Praying for Rain

(photo credit: caminodesantiago.me)

"You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike." (Matthew 5:43-45, New Living Translation)

As I sit by my window this morning, I am seeing the evidence of overnight rain that has lingered into this morning, bringing desperately needed moisture to our drought-stricken land. Could it be that God has responded to the prayers of His people? 

But you know what bugs me? There are people benefitting from this moisture who don't deserve it! They care nothing for God, His people, or His purposes, and still God let His rain fall on their yards, too.

You know what else bugs me? God wants me to pray for them. He wants me to pray that He would bless and provide for them. He wants me to pray that they would be drawn to Him, not so they would be better neighbors or citizens, but for His glory and pleasure and for their good. Does He not know how they have treated us?

Probably most of us are better at praying AT our enemies than we are at praying FOR them. We are often tempted to pray that they would get what they deserve, that they would see the error of their ways, that they would be made better.

Yet, these words of Jesus echo, "LOVE your enemies and PRAY FOR those who persecute you." When we do that, we look a lot more like Jesus.

Question: Can you think of someone you need to pray FOR instead of AT today?
Pray for that person right now.