I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pray for my enemies!

Rico Lane [00:00:00]:
What's happening everybody? It's your boy, Rico, coming at you with another episode of Reddit Replies. Today, we're gonna be diving into a topic that touches the heart of our faith right as Christians. That is praying for those who may be the hardest people to pray for And I'm talking about our enemies. So I'm gonna roll right into the post that's shared with us today from this believer who's actually wrestling with this very challenge. Let's see what they got to say.

Reddit User [00:00:26]:
I don't think I'll ever be able to pray for my enemies. Does that make me a fake Christian? People are awful. I do not want these people in heaven with us. Does this make me a fake Christian or just a weak imperfect human? Thanks. Praise King Jesus.

Rico Lane [00:00:41]:
Does it make you a fake Christian or a weak and perfect person? Well, first off, the fact that you are either asking this question, the fact that you're dealing with this shows that you take your Christian walk serious. Right? It shows that, this is not something you're taking lightly, and I gotta commend you for being completely honest about it. But the reality of it is is being a Christian is not about being perfect. It's about following Christ's example. It's about believing in our hearts that he died for our sins. It's about accepting him as our lord and savior. And so as our lord, we're willing to do his will even when it's tough. So I wanna unpack what you got going on here with a little bit of guidance and help from the word.

Rico Lane [00:01:20]:
So first off, I wanna go to Romans chapter 10 verse 9. It tells us straight up, if you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So if you have done that, then you're not a fake Christian. I it's not up for me to determine whether you're a fake Christian or not. Only God can judge your heart. Right? And it's all about believing in your heart. And if you're wrestling with these feelings towards your enemies, it's honestly a sign of something going on in your heart. Right? And you probably need to dig a little deeper on what it means to believe in your heart.

Rico Lane [00:01:58]:
And see, for me, believing in your heart is accepting that Christ's way is better than your way, accepting that he knows more than what you know, accepting that you're gonna follow his will. And that includes for us to love and pray for our enemies. Pray for those that we'd rather not pray for. Right? And so then I want to go to 1st John chapter 4 verse 20, right? It says, if someone says I love God but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar. For if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command. Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. Now check this out. If your enemy, somebody you don't like, somebody you feel are bad, right, they if they accepted Christ, then now they're your brother and sister.

Rico Lane [00:02:46]:
And that may be a tough pill to swallow, but that's just the truth. And we are called to love them. We are called to pray for them. We are called to, let them know when they're doing wrong with grace and truth. That's what we're called to do. It is not up to us to determine who gets to go to heaven and who doesn't or who deserve heaven and who doesn't because if that's the case, none of us deserve it. And I'll be honest with you, not to be harsh, but you sound like the story of the unforgiving debtor. So in Matthew 18 verse 21, right, it's about this guy who got his massive debt wiped clean by the king because he begged and pleaded with the king and the king had mercy on him and the king forgave him of his debt.

Rico Lane [00:03:26]:
But then he turned around and choked out this dude who owed him way less money. And the king finds out this and he's like, you should have had mercy just like I did for you. Right? And see, in this parable, we we often read that and be like, how could this guy not forgive this person with a little debt when he literally just got forgiven of a huge debt? And that's what we do every day with God. God has forgiven us a debt that we could have never ever paid back. So then who are we to not forgive other people? Who are we not to want to pray for other people? Who are we to determine who should go to heaven and who shouldn't? Right? I mean, a lot of times people will spend 1,000 of dollars on weddings, right? And honeymoons and get married and then they'll say something like, well, if this person did this, fill in the blank, then I'm done. It's over. When the marriage is supposed to be forever, right? And or if this person did this, I can't forgive them or whatever the case may be. And if that whatever that thing is, whatever that line is, if so and so did x, well, then God should have to forgive me.

Rico Lane [00:04:29]:
You need to be questioning your heart in that situation. See, this parable that Jesus dropped on us is a direct call out that forgiving and praying for our enemies isn't optional. It's a core of who we call to be. Why? Because we expect God to forgive us. As simple as that. I got another one for you. Remember your boy Jonah, right? Everybody, you know, we learned about him as a kid. We all learned he's the guy who's stuck in the well.

Rico Lane [00:04:54]:
And a lot of times the well overshadowed the actual story, at least it did for me. Right? But anyway, God told Jonah to hit up Nineveh. I'm probably mispronouncing that. And he told him to warn those jokers to get their act together or they gonna have to face his wrath. And Jonah wasn't having it because he thought that they didn't deserve God mercy. See, he knew how merciful God was that if they ask for forgiveness, God will forgive them. And he didn't want God to forgive them. This sounds like you.

Rico Lane [00:05:20]:
You don't wanna be in heaven with your enemies. Right? Long story short, Jonah ends up in the whale's belly to think it over to get his attitude right until he aligned it with God's will. And see, Jonah's resistance and then eventual obedience teach us that dodging God's command is not the move, especially when it comes to extending grace. That's not what you wanna do, man. I'm telling you. And this brings me to Hebrews chapter 12 verse 6. It says, for the Lord discipline those he loves and he punished each one he accepts as his child. You hear that? So you're asking if you are a fake Christian or not.

Rico Lane [00:05:56]:
Right? And what you really should be worried about is if you are a real Christian and you're blankly disobeying God, not praying for your enemies, not wanting them in heaven, you should be worried about what God is gonna do to you as his child, right? Because as tough as it sounds, God discipline is about shaping us and pruning us to bear more fruit, to reflect his love more clearly, even to those that we'd rather not do it to. Right? And so you may be putting yourself in a situation to deal with a world of hurt that you would never have to deal with if you simply be obedient just like Jonah won't have to deal with. So to you, my brother or sister, because I'm not sure whether you're a male or female who post this. I use the female in your little avatar there. But whoever this is dealing with this struggle, the real question is not whether you're a fake Christian or not. It's about what steps are you gonna take to start being more like Christ. What steps are you gonna take to be less like you and more like Jesus even when it's hard? What steps are you are you gonna allow the holy spirit to guide you through the sanctification process, turning your heart towards what god desire and not what you desire. I'm praying for you, and I urge that you dive deeper into those stories I shared, the unforgiving debtor and Jonah.

Rico Lane [00:07:08]:
Let them marinate. Let God speak to you on it and hopefully you have a change of heart. And to everybody who tuned in, man, hit me up in the comments with your thoughts. Share your view point on it. Share your struggles. How have you navigated with it? And if I earned it, hit that like button, man. Subscribe, follow, whether you're listening on podcasts or whether you're looking at it on YouTube, whatever way, man. Like it, share it.

Rico Lane [00:07:33]:
So that way we can get more people in. And if you have any, Reddit questions that you want me to do, then share those as well, and I'll make videos on those and, answer your questions right here live. So until next time, man, keep praying to give your enemy 70 times 7. Right? We're all a work in progress. None of us deserve God's mercy. And we're all trying to move towards something more beautiful, something that's more in line with God's will, to basically be more like Christ and less like us. So until next time.