Prayer: A Tool to Search Our Hearts

“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

The older I get, the more I understand what it means to “pray for those who persecute you.” While on the cross, Jesus prayed for those who persecuted Him, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

Such prayer should be more than reciting words; it should inspire us to seek to understand those who hurt us. Jesus recognized that His persecutors acted in ignorance, saying, “they do not know what they are doing.” When others' sinfulness hurts me, I try to understand what lies beneath their actions. In doing so, I see myself and my own sinfulness, for who among us has not acted in ignorance? The world distorts all of our understanding.

Thus, prayer isn’t only an empty mantra; rather, it is about identifying with the persecutor, empathizing with those who persecute us, and remembering our shared need for God’s grace.