Praying For Our Enemies Using Scripture

4 ways to use Imprecatory Praying in keeping with Scripture and this command from Jesus

Imprecatory praying is a special type of prayer.

This type invokes a curse, and involves asking for divine judgment or punishment. These are found throughout the Bible, primarily in the Psalms, where they pray for God's judgment upon their enemies. Many were written by King David, the man after God’s own heart.

While Jesus and His disciples seldom quote these prayers directly, they emphasize the importance of forgiveness, love, and reconciliation.

Today, imprecatory prayers can be used to (1) acknowledge God's justice, (2) express feelings of anger and injustice, (3) encourage repentance and forgiveness, and (4) praise God's sovereignty.

However, Christian’s should strive to follow Jesus' teachings on forgiveness and love towards our enemies, asking for their salvation, or destruction.

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Prayers of Imprecation in the Old Testament

Imprecatory prayers are prayers in the Bible that express a desire for God to bring judgment or punishment upon one's enemies. These prayers are found in various places throughout the Old and New Testaments, and they are typically associated with the Psalms.

Some examples of imprecatory prayers include:

• David's prayers in Psalm 69:22-28 and 109:6-20, in which he prays for God to bring judgment upon his enemies for their wrongdoing and persecution against him.

• The prayer of Asaph in Psalm 83, in which he prays for God to bring judgment upon the nations that are plotting against Israel.

• The prayers of the prophets, such as Elijah in 1 Kings 18:36-40 and Jeremiah in Jeremiah 11:20, in which they pray for God to bring judgment upon those who oppose God and His people.

In a sermon titled "The Imprecations of the Old Testament”, discussing the imprecatory passages, John Thomas challenges the modern theory that these imprecations were inspired by personal vindictiveness, arguing instead that they were prayers for the vindication of eternal righteousness.¹

The imprecations primarily refer to the government of God upon this earth and the extermination of the ungodly.

These prayers were written not so much to exact revenge upon one’s enemies, but rather to emphasize God’s abhorrence of evil, His sovereignty over all mankind, and His divine protection of His chosen people.²

Prayers of Imprecation in the New Testament

In the New Testament, Jesus and His disciples rarely quote imprecatory prayers directly, but they do acknowledge the justice of God's judgment upon sin and the need for repentance and forgiveness.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches His disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44), emphasizing a different approach to conflict resolution and forgiveness.

Paul the Apostle also wrote that if anyone preached a different gospel that his, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9) And, writing to Timothy of “the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:” (2 Timothy 4:14)

How to pray for our enemies and against them also

Basically, we are to pray as Jesus has taught, beginning with, “thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.”

Jesus says,

• 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;

  (Matthew 5:44 KJV)

Second, we understand these prayers are against our spiritual enemies.

These are not prayers driven by personal revenge or political vengeance, “but by a desire to uphold divine glory and justice” (Calvin³). He writes of the idea that God can strike down the wicked suddenly with blindness and weakness, inspiring awe and reminding believers of His justice.

Nor should we misinterpret these imprecations as a justification for theological hatred and strife. It is that the true battle is between God and the powers of evil, not differences of religious opinion. We should, according to Bishop Perowne⁴, focus on winning the world to Christ.

Using imprecatory prayers today

These prayers can and should be part of our intercessions. Here are four ways:

1. Acknowledging the justice of God's judgment upon sin: Imprecatory prayers can help us understand that God is a just and holy God who will ultimately judge sin and punish those who reject Him.

2. Expressing feelings of anger, hurt, and injustice: Imprecatory prayers can provide a way for us to express our feelings of anger, hurt, and injustice in a way that acknowledges God's sovereignty and authority.

3. Encouraging repentance and forgiveness: While imprecatory prayers express a desire for judgment, they can also serve as reminders for us to seek repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation with others, as taught by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount.

4. Praising God's justice and sovereignty: Imprecatory prayers can be used to praise God for His justice, righteousness, and sovereignty, acknowledging that He is the ultimate judge and that He will bring about His perfect will in due time.

Praying for the physical harm or even death of our enemies isn’t what Jesus means. He never did that, rather Father, forgive them. Instead, He wants us to pray for their salvation, and for His will to be done.

It’s not about calling down fire or lightning bolts.

This is about the Lord’s divine holiness over sin. This about us praying for the destruction of wicked ungodly beliefs: the worshiping of demons and idols; the sorcery, murders, thefts, immorality and the like (see Revelation 9:21 and Galatians 5:19-21; also 1 Corinthians 6:9,18).

We ought to pray that God saves our enemies, regenerates their hearts, and grants them faith and repentance. And if that is not God’s will, we ought to pray that God will “return his mischief upon his own head, and his violent dealing come down upon his own face” (Psalm 7:16).⁵

If our enemy comes to Christ in repentance, leading to being born again, we have won him over. That foe is defeated and Christ has the victory! If still that foe turns away, then God will deal with him in His sovereign way.

A Template For Imprecatory Praying

We appreciate the style and content of an imprecatory prayer provided by Protestia on behalf of Donald Trump and commend it to you. It asks that you consider using this prayer as a template for how to offer your own imprecations from using the Scripture and the long lost, imprecatory model of prayer.

As we contend with social ills, culture rot, with politics and persecutions, we Christians need to be alert, stand firm in faith, act like men, be courageous, and all we do be done in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)

This includes praying with intercessions and imprecations.

Until next time, grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…

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Here is a link to our Prayer Room Chat

1. The Imprecations of the Old Testament by John Thomas M. A.

2. What is imprecatory prayer? GotQuestions.org

3. Commentary on Psalms—Volume 3, John Calvin

4. Imprecations in the Psalms, Bishop Perowne

5. An Imprecatory Prayer on Behalf of Donald Trump, Protestia.com

Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay