ABRAHAM, JOB… MUST PRAY FOR THEIR ENEMIES! “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; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (Matthew 5:43-45)
Those people who persecute you, insult you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you ... There is a remedy that God has for them to be restored, healed and delivered, and only you have a key to that remedy. Today the Spirit of the Lord is telling us to not keep the key within our pocket but to get it out at once and use it to loosen those who are bound and jailed in our hearts; through your obedience, many of them will enter heaven. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven ” (Matthew 16:19).
Job was commanded by God to bless his three friends who misjudged him and offended him (Job 42:8).
Abraham was commanded by God to pray for Abimelech who took away his wife Sarah (Genesis 20).
The wrath of God was against Job's friends "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right as my servant Job has." And also the wrath of God was against Abimelech (Genesis 20) for having Sarah in his house. In both cases, it was because they had touched the Lord's anointed, God's friends who are in a covenant with Him. “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm” (1 Chronicles 16:22).
THE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN COVENANT WITH GOD ARE A SPECIAL PEOPLE
The people who are in a covenant with God are the apple of His eye. They are very special people, and touching them is like touching the apple of His eye.
God made His first covenant with Noah. Then God made His covenant with Abraham and throughout the year God has made covenants with those who are willing to make Jesus their Lord and Savior; they are willing to obey God fully. It is those people who can say, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).
A covenant is a bond between the parties. When a couple get married, they enter into a covenant with each other as they vow to love each other till death do they apart. When they get married, they become one. It is said that a wealthy prince fell in love with a poor girl from the countryside who owned nothing. When they got married, the poor girl became a princess and later on a queen. The moment they vowed and entered into a covenant, overnight the poor girl became rich because what was his became hers also.
When you enter into a covenant with God He says to you, "Everything I have is yours and your is mine! You are mine!" So we give everything we have to God and God gives us all His love, power, and eternal life. God will enter into a covenant with anyone who is willing; the requirements is total obedience to God. Obedience to God's word gives you God's righteousness (Genesis 6:9). "Thus Noah did, according to all that God had commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:22). “Behold, I now establish My covenant with you and your descendants after you ” (Genesis 9:9). Of Abraham, God also said, "Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws” (Genesis 26:5). You will never see it, where God entered into a covenant with unrepentant and unrighteous people.
THE PRIVILEGE TO BE IN A COVENANT WITH GOD
When Abraham moved out to Egypt, he told the Philistine King Abimelech that Sarah was his sister so Abimelech sent for Sarah to be taken to his house. Abimelech had not even touched her nor came near her when God told him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married" (Gen. 20:3).
The wrath of God came not only on Abimelech the king of Gerar but also on all those who were of his household. They were all struck with the bareness that was on Sarah. Genesis 20:18 tells us that the Lord closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah. Abimelech, his wife and all his maids where all struck with bareness!
When you are in a covenant with God, He protects you. When you are in a covenant with God, He fights for you. When you are in a covenant with God, you are married to God and He fights and protects you like a loving husband would do toward His beloved wife.
ABRAHAM, JOB… MUST PRAY FOR THEIR ENEMIES
It is the righteous man who must pray for the unrighteous
Abraham is a prophet. He was told by God to pray for Abimelech, the man who took his beloved wife; the man who was planning to marry Sarah and the man who could have killed him. Abraham is not to revenge on Abimelech nor curse Him but to pray for him and bless him. Abimelech could not pray for himself and be accepted before God because already the wrath of God was upon him. Abraham prayed to God and God heard His prayer and healed Abimelech and all his household.
Job was God's servant. He was told by God to pray for his 3 friends who offended him, who pointed the finger at him and also spoke what was false before God. They sinned against God but also against Job. In spite of their sinning against Job, he was told to not revenge on them but to pray for them. They could not pray for themselves because the wrath of God was already on them. When Job prayed for them, something miraculous took place. God received his prayer and healed them, but not only that but also Job’s fortunes are not restored until He prays for them. If we do not pray for our enemies and those who persecute us, we stop the flow of our own blessings! "The Lord restored the fortunes of job when He prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that job had twofold."
When you pray for your enemies, they will be healed. They will have a chance to see their own errors. They will receive healing through your love. They will experience deliverance. Isn't it written that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in the heavens? By not forgiving your enemies, by not blessing them, they are held and it hinders them to see and move forward in the direction toward the kingdom of God.
OUR HOMEWORK TODAY: Make a list of your enemies, those who persecute(d) you and offend(ed) you. Now pray to God on their behalf, bless them and ask God to bless them. “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse” (Romans 12:14). To be continued…
