Prayer for February 17, 2022

Prayer for February 17, 2022: Please pray with me. God who calls us to love our enemies, whoa! You want us to do what? Seriously? Don’t you know that they would rather see our demise. Isn’t it better to take them down first? What’s that God? We are to act differently than the habits of humanity throughout all of human history because humanity has shown that it’s way of violence doesn’t work? Shocking! But isn’t love of enemies weak, allowing ourselves to be abused? What’s that you say — it’s not? Loving enemies isn’t about living in fear and striking first. That only keeps the cycle of violence and enemies going, with no end and no hope. But you are a God of hope, a God of new beginnings. The only way to a new beginning is if we take a different path. And we can’t wait for someone else to start. We are called to start this new way. You give us the path. It isn’t easy — it goes against our inclinations and habits. But you empower us to do this. You call on us to do this. And when we do, we are impacted in incredible ways. We are transformed. And love is allowed to flourish. Thriving life takes hold. Peace becomes our norm. We experience grace and mercy in profound ways. The world changes. Amen.

Call to action: Who is your enemy? How can you love them? What is the most loving thing you can do for them? Forget about how they will respond, that’s not in your control. Just love.

Originally published at https://pastormatthewbest.com on February 17, 2022.