While we always need to pray for and protect innocent lives, Christians are called to an even higher level.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and PRAY for those who persecute you. Matt 5:44 ESV.
The truth is that killing terrorists in response to their acts of terror will never eliminate terrorism. It has not and will not work. So what if the entire body of Christ obeyed God’s instructions in the Bible and prayed for our enemies in a massive way around the world. But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28 ESV
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rom 12:14 ESV
Some may initially recoil at the thought of praying for a terrorist but Jesus demonstrated it first. Crucifixion was designed to instill terror in the hearts of his followers and put an end to Christianity. Yet Jesus said, “…Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do…” Luke 23:34 ESV
Do we believe Jesus words are always true?
A couple of years ago the FaithWriters website underwent a large attack from hackers. In the midst of the attack when we thought the entire site might be lost, God told me to pray for the hacker’s salvation. I did and asked site members to do likewise and to post their prayers. A couple of days later the attack stopped and I received an email from a man from Algiers. He told me that he had accepted Jesus as savior and was finished with hacking and identity theft. Read his message. Jesus was right, prayer worked! |