“Jesus said, ‘But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'” (Matt. 5:44 KJV).

Jesus did not command us to love without giving us the ability to love. Now, you have to admit, Matthew 5:44 is much easier said than done. However, if your love walk is not in order, your prayers will not be successful. Let’s take a closer look at this text.

To put it in plain Detroit language, Jesus is saying that you should bless them that curse you out and talk about your mama. If someone talks about your mama, it’s real easy for you to retaliate in the flesh. Knowing that, you must continually fellowship with the Lord in prayer, because prayer will keep you in the right place.

Jesus said to bless them that curse you, and then do good to them that hate you. Jesus commands you to pray for them who have been using you. There are times when you know you are being used by someone, or you know that they used you, and after they were through using you, they kicked you to the curb like a piece of trash.

God said that’s who He wants you to pray for. But to do that you must get past your flesh. And the way that you can bypass your flesh is to be a man or woman of prayer.

You may say, “This is a hard thing to do, Bishop Butler.” It is, because when people do you wrong the natural thing to do is to retaliate. That’s how it works in the natural physical world. But notice how the kingdom of God works. When you pray for individuals that come against you, you open the door to be a blessing to them.

They are still God’s children, even if they treat you lousy. Even if they are not God’s children, your godly response to them will be a witness to them of how much God loves them, and perhaps win them to the Lord. Additionally, God will do something about them because of your prayer, and then He will do something for you because of your prayer. It is the law of sowing and reaping. And notice that it is all based on love.

When you were born again, you received the ability to operate in the love of God. That love was deposited in you, and is an indicator of your salvation. First John 3:14 says, “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.”

This is how we know that something happened to us when we were born again. We love the brethren. You know you must be saved when you would turn off your favorite television show and spend time praying in tongues for the brethren.

Well this is how we know that we are born again. The love of God in us is shown toward everyone. Allow that love to flow toward those who do you wrong. By doing so, you are opening the door for God to work in their life and in yours.

Scripture References: Luke 6:27-38; Romans 12:17-21