Praying for those who mistreat us

DAILY BIBLE READING:

Isaiah 15:1–18:7 
Galatians 1:1-24 
Psalm 58:1-11 
Proverbs 23:12

TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Galatians 1:23-24 (ESV) "They only were hearing it said, 'He who used to persecute us in now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.' And they glorified God because of me."


REFLECTIONS ON TODAY'S BIBLE VERSE(S):

In our Verse for Today, we read that Paul was talking about his conversion. Before Jesus saved him, he had been persecuting the church. He drug Christians off to jail regularly. And he did so with zeal because he believed he was serving God.

But, when he was gloriously saved, word began to get around. People were beginning to say, "Hey! I heard that Saul has been saved and is now preaching the Gospel! That is so hard to comprehend because he used to persecute those who preached that same Gospel! Isn't God wonderful!!!"

Friend, it is so easy to pray against someone who is harming us. It is so easy to pray that God would repay them for what they are doing. It's so easy to spend a prolonged time in God's presence elaborating on all of the injustices that are being done.

But, God doesn't get any glory when we do that.

What gives God glory? Just read our Verse for Today. God is praised when He changes someone's heart!

So, instead of praying against the person who is mistreating you, pray for them. Pray that God would give them a change of heart. Pray that God would draw them to Himself.

In other words, don't focus primarily on asking God to stop the injustice against you. Instead, pray that God would bless the one who is mistreating you. Take the focus off of you and put it onto them. Turn your negative prayers into positive ones.

Friend, if and when God answers your prayers and the one who is mistreating you gets a heart change from the Lord, you will have more than enough reason to praise Him!

Luke 6:27-28 (ESV) "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you."


Update (Sept. 14, 2017 - 1:35 PM):
What I am addressing in this post is the heart attitude of the one who is being mistreated. This topic is a huge topic that is multi-faceted without the space or time to deal with it in this post. 

For instance, some mistreatments are so big that they cannot be ignored. While we continue to love and pray for the offender, we may feel the need to confront them, or ask someone to step in to help, or tell the authorities. 

This thing called "following Jesus" is often a balancing act that requires the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit within us to live it.