“You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I tell you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5: 43-44)

Today is dedicated to the worship of God through our lord and savior Jesus Christ. Happy Sunday beloved! We are back again to the issue of prayer for our enemies and for those who persecute us. Unfortunately, this is not a popular sermon this day, and most Christians also do not believe in this command of our Lord. You will recall very well that one of the cardinal messages of Jesus is the need to show love, demonstrate peace, and create harmony in our world. But we do not seem to do much of that; the reason being that so many people are presently occupied with personal problems solving, rather than issues of general concern. But while we tend to focus on our personal problems, we fail to realize that our individual problems only persist because of the endemic and protracted problems in our world. We must first solve the problem in our world in order for our individual problems to get solved. The fact is that, what affects the world, affects us directly or indirectly, hence we ought to pray for peace, harmony and love in the world. Any wonder then that we are requested to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, for in that lies our own peace. Also, the scriptures command that we pray for the prosperity of the land where we dwell, for in that lies our own prosperity (Jeremiah 29:7). To pray for the prosperity of our nation and to extend peace, love and harmony to our world in general, presupposes that we are at peace with everyone; no quarrels and acrimonies; it presupposes the fact that we have love in our hearts towards everyone!

Today’s word says we must pray for our enemies and those who want us dead, thereby leaving vengeance to God. Some have quarried seriously; “why must I pray for my enemies”? The answer has not changed either; the Master commands it, and it’s boldly written in the scriptures. Now I tell you beloved; whatever you give out is what you receive. Refrain henceforth from discharging curses on your enemies, whether in prayers or at any other time. Vengeance is the Lord’s! The reason our enemies seem to have power over us is because we hate them in return for their hatred for us. The result of this is that in nearly every situation, the enemy usually defeats us. Why you may ask? It is because you choose to disobey Christ, and fight alone. Only the power of love can cure the venom of the enemy’s hatred! Jesus will not kill our enemies because we ask Him to do so. This is because he never killed any for himself; rather, he prayed for all His enemies. Our disobedience to the master’s command reduces our power of victory over the enemy. One of the greatest weapons of the devil against us is to capitalize on our disobedience to God’s word. Today, say a final NO to the tricks of the devil. LOVE ALL YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THEM.