Magnificent Prayer #246
Magnificent Prayer #246
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Luke 23:34
In praying for His enemies not only did Christ set before us a perfect example of how we should treat those who wrong and hate us, but He also taught us never to regard any as beyond the reach of prayer.
If Christ prayed for His murderers then surely we have encouragement to pray now for the very chief of sinners! Christian reader, never lose hope. Does it seem a waste of time for you to continue praying for that man, that woman, that wayward child of yours? Does their case seem to become more hopeless every day? Does it look as though they had gotten beyond the reach of Divine mercy?
Perhaps that one you have prayed for so long has been ensnared by one of the Satanic cults of the day, or he may now be an avowed and blatant infidel, in a word, an open enemy of Christ. Remember then the Cross. Christ prayed for His enemies. Learn then not to look on any as beyond the reach of prayer.
ARTHUR PINK
Pray About It: I don’t know a single Christian who doesn’t have some “hard case” for whom he’s praying. Sometimes it’s a grown child who shows no interest in Christ. Maybe it’s an aged parent approaching death. Or an unbelieving spouse. Or perhaps a neighbor for whom we have compassion and would like to see come to Christ. It may even be an enemy, such as the enemies of Christ who put Him to death. And yet Christ prayed for them. He wouldn’t have done so if He thought there was no hope for them. I’d like to believe that some of the disciples we read about in the book of Acts, gathered in the Upper Room, were those very ones Christ had prayed for.
Who is your hard case? Who is your enemy? Don’t lose heart. Keep praying. Though it may take years, keep praying.
More than a century ago George Mueller, that prince of intercessors, began to pray for five personal friends. After five years one of them came to Christ. In ten years two more were born again. Mueller prayed on for 25 years and the fourth man was saved. For the fifth, Mueller prayed until the time of his death, and this friend came also to Christ a few months afterward. For the latter friend, Mueller had prayed for almost 52 years.
JAMES MCCONKEY
From the book
