Intercession for our Enemies

Scripture:
(9) Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (10) And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. (11) Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Deuteronomy 7:9-11

Deuteronomy 7:9-11 is a powerful Scripture that permeated through my Spirit as I read it last week. Verse 9 shows us what an awesome God we serve. He is faithful, He says it in His Word and He shows it day after day in our lives. His mercy and grace sustain us while His covenant and the Holy Spirit guides us.

I have been dealing with a personal conflict that makes praying for those coming against me or my family a hard pill to swallow. It often kills me to know someone may "think" they are getting over on me and pray for them and God's mercy in their lives. But as I read verse 10 and began to ponder on it something clicked this time. It enlightens us as to one reason praying for our enemies is so key. Let's look at things from God's perspective. He is our Father. When someone hurts your child or someone close to you it causes you to hurt and all you want to do is make it better for that person. How do you think God feels when He sees His children hurting? When someone comes against a child of God they are coming against God without even realizing what they are doing. God feels and sees our pain and at the same time He knows and sees their heart and verse 9 clearly says, "He will not be slack in paying him." My God, our enemies bring the wrath of God upon themselves in pure ignorance. God's wrath is worse than the darkest storm, it will crash down harder than the tallest wave, ans it will shake heavier than the most devastating earthquake. God help the person who comes against a child of God because they are in essence coming against God Himself. They need our prayers to intercede for them just as Job's prayers interceded for his "friends" that had come against him (Job 42:7-10). Look at what happen to Job when he prayed for the men who had just spoken against him at his darkest hour, "And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10).

Child of God, go forth today and keep God's commandments, statutes, and judgments (verse 11). You can find them in His Word and store them in your heart. When the days activities have you down and people are taking advantage of the God in you, when they are coming against you, or when you find yourself hurt by "friends" fall to your knees and pray. Pray for God's mercy on those people for they truly do not even know how much they need your intercession. You will find your strength, your redemption, your comfort, and your peace come from above. Claim it, believe it, and receive it!