Prayer: The Antidote For Envy And Slander

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

I Peter 2:1

Do you still struggle with the same sins you had at the start of your pilgrimage? Malice? Deceit? Hypocrisy? Envy? Slander of every kind? Growing up into the full measure of our salvation is hard. Yet we have tasted the Lord; we can never turn back. Still these besetting sins stalk us like a crafty hunter. How can you “grow up in your salvation?”

One day I watched a divorced father pull into the driveway of the home where his ex-wife and two sons lived. Immediately I wondered how he could have abandoned them like he did. How could he be so self-centered? Then my eyes moved to the boy—an angry young man, always in trouble with authorities. Why couldn’t he behave?

They stood in the yard and talked, father and son. It did occur to me that watching a father spend time with his son is an encouraging sight. Then it hit me hard. “Why don’t you pray for them?” The contrast of that thought to the malicious thoughts just before it stung me. My eyes flooded with tears. How many hundreds, how many thousands of times had I chosen slander (or envy or deceit) over love?

How could I—a Christian—be filled with such malice, such hypocrisy? How many people have we slandered for whom we should have instead prayed? How many names has the Spirit quickened to our mind for prayer which we instead chose to criticize?

We cheat ourselves out of love. We don’t see people as Christ sees them. The way to see people as Christ does is to see them through the eye of prayer. It is impossible to think negative thoughts about someone for whom you are praying.

The antidote for envy and slander is to pray for the one on your mind. Perhaps the Spirit put that name on your mind. You may be the only person who prays for that person today, this week, or ever.

I SURRENDER

O God, I confess that hundreds, even thousands of times You have quickened someone’s name to my mind, only for me to envy or slander them. I confess I have deceived myself; I am a hypocrite filled with malicious thoughts. Forgive me. Help me to grow up in my salvation. From this day forward, I will establish the habit of praying for people instead of criticizing them. Amen.