5 Truths: Pray for Today’s Ninevah
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Matthew 5:44
1. God loves our worst enemies! God told Jonah to go to Ninevah and warn them that He was ready to destroy them because of their wickedness. He wanted to give them one last chance to repent. So why did Jonah run away?
The people of Ninevah were cruel and depraved. They were Judah’s most hated enemy. Imagine how Jonah felt when the Lord told him to go preach to those horrible people. Jonah would have been much happier to go bomb them!
Perhaps we can understand how he felt. I wonder how many of us prayed for Sadam Hussein to find Christ. I find it very hard to pray for God to use believers to witness to the terrorists in the Middle East. I know God calls to me to pray for my enemies, but when it comes time to write my prayer list, my mind rebels against His command.
God expects obedience. When God calls, He expects us to act. Just like Jonah, we are human. Many years ago, lies about my family almost destroyed us. As the years went by, God began to guide me to forgiveness for those who had attacked us. I refused, I resisted, I rebelled. Thankfully there weren’t any whales in Houston! Months, even years, passed before my heart began to soften a bit. I still struggle with His call to forgiveness but He is lovingly leading me, one step at a time.
How amazing! Look at those verbs: answered, listened, brought my life up. While still inside the whale, Jonah realized that God had delivered him from certain death. He knew that God saved him even though he had rebelled against His plan.
No matter how rebellious we are, God never turns away. If necessary, He disciplines us to bring us back to Him. Jonah trusted God’s faithfulness. He was confident that God listened to him, answered him, and delivered him.
Jonah rebelled and God disciplined him. Just as He did with me, He changed Jonah’s heart from rebellion to praise and thanksgiving and He will change ours too.
4. God doesn’t change His plans. If you know Jonah’s story, you’ll remember that the whale vomited Jonah on the shore near Ninevah. Sometimes, when we repent, we want our circumstances to change. It would have been wonderful if God had caused the whale to spit Jonah out near Jerusalem but that isn’t what happened. Jonah’s assignment remained the same: Go preach judgment on Ninevah. God’s word is firm and unchangeable.
In His sovereignty, God knew that the people in Ninevah would fall to their knees and cry out to Him for forgiveness. He also knows the hearts of our enemies and calls them to Himself. Regardless of our feelings, His command to pray for our enemies remains unchanged.
As God has softened my heart, I have begun to pray that the evil terrorists in the Middle East will hear the words of the believers they threaten with death and will respond to that powerful testimony. Can God use the death of one of His saints to bring an enemy to faith in Him? A resounding YES!!
5. God’s redemption stays the same. Right now, the Middle East is our Ninevah. There are a few committed souls that have gone there as missionaries to bring the truth of Jesus to this hardened land.
The rest of us are called to pray for our enemy’s salvation. For them to accept God’s mercy and grace.
They are our enemies but, we must remember that we were once enemies too.
Once we were God’s enemies. But we have been brought back to him because his Son has died for us. Now that God has brought us back, we are even more secure. We know that we will be saved because Christ lives. Romans 5:10 (NIRV)
Praise God for your salvation and pray for the salvation of others, even your enemies!
Photo credits: 1. datemplate.com 2. via unsplash 3. via pinterest
Hi, I am Sherry Carter. Nice to meet you!
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