“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44, NKJV).

In theory, I’ll admit that this is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. It just sounds so loving, so humble, so…like Jesus, who said it. But sometimes in practice it can be an entirely different matter, can’t it?

When I have my prayer time in the morning, I have no problem interceding for the people I love—family, friend, missionaries, those suffering for their faith in faraway lands. But what about those who just flat-out hate me and everything I stand for? Is it possible to pray with heart-felt conviction for those who persecute my brothers and sisters in Christ? What about those who are actively campaigning to remove all vestiges of God from our land, turning us into a secular society where anything goes and where we could conceivably be imprisoned (or worse) for speaking the Truth?

I was wrestling with those very issues this morning when I came across this statement from The Voice of the Martyrs’ Extreme Devotion book: “None of our enemies are beyond God’s reach, and prayer keeps them within His grasp.”

Wow. That certainly put things right back into proper perspective for me. After reading it I went straight to Matthew 5 and re-read our Lord’s words about praying for our enemies. This time I didn’t question my ability to pray accordingly; I recognized Christ’s mandate to do so.

Is there someone in your life who causes a real struggle in your heart when you go to pray for him or her, someone who seems more like an enemy than a friend? Remind yourself that Jesus has commanded us to pray for our enemies—and then step out in obedience and do so, remembering that no one is beyond God’s reach, and our prayers might just be the safeguard that keeps that person with His loving grasp.