Praying for the Enemy

Praying for the Enemy
EXODUS 8: 8- 32

I think it’s easier for my church to pray for the present U.S. president than it was to pray for his predecessor. They like the present president; they find it easy to identify with him (he is African American and so are most of them); and they like his attitudes and his commitments. Other churches will have the opposite feelings. But how easy it is doesn’t make any difference to whether you pray for the president. There are people who become the confidantes, counselors, confessors, and prayer partners of presidents, and they have to perform an analogous but much more complex balancing act. It is no use just being the president’s yes-man, always reassuring him he is doing his best. Sometimes you have to confront him, precisely because you are his friend. You have to be something like an Israelite prophet, who at different times confronts the king, brings him God’s word, encourages him, and prays for him...