Saturday, 15th November 2025
Alex Buabeng-Korsah
TOPIC: PRAYING FOR THOSE WHO WOUND YOU
THEME SCRIPTURE: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” — Matthew 5:44 (ESV)
PREPARATORY QUESTIONS:
- Is it possible to pray for our enemies and those who despitefully use us?
When Jesus calls us to love our enemies, He is not offering a lofty ideal; He is commanding us into the very heart of God. Love for one’s enemies is not natural— it is supernatural. It transcends instinct and self-preservation and enters the realm of grace, where the Spirit of God enables what flesh cannot accomplish.
The early Church understood this deeply. Tertullian wrote that Christians “love their enemies and pray for their persecutors,” and that this was one of the greatest witnesses to a hostile world.
Likewise, St. Augustine said, “Many have learned how to offer the other cheek, but few know how to love him who strikes the cheek.” Prayer for our enemies is the furnace where our hearts are refined into Christlikeness.
When we pray for those who wrong us, we are not excusing their actions— we are entrusting justice to God while asking that His mercy might reach them as it reached us. Prayer softens the calloused places in our hearts. It replaces resentment with compassion and invites heaven into human conflict.
“To return evil for evil,” wrote St. John Chrysostom, “is demonic; to return good for good is human; but to return good for evil is divine.”
Precious one, what can you do to stop the bitterness for those who have hurt you and release them?
- Identify those who have hurt or opposed you. Name them before God.
- Pray Scripture over them. For example, use Ezekiel 36:26—“Lord, give them a new heart and a new spirit.”
- Bless intentionally. Speak a word of good to the one who has hurt you or perform a quiet act of kindness when possible.
- Release control. Ask the Holy Spirit to free you from the need to see outcomes—trust Him with both justice and mercy.
- Persevere. Pray regularly until your heart begins to shift, even slightly, from bitterness toward compassion.
Beloved, to pray for your enemies is to imitate the crucified Christ, who, with torn flesh and fading breath, interceded: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). In such prayer, we step into divine partnership—joining the redemptive work that seeks not revenge, but restoration.
FURTHER READING – Matthew 5:40–45
Call to Salvation: Today is your day if you have not received salvation by turning over your life to Jesus Christ. Click here to do so.
QUESTIONS TO HELP YOU MEDITATE ON THE WORD:
- Who is hardest for me to love right now, and why?
- How might praying for that person transform not only them, but me?
- What do my reactions reveal about my understanding of God’s mercy toward me?
PRAYER
Father in heaven, teach me the love that does not end where pain begins. Help me to see my enemies through the eyes of Christ—broken, yet beloved. Replace resentment with intercession and anger with compassion. As I pray for those who wound me, my transformation—a true child of Your mercy, reflecting Your perfect love—will become evident to all. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.
One-Year Bible Reading Plan
Proverbs 4; 1 Peter 3; Job 24
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