Prayer

During Jesus’ time on Earth, He constantly modeled a life of prayer. Jesus made it a priority to spend time with His heavenly Father. In His final hours, He was suffering and dying on the cross as His enemies mocked Him. He didn’t deserve to die—He was innocent! We simply can’t imagine the pain and anguish He felt. Jesus could have called down armies of angels from heaven to save Him and destroy His accusers, but He chose to respond in love so He could fulfill God’s plan to save us.

Jesus didn’t just tell us to love our enemies, He showed it on the cross saying: “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (See Luke 23:34.)

Stephen followed Jesus’ example and responded in love by praying for his enemies as they persecuted and stoned him to death for telling the truth about Jesus. (See Acts 7:60.)

Today, we are going to put the SuperVerse into action. We are going to pray for those who may have made fun of us or mistreated us, especially because of our faith in Christ. It’s not easy to respond in love when others mistreat us! We must choose to lay down our own will and show the supernatural love of God that the Holy Spirit produces in us.

In Romans 5:5b, the Apostle Paul wrote:

For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.

Please close your eyes for a moment and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hurt or bitterness you may hold in your heart toward someone who has mistreated you with words or actions. Maybe you have endured rejection or have been insulted, criticized, misunderstood, or made fun of because of your faith. Ask God to show you if you have any bitterness or anger in your heart. Allow children time to pray.

Now, silently ask the Holy Spirit to dissolve the bitterness and anger and replace it with His supernatural love and forgiveness. Then, pray for those who have wronged you in some way. Allow children time to pray.

Continue to close your eyes as I pray. Heavenly Father, Jesus endured more than we can imagine. He showed love and mercy instead of judgment and revenge. We need Your help, as we cannot respond in love without the Holy Spirit’s strength and love inside us. Please fill us with Your power to love others. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.     

And remember, children, just because we forgive people doesn’t mean they can keep on hurting us. If someone is hurting you or doing something that is wrong to you, don’t keep it a secret. Be sure to tell a parent, a teacher, or an adult you trust.