The Most Radical Prayer: Loving Your Enemies
What if the greatest test of prayer isn’t in how long we pray, but in who we pray for?
It’s easy to pray for the people we love—our family, our children, our friends. It’s natural to intercede for our community, our church, our country. But what happens when Jesus’ words confront us with the unthinkable:
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
Enemies. That word alone carries weight. Maybe for you, it’s not a soldier on the battlefield, but a coworker who undercuts you, a neighbor who mocks your faith, or someone who betrayed your trust. For others, it’s a political figure, a rival, or even a family member who has wounded us deeply.
Most of us would rather avoid our enemies, let alone pray for them. Yet Jesus places prayer for enemies at the very heart of what it means to follow Him. Why? Because prayer changes things—but most of all, it changes us.
Why Praying for Enemies Matters
Prayer Disarms Hatred.
Hatred corrodes the heart. Every grudge, every relived offense, is like acid eating away at our peace. Prayer acts as a cleansing stream, washing away bitterness. As one writer said, “To pray for our enemies is to unclench the fist around our own heart.”Prayer Restores Perspective.
When we lift our enemies before God, something miraculous happens: we begin to see them not as caricatures of evil, but as people—broken, confused, wounded—just like us. We begin to glimpse them through the eyes of Christ, who on the cross prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”Prayer Frees Us.
Unforgiveness is a prison where we hold the key. But when we pray for those who hurt us, we walk free. We’re no longer bound by what they did; we’re liberated by what Christ has done in us.
The Hidden Power of This Prayer
History bears witness to this power. Think of Martin Luther King Jr., who insisted that the civil rights movement must be rooted in love, not vengeance. Think of Corrie ten Boom, who, after surviving a Nazi concentration camp, prayed for and forgave her captors.
These are not stories of weakness, but of astonishing strength. To pray for an enemy is to step into the supernatural dimension of Christianity, where grace is stronger than hate, and forgiveness is mightier than revenge.
How to Begin
Praying for enemies doesn’t mean excusing their actions, nor does it mean trusting them again immediately. It means releasing them into the hands of God, the perfect Judge. Here’s a simple way to start:
Name them. Be specific—God already knows.
Release the hurt. Tell God what they did and how it wounded you.
Ask for their good. Pray for their healing, their transformation, their salvation.
Ask for your heart. Pray that God changes you, softens you, enlarges your capacity for mercy.
Over time, prayer reshapes your inner life. The one who was your enemy may remain unchanged—but you will never be the same.
The Invitation
The truth is, praying for enemies is not optional—it’s the very DNA of the gospel. Jesus prayed for His executioners. Stephen prayed for those who stoned him. The early church prayed for those who persecuted them. And today, we are called to do the same.
It may feel impossible—but perhaps that’s the point. Prayer for enemies forces us to depend not on our own strength, but on the Spirit of Christ living in us.
And when we dare to pray this most radical prayer, we discover that God doesn’t just hear our words—He transforms our world, one enemy at a time, starting with the enemy in our own heart.