have their consequences.
Focusing you spiritual energy on them prevents you from recognizing what God has for you.
When my wife and I gave this advice to participants in the divorce recovery groups we led, we got two responses:
-Disbelief that this was OK
-Gratitude in understanding that their former spouse’s soul was not their responsibility.
Yes, the “acceptable” answer is usually to tell people that they MUST pray blessings forever over their cheating ex-spouse. It is really twisted, IMO.
Praying for God to discipline them is a blessing to them too…I did that at first. Wish he had gotten the point and turned to God…
Beautifully stated……..
“Why make someone who has harmed us central to our spiritual journey by making them the focal point of our prayers?”
If we do that, we are going to starve ourselves spiritually, emotionally and mentally, as our Creator does not wish for us to expend our energies that way.
I believe Psalms 7 sums up God’s view of unrepentant sinners and how HE will handle them……(especially vss. 12 & 13)
ForgeOn, my friend…….ForgeOn!
Hey DM- How does this fit into Christ’s words in the sermon on the mount? I always thought we did have to keep trying to pray for them…was Jesus referring to a one time event?
43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] 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. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48).
A few chapters later in Matthew, Jesus tells his followers: “If any household or town refuses to welcome you or listen to your message, shake its dust from your feet as you leave. I tell you the truth, the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will be better off than such a town on the judgment day” (10:14-15, NLT). I think when it comes to dealing with “Christian” wrongdoers, these verses are more applicable. We can pray for those who wrong us. However, I see a model here of “shake off the dust” when it comes to those who refuse to repent. In those cases, we don’t continue to try and convince them of our godly message regarding their sins.
Hope this helps:
The primary audience here were Jesus’ apostles and disciples, even though all those present there, as well as all of humanity, can benefit from these passages. The disciples are being taught and trained. The enemies Jesus was primarily referring to here were enemies of the ‘good news’ that the apostles and disciples were being prepared to spread, not personal enemies of an individual. (even though many of the points / principles certainly do apply to us individually)
So, it was ‘enemies of the good news of the kingdom’ that Jesus was primarily counseling his close associates to pray for in this particular passage. Elsewhere, this is made clearer, when Christians are urged to pray that governmental authorities will grant them the freedom to spread the message peacefully.
This is not meant as a complete explanation of this passage……just some background info that should help us all to see that Jesus certainly did not intend for us to expend untold efforts and energies on unrepentant sinners / cheaters. He sure didn’t! His focus was on glorifying God, preaching about the Kingdom and helping right-hearted ones come into a close relationship with both him and His heavenly Father.