Today I thought to write about praying for our enemies. It says in the Old Testament in Proverbs 25:21-21: “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.”
Paul even quotes the same exact verse in Romans 12:20-21.
Yeshua (Jesus) says in Matthew 5:44: “But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.”
By returning good for evil, we are acknowledging God as the balancer of all accounts and trusting HIM to be the judge. In this day of lawsuits and incessant demands for legal rights, these verses seem almost impossible. I know they seem that way for me.
When someone hurts you deeply instead of giving them what they deserve, as a follower of Yeshua (Jesus) we should love our enemies and pray for them. Doing this may have the enemy change their ways. By contrast, repaying evil for evil hurts you just as much as it hurts your enemy. Even if your enemy never changes, you will be free of a heavy load of bitterness.
I took this advice to heart here in prison because majority of these guards are enemies. Majority treat us inmates like sub-human pieces of trash that are not worthy to even be in their presence. I decided to start praying for them. Amazingly they have started to not act so mean to me. I must admit I have neglected praying for my enemies since surrendering. I’d like to encourage you to pray for your enemies despite how they treat you and such.