"Who Should I Be Praying For?" The Power of Prayer & Praying for Your Enemies

In today's episode, I talk about the power of prayer and how we should pray for everyone. It's important to not only pray for people that we love or are close to but also for our enemies. I pair this with scripture and 3 things to implement.

First I want to say a quick prayer... Lord, I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our hearts, our minds, our eyes, and our ears to you Lord. Holy Spirit please guide us and help us to see the truth, know the truth, discern the truth, and live by the truth. I pray that whatever it is that each person is supposed to receive from this episode that they receive it and implement it in their daily lives. I love you with every ounce of my being. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Now let's go into some scripture:

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. -Luke 23:34

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. -Acts 7:60

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” -Colossians 4:2

"as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many." -2 Corinthians 1:11

27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

-Luke 6:27-28

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

-Matthew 5:44

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." -Romans 12:12

So as we can see from these verses, prayer is a crucial part of our daily life and we should pray, be thankful, present our requests to God, and pray for guidance, strength, and everything that we need to get through life. Not only should we be praying for ourselves and our loved ones, but also for our enemies. The people that have mistreated us and have hate in their hearts need prayers badly. God loves everyone and he can change and use anyone by His great power. Prayer is so powerful and consistently praying for someone could help with God changing their life and them being saved by Jesus. I know this may be easier said than done because you may not want to pray for someone that has done you wrong or someone that you know is not a good person, but you have to put your pride aside, forgive that person, and pray for them. You can ask God to open up your heart to forgive them. Once we forgive the person that has done us wrong, we have to pray for them consistently.

There have been a lot of people in my life that have done me wrong, just like I'm sure there have been a lot of people in your life that have done you wrong. I've had an abusive ex, cheating exes, people in my family, and people that I'm close to doing things that I wouldn't wish on anyone. I used to hold a lot of hate and resentment in my heart but through having a relationship with Christ, praying to him, and all of that, I have learned to forgive these people and I pray for people now that I never thought that I would be praying for. On a daily basis, I pray for my abusive ex, my cheating exes, and people that have done me wrong. I know that God can change and use anyone for His greater good. Just like we went over in the book of Acts and also in the book Galatians where Jesus Christ used Paul (formerly known as Saul). Saul imprisoned people that spoke of the name of Jesus and then Jesus used him and chose him to preach the gospel of Jesus. Paul ended up in prison and suffered in the name of Jesus but he was full of joy because of it.

Oh hey friend, sorry to interrupt this blog post, but I just wanted to remind you guys that "Christ Transforms Me," my 90-day journal is available for purchase on Amazon. To learn more about the journal or to purchase one, go to www.faithfuelsmyfire.com/journal

Jesus Christ forgives anyone who comes to him and asks for forgiveness. We as mere humans have no right to judge anyone and we can not hold anything against anyone. We are all sinners and we all make mistakes. I know that I've done a lot of bad things, but Jesus still chose me, he still forgave me, and he still gives me eternal life in heaven. My true home is in heaven because I'm saved by Jesus Christ and I have eternal life in him. If Jesus Christ can choose and save me, he can choose and save anyone. There is no limit on God's power and miracles happen every day. I actually have an episode, it's episode 195 about letting go of the past to focus on the present and letting God guide us into our future. In that episode, I go over things that we may be dwelling on from the past. One of those things that I go over is what people have done to us in the past and not wanting to forgive them. If you've been having a hard time forgiving someone for things that they've done in the past and not wanting what's best for them, then definitely go check out that episode. So we have to put our pride aside, we have to forgive the people that have done us wrong, and pray for them in hopes that their hearts and their lives may be changed by Jesus also.

So here are 3 things that I want you guys to write down, implement, and live by:

1. Make a prayer list and include your enemies

2. Don't let your pride get in the way

- This is not only with making a prayer list but throughout every aspect of our lives every single day, we can not let pride get in the way.

- Pride is part of the sinful nature and we have to ask God to reveal the fruit of the Spirit in our hearts, portray the fruit of the Spirit to others, and love and serve others, and we can not let pride get in the way of that.

- God has so many amazing things that he wants to do in our lives and in the lives of others and we can not let pride get in the way of what God is doing in our lives and what He could be doing in other people's lives through us

3. Stay fully submitted to the will of God the Father and let the Holy Spirit guide you

- Through every aspect of our lives we have to let the Holy Spirit guide us and stay fully submitted to the will of God the Father and we cannot let anything get in the way of that. We have to stand firm in our faith, follow the Lord, pray to Him, have a relationship with Him, and seek to live and have a heart like Jesus.

So I hope this episode helped you to know that prayer is a crucial part of our everyday life and we have to not only pray for people that we are close to or ourselves but we also have to pray for our enemies. I also hope that you take the 3 things that I talked about in this episode and implement them in your daily life.

I love you guys so much.

Never forget to choose faith over fear.

-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)

p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, spiritual growth, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.

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