Do you pray for the difficult people and situations in your life? Do you complain? Do you cry? Do you curse? Do you plead for God’s help? Remember, at the root of all your concerns and raw emotions is God’s invitations to prayer and to love. So, seek more fruitful forms of prayer, so you can move across the threshold of prayer and into the depths of God’s love and forgiveness for difficult people.
“Prayer is the holy water that by its flow makes the plants of our good desires grow green and flourish, that cleanses our souls of their imperfections. St. John Vianney
Jesus, the Spirit, and Intercessory Prayer
Hebrews 7 describes Jesus as praying, at the right hand of the Father, offering the sacrifice of prayer and praise. And Romans 8 reassures us that the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don’t know how. Remember. So, Jesus is already praying for you and beckoning you to be guided by the Holy Spirit in prayer, for even the most difficult people.
Surrender to the Gift of Intercessory Prayer
The truth behind intercessory prayer is that we can reach out to God who helps us overcome the obstacles to his love for us and for others. Yes. Even for those we think of as enemies. We might use Psalms, readings from daily Mass, a rosary, prayer card, or worship music. The list is endless but the decision is the same. We submit ourselves and others to God.
Answering God’s Invitation to Intercessory Prayer
First: choose a primary relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. Approach Jesus as the most important person in your life. Resist ‘clock time’ and enter into the ‘fulness of time’. chose God as the source of all time, all goodness, all love and anticipate the presence of Jesus in our midst. Then we are enabled to say, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life… nor present things,* nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39)
Second: Voice your difficulties, raw emotions and brokenness to God. But don’t stop there. Too often we get stuck with repeated and unfocused begging. And we conclude that God didn’t listen. Instead, we must imitate Jesus, “who though he was in the form of God… he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave. (Philippians 2:5-7). Simply lay all of your needs before God, then empty yourself of expectations and demands, no matter how overwhelming. Finally, surrender all to God.
Third: Pray for Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Seek the gifts needed during difficulties: forgiveness, discernment, wisdom, compassion… Basilia Schlink, the author of Repentance – The Joy-filled Life, and her congregation needed a small piece of property from a stubborn landowner. So, she instructed her sisters to ask God to show each one something she was holding onto, and then let go. For one it was her mother. For another — a pretty dress. For another – a desire to travel. After several days of this, the man appeared at the door with the deed for his land. Another example, might be the threatening actions of an unscrupulous leader. You might ask God to show you — your own greed, unkindness and meanness… Then your prayer becomes, “Lord, help us both to choose kindness and love.”
Edited excerpts from our book Mending Broken Relationships, Building Strong Ones: Eight Ways to Love as Jesus Loves Us