What does it mean to Pray for your enemies?

Thank you very much for taking out time to ask these questions.

Let me start by affirming to the fact that I am also a strong believer of the Old and New Testament of the Bible. I believed that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ who usher us into the era of grace.

In answering your questions, let me first of all drop the very Words of Jesus Christ who is our example and who is our Lord from Matthew 5:43-48 NKJV.

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?
48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

When Jesus asked us to pray for our enemies, what was the prayer point?

I think Matthew 5:43-48 and the Lord ’s Prayer is a good pattern given to us by Jesus Christ to follow to achieve praying the right prayer.

What does it mean to PRAY FOR your enemies?

The English dictionary and the Bible dictionary all defined the word “FOR” the same way. That is: On behalf, in service of, aimed at, toward, because of etc.

From this definition, you will agree with me that there is nothing in this definition nor from Jesus’s word in Matthew 5:43-48 that suggest that it’s a prayer that is “not in favour of a subject”. On the other hand, PRAYING AGAINST simply implies that you make a prayer that is hostile and not favorable against a person.

So, how should we pray for our enemies?

I give full details in my article titled, “HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR HUMAN ENEMIES. To give you a summary; to pray for your enemies is to:
1. Pray for their salvation.
2. Pray that God will restrain them from the evil they do.
3. Pray for their deliverance from the grip of the devil that has possess them.
4. Pray for divine Justice.

I hope I helped you? I am always to open to answer any question you might have or a contrary opinion.

Shalom.

-Pst. Gavin Aleogho