Prayer To Lose Enemies and Gain Friends

 FRIENDS AND ENEMIES

As I said a few days ago, this pandemic and all the conspiracy theories blazing across social media along with the hate filled negative rhetoric of the election campaigns both locally and in the United States really shows up groups of people who are polarized against one another.  Rich against poor.  White against those of colour.  Male against female.  One religion against another.  And on and on it goes.  While it is both welcome and healthy to converse with and even voice our disagreement when that’s appropriate,  it saddens us is when the anger becomes a part of the issues and bitter rivalries rise up and families are split and friendships broken and ugly ugly things get said or written.  Friends and enemies.

From the beginning of time, with the brothers Cain and Abel we’ve seen how quickly irritation can move to hatred and murder.  This story is told again in the few verses about friends and enemies we want to think about and pray about today from 1 John 3.  Listen to these words:

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.   1 John 3:11-13

If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.  1 John 3:14-15

We are called by God to love one another – and that’s not just people who look like us, believe like us, or vote like us.  Let’s pray because the levels of emotion and tension tell us that we need a big God to do a big work in this area.

This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.   1 John 3:11-13

Loving God, You created every single human being.  You had a plan and a loving purpose for their lives.  You made each of us in Your image and simply wanted us to enjoy a wonderful life on this earth being blessed by Your love and enjoying Your creation.  Unfortunately, we know that sin broke into that and has been working against loving relationships ever since.

We pray God to not be thrown off course by the hated of others.  It’s so easy to see our own righteousness and the wrongs of others.  Help us God to put our focus where it belongs – on loving and obeying You.  You’ll take care of what others are doing – rightly or wrongly.  You call us to love and pray for them and to encourage them to come to the faith, not hate them and fight with them, and try to crush them with violence of thought, word, or deed. 

If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.  1 John 3:14-15

Help us to take a clear stand to love and honour others as You intend.  There’s so much that we can lift up in one another even when we must respectfully disagree. 

You even told us to bless those who curse us and despitefully use us and as difficult as that is we know we need to grow up in that way and reflect Your character by behaving in these ways.  You said:

God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers.  Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way. Matthew 5:10-12

This is a hard word but we want to receive it. We want to live it.  We want to rise about all the ugliness we see and hear and be people who bless and who trust You, with faith that You will reward us at the proper time.  We put our lives in Your hands again today, You our blessing and caring God.  Amen

You know, if these kinds of things can happen in nature with animals, don’t you think God can help us to befriend some very unlikely people?