Prayer for Enemies
Monday, March 15th, 2010 | Lent Meditations, Spiritual Disciplines
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons 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. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” -Matthew 5:43-46
In yesterday’s meditation, we read the story of Jesus’ betrayal in order to prepare for worship. Imagine what it would feel like to be betrayed as He was. Yet on the cross, He prayed that God would forgive the people who crucified Him.
Today, we pray a difficult prayer, one that follows Jesus’ example. It is a portion of a longer prayer written by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, who was a Serbian bishop who spoke out against Naziism, was arrested, and taken to Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp. Like Jesus, Nikolai had many reasons to hate and curse his enemies, but he chose instead to pray this prayer for them.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have. Friends have bound me to earth; enemies have loosed me from earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.
Enemies have made me a stranger in worldly realms and an extraneous inhabitant of the world.
Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an unhunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath Your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless and do not curse them.
They, rather than I, have confessed my sins before the world. They have punished me, whenever I have hesitated to punish myself. They have tormented me, whenever I have tried to flee torments. They have scolded me, whenever I have flattered myself. They have spat upon me, whenever I have filled myself with arrogance.
Bless my enemies, O Lord. Even I bless them and do not curse them.
Amen.
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