Here is a trustworthy principle: Pray for people, and against satan.
My prayer for every person is that they would dramatically encounter Jesus and use their power and influence for the Kingdom of God.
Whether they’re a good person or an evil person, an “important” person or a regular person, a Christian person or a non-Christian—I pray for them. I pray for you even.
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We’ve been talking about the parable of the weeds for a few weeks now. As recorded in Matthew 13, Jesus told this story:
The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also.
And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, “Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?”
He said to them, “An enemy has done this.”
So the servants said to him, “Then do you want us to go and gather them?”
But he said, “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”
In the first article, we talked about how to make sure that you’re the good seed. Then we talked about when the enemy struck—while the servants were asleep.
It’s interesting in the parable that Jesus doesn’t blame the weeds. Weeds spread. It’s kind of the worst thing about weeds. Once bindweed, ailanthus, or poison ivy takes hold in your field, you have your work cut out for you. The master could say, “These darn weeds are invasive. Get them out before they spread.”
Instead, the master simply responds, “An enemy did this.”
In Jesus’s explanation of the parable, he tells us in 13:39 that “the enemy who sowed them is the devil.”
In fact, the big point of the parable is to draw our attention away from the weeds. Yes, they’ll be burned, but no, it’s not our job. God and his angels will do the sorting and the burning.
Jesus uses the parable to instead draw our attention to the enemy.
There is a real enemy. His name is satan. The Bible is quite clear on this issue. Satan isn’t an idea or a metaphor, he’s a real being and he opposes the goodness of God. Satan is not an equal opposite of God, satan is an inferior being. He has already been defeated, and he will be eradicated and thrown into the abyss at the time of God’s choosing.
Jesus doesn’t blame the weeds, he blames the enemy. In an effort to be like Jesus, perhaps we should do the same.
It’s worth noting that the weeds still have an eternal destination in the furnace. While Jesus de-emphasizes the role of the weeds in the parable, they will still have to go where weeds go. The parable does not turn out that we’re all really wheat on the inside and God treats them all the same.
There is a difference between weeds and wheat. That difference is whether we choose to be children of God’s Kingdom or children of the world.
Here’s the thing: I’m not perfect at sorting out the wheat and the weeds. I can be fooled, sometimes in both directions.
Here’s the better thing: Everybody needs more Jesus. I have not met a human being yet that wouldn’t benefit from more Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t need us to condemn the world, because the world stands condemned already (John 3:17). That’s the default position of the world. There is already a Judge, the position is filled (James 4:12).
But God does bless me with discernment to see where more Jesus is needed. That I can pray for. (Spoiler: it’s everywhere.)
The Bible is abundantly clear that satan and his demons are opposed to God. Them I will rebuke, them I will condemn, them I will pray against—I am certain that my judgment is in alignment with God on this.
But Jesus loves people. God demonstrated His love for me in this way: while I was still a sinner, Jesus died for me. (Romans 5:8)
I am no better than Kim Jong Un, El Chapo, or my rude neighbor. Jesus loves them just as much as He loves me. Jesus died for them, sinners as they seem to be, just as much as He died for me.
In my life, I have never bullied anyone out of their bad behavior (myself included). I have seen Jesus come and dwell in a person, though. I have seen Jesus become more, the self become less, and I have seen sinful behaviors pushed out, crushed, and blown away.
I have never prayed against a person and seen anything in the world change because of it. I have only ever prayed for a person, and many times seen the world change around them. I have prayed for a person and I have seen demons leave.
The best news is that when you decide to pray for all people, you don’t have to stress out about what to pray against. You don’t have to decide if that person is good or bad and needs prayed for or against. Just pray for more of Jesus in their life.
Have peace and know that a prayer for another person to experience more of Jesus is always a good prayer.
And those really bad people—political leaders, criminals, celebrities—what better way to change the world than for them to have more Jesus and surrender to Christ? I would much rather see them become an ally in the Kingdom than see them crushed.
Do you remember what happened when the King of Nineveh repented? Check out Jonah 3. (Spoiler: it turns out really good for everybody involved, except for Jonah, who preferred to work against his enemies, rather than to bring them into the grace of God.)
Especially in this politically charged season, it’s easy to fall into the habit of standing against this and that. I’m not suggesting that every choice, lifestyle, cause, etc. is just—there are surely wheat AND weeds.
But the best way to be rid of those things is to stand FOR Jesus.
There is an enemy. He is the problem. But the more we focus on Jesus, the smaller the enemy becomes.
So I say again: Pray for people, and against the enemy.
Magnify Jesus, and just see what happens to the darkness.
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