Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 1 Peter 3:9-12
Dear heavenly Father, my heart is primed today to pray for brothers and sisters who are experiencing, first hand, just how much evil hates beauty—how intensely Satan hates Jesus, his Bride and the gospel. It’s never been more apparent to me that the devil “is filled with fury for he knows his time is short” (Rev. 12:12). Our defeated foe knows he’s lost us for eternity, so he does anything and everything in his power to sabotage grace, kill hope, fuel fear and stoke hate.
Father, I know this well, for I’ve found myself plotting evil in response to evil; relishing homicides in my heart; investing emotional energy, plotting retaliation and spite. I’ve wanted to do more than simply “cut off the ear” of those attacking people I love—your servants, your children (Matt 26:51).
So your Word arrests my soul this morning—validating my feelings but not vindicating my actions. Indeed, you have called us to blessing, not cursing, for you have already blessed us in the heavenly realm with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph. 1:3). And you have secured for us an inheritance that will never perish, spoil or fade—an eternity of blessings that puts our “grief from many trials” into perspective (1 Peter 1:3-9).
O Father, I praise you that your gaze of grace is upon us—your children, and your ears of mercy are attentive to our cries. You haven’t forgotten us. We don’t have to work to get your attention. I also praise you that your face is against those who plot and do evil. Evil will not prevail. Vengeance belongs to you and, one Day, justice will flow like a river.
Thus, I pray with hope for friends under attack in the dark, lecherous world of human trafficking. I release my hate, as I intercede for women and children experiencing domestic abuse, in its many forms. I pray for the persecuted church—with broken bodies and burning buildings. I pray with sympathy and anguish, for pastors ministering in congregational ponds of nibbling piranha and occasional shark attacks. I pray for counselors who, on a daily basis, wade into unconscionable stories of evil and the complex world of fractured souls. I pray with an eye on the second coming, for parents caring for children assaulted by drug and sex predators. How long, O Lord, how long?
I commit these friends, brethren and stories to you. Show us, show me what loving mercy, doing justice and walking humbly with you must continue to look like. I would surely despair if the gospel wasn’t true and if you weren’t sitting on heaven’s throne. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ bold and beautiful name.
