How To Pray For Your Enemies When It Feels Hopeless

Hey there, friends! Welcome back to Turning Heads Blog, an online space for Christian women to grow in their relationship with the Lord. Today I have a powerful message for y’all... something that we should all be doing, which is praying for our enemies.

For general reader discretion, I would like to acknowledge the fact that there is no proper way to pray; there is no secret recipe of steps that you have to follow for God to hear you. The Lord Almighty hears all prayers, big and small, whispered and shouted. The steps in this blog post are not a perfect outline - this is what I have found to work for me and my heart when praying for my enemies feels hopeless.

Anways, I know what you’re thinking: you want me to pray FOR my enemies? The people who wronged me, who made me feel like I wasn’t good enough? Why would I do that? Believe me, I’ve had those exact thoughts. However, more than a handful of times I have felt God put these particular prayers on my heart, and I have found that praying for my enemies has allowed me to let go of the hurtful memories and spite inside of me and move forward with my life.

Deciding to pray for those who wrong us is a difficult choice to make - yet it is the exact thing that God wants us to do. We are called to love both our neighbors and our enemies, regardless of how they treat us. The key to understand is that even when people set themselves against us in hatred, they are ultimately people in need of our Savior Jesus Christ… the same Savior who calls us to look on them with love and pray over them that they may receive the Holy Spirit.

Step One: Knowing Your Enemies and Praying over Your Heart

This first step is important when praying for your enemies. The term ”enemies” itself is untrue, as Scripture says that our one true enemy is the devil: ”For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). It’s important that we recognize that our ”enemies” are in fact created by God in His image, led astray by the works of Satan.

We need to remember that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and because of this we have experienced His mercy.

• Begin your prayer by meditating over your heart, seeking forgiveness over those you have hurt with hateful words or actions.

• Pray that the Father will give you a forgiving heart to model His own, full of the same love and mercy and grace that He has bestowed upon you.

Step Two: Praying for their Salvation in Christ

The second step in praying for your enemies is to pray for their salvation and complete tranformation in Christ. God wants everyone to receive faith and eternal life with Him; as 2 Peter 3:9 teaches us, God is not willing for anyone to perish because He wants everyone to come to repentence.

• Pray that he/she will be given a spirit of wisdom and revelation, and that their eyes may be open to God and the hope to which He has called them.

• Pray that the Lord brings them to brokenness before Him, so that they will see their need for our Savior.

• Pray in the name of Jesus that every plan of our one true enemy, Satan, will be stopped and rendered of no effect, ensuring that the powers of darkness working in his/her life will fail.

• Pray that God will send believers to preach the gospel in your enemy’s life, that he/she will turn from darkness to light and be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit in complete transformation.

Step Three: Praying Fruitfulness over Your Enemies

The final step in praying for your enemies is to pray for their spiritual fruitfulness, beginning with the fruit of the Spirit of God, which is ”love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). We can have faith that the result of their fruitfulness will glorify the Most High, allow others to grow in their relationship with the Lord and ultimately bring more people to know Christ.

• Pray over your enemy’s spirit: pray that in desire to be transformed into the image of Christ, they will become characterized by good works, humility, and forgiveness.

• Pray that his/her fruitful journey will grant him/her a long and joyful life with Christ Jesus.

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