PRAY FOR EACH OTHER!

Psalm 35:12 They repay me evil for good; my soul is bereft. 13 But I, when they were sick-- I wore sackcloth; I afflicted myself with fasting; I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.

In care group last night we were discussing what many have dubbed the Love Chapter, 1 Corinthians 13. It was pointed out that the admonitions to love are in the context of the church, our brothers and sisters. But as I read this passage I was convicted. There are times in which my love, specifically in prayer, for my brothers and sisters is far less than it should be.

This passage shows the depths of love the psalmist had for his enemies. How convicting it is to read that, in the midst of being repaid evil for good, the psalmist repays the evil with good, even praying for them as he would for a brother, sister, or his mother. Jesus himself said,

"But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,

so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven."

The psalmist grieving for his enemies, and laboring in anguished prayer for them, in itself is convicting. Then add to that the weight of Jesus' very words coming from his own lips. So I ask myself, if this is the way we should pray for our enemies, how much more should I labor in prayer for my brothers and sisters who are in Christ?!?!