Let’s Talk About Love: How to Cultivate Love in Our Lives: Prayer
Another way to cultivate love, and cause it to grow in our lives, is to pray for one another. It is very unlikely that you will be able to continue to hate, or badmouth someone who you spend time talking about each day, asking that He will begin to bless that person and speak to that person’s heart, to change them.
Prayer is a powerful tool that can be used to perform miracles in our personal lives, as well as in our land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 (Amplified) says, “[if] My people, who are called by My name, humble themselves, and pray and seek (crave, require as a necessity) My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear [them] from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land.”
In this scripture, God asks three things of His people: to humble themselves, to seek His face, and to turn from their wicked ways. It takes humility of heart to humble ourselves before God concerning someone who has hurt us, especially if we didn’t deserve the hurt. It is difficult for us to give up what we feel is “our right” to defend ourselves with words and / or actions against another. But we must not only humble ourselves to pray for that person(s), we must seek God’s face. This means to be willing to accept the challenge that God sets before us. Many times we don’t seek God’s face because we are not willing to accept the answer He has for our problem. The last thing He asks is that we “turn from our wicked ways.” We must heed God’s Word, learn from His reproach, and begin to walk down a new path, walking in love toward the(se) difficult person(s). It is only then that we will receive the three things He promises.
God says here that if we will do as He asks, He will hear us, forgive our sins, and heal our land. Have you ever felt like God doesn’t hear your prayers? Here He promises to hear us if we will seek His face with a humble and repentant heart. Then He says He will forgive our sins – this is essential if we are going to have the fruit of love producing in our lives – we must have a clean heart with soil that is without weeds or stones. The third thing God promises to do is to heal our land. Wouldn’t it be nice to go through each day in a “healed land” instead of worrying about navigating through all those landmines of hatred, discontent with our jobs, and disgust at what our society has become? If we can get this principle, of praying for those who persecute us, our entire environment will begin to change before our eyes! We will begin to enjoy walking in a healed land where there is peace and joy! Prayer works!
The New Testament teaches on this praying for others as well. In Matthew 5:43-45 (NIV) it says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.'” Our Father is heaven is Love. Can you see how praying for others can cause the fruit of love to begin to produce in our lives?
Try this out in your life. If there is someone who is creating a problem in your life, stop wishing it would change or go away! Start praying for God to change that heart – use Ephesians 1: 3-9 if you like – we talked about that in an earlier post. If you will do this, guess what?! God will change YOUR heart! You will begin to walk in love toward that person and then you will see them change and treat you differently!