This is the ninth of ten strategic prayers I am writing in response to Priscilla Shirer’s book, Fervent: A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific, and Strategic Prayer. Shirer wrote that if she were Satan, she would make sure that you keep thinking about old wounds and the people and circumstances that caused them to “ensure that your heart was hardened with anger and bitterness. Shackled through unforgiveness.” If you have ever harbored feelings of anger, bitterness, and resentment towards another person, you know the damage it does to you and to your relationship with the offender.
Strategy 9 – Against Your Heart
He uses every opportunity to keep old wounds fresh in mind, knowing that anger and hurt and bitterness and unforgiveness will continue to roll the damage forward (Hebrews 12:15).
PRISCILLA SHIRER
I have experienced the bondage of unforgiveness. For years, I resented my mother for cheating on my father and trying to turn us kids against him, for making me and my sisters buy groceries with food stamps under the condemning eyes of adult shoppers, for leaving me, at seventeen, in charge of four younger siblings while she stayed all night with her boyfriend. When Mom almost died, I finally found the grace to forgive her, to let go of these old wounds. I thank God that I had the chance to forgive her. I miss my mother, the wounded, flawed woman who taught me to have compassion for others, and regret not having had more compassion for her.
Forgiveness for the Offender (2 Corinthians 2:5-8, NIV) If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.
Today, my mind is not tormented with thoughts of personal hurts and grievances. But I do grieve at what has happened in my country and I struggle with feelings of anger, resentment, and bitterness at the people I blame for it.
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Heavenly Father, before I bring my need, I bring my heart. Thank you for forgiving my sins. I confess that I do not forgive others as easily. I need more of Your grace and kindness.
Lord, I am troubled by the divisions in my country. The lies and conspiracy theories that fueled an assault on democracy make me angry. I am angry at the people who silently accepted, condoned, and promoted the lies.
Lord, I am struggling to understand and to forgive the people, including friends and family, who put a wicked man in power and voted to keep him there. It’s tempting to paint them with a broad brush but I know that his supporters are not all alike. Some of them claimed that You put him in power even though they chose to mark his name on their ballots. Some of them chose him because of the single issue of abortion or because he promised to stand up for Christians. Some of them chose him because they are Christian Nationalists and think that Republicans can “take back” America for You. Some of them chose him because they are xenophobic and he promised to build a wall to keep Mexicans out. His most radical and fervent supporters adore a wicked man because they are wicked, as we saw so clearly on January 6th.
Lord, I especially feel betrayed by fellow Christians who were willing to trade Christian values for political power. They were willing to accept racism and to tolerate dishonesty and vile, vengeful, divisive language in exchange for the Republican agenda. Of course, they have not betrayed me personally but their hypocrisy severely damages the witness of the Church.
Jesus, I need more of your compassion. Even as you faced death for testifying to the truth, you prayed for your enemies: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.’ Help me to have compassion for the people who see but do not perceive, who hear but do not understand.
Father, You are good to the ungrateful and the wicked. You cause the sun to shine on the evil and the good and send rain on the righteous and unrighteous. Help me to love my enemies, the enemies of truth. Help me to be good to them with no expectation of receiving anything back.
Lord, as I struggle to forgive those who have aligned themselves with wicked men, help me to remember that my struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of this world’s darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The secret power of lawlessness is at work, deluding those who delight in wickedness.
Father, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon. For it is in pardoning, that I am pardoned.
Amen
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Photo by Daniel Mingook Kim on Unsplash
Matthew 5:44-45
Mark 4:12
Ephesians 6:12
2 Thessalonians 2
Innermost Being 
I agree with you about the division in our country. As Ronald Reagan said we can disagree without being disagreeable. I confess that I too can get angry with those who voted for candidates that are in opposition to my values. I assume that you’re talking about President Trump when you talk about putting a “wicked “man in office in exchange for a Republican agenda and those who support him are wicked. I feel betrayed by fellow Christians who support candidates who vote in favor of policies that are in direct opposition to Christian values such as abortion on demand throughout the entire 9 months of pregnancy, so-called “gender affirming care” and putting pornographic materials in public school libraries. How can you judge Trump or those who support him as wicked? Do you have the ability to see into a person’s heart? Those who support him like his economic policies his projection of strength to our foreign adversaries. Those who support his immigration policies are not racist but believe in national sovereignty where we have a right to know who is coming into our country. Before you label anyone wicked maybe you should consider the reasons why we support him
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I will have to agree to disagree with you. Jesus Christ is my savior and my moral compass.
I do not label all supporters of Trump as wicked, but Trump certainly is. I have friends and family who support Trump, and they are not wicked. I can not see into Trump’s heart, but his words make it obvious that it is full of hate and darkness. See Luke 6:45.
I, too, believe in national sovereignty and understand the need for immigration enforcement. A person can favor restrictions on immigration without lying about and smearing immigrants. In what states is abortion available on demand for 9 months? What pornographic materials are available in public libraries?
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I agree that Donald Trump should choose his words more carefully at times but the vile hateful comments attributed to him are false or edited by a biased news media in order to paint a false picture of the man. Those who know him well or were employed by him portray him as a kind, compassionate and generous person. Contrary to what was reported about his visit to Arlington National Cemetery the gold star families came forward to say they invited him because they wanted him there They were treated with respect. He showed compassion and empathize with their grief. He did the same for families whose children were murdered by people who are here illegally. Parents who attended school board meetings in order to voice their opposition to having pornographic materials in their public school libraries were labeled “domestic terrorists” by the justice department while coddling violent gang members . There are currently 7 states and D.C who have no restrictions on abortion: New Jersey Vermont, Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico and Minnesota. The last one was recently signed into law by Governor Tim Walz, the democratic nominee for vice president. He also signed legislation for the use of hormones and unnecessary surgeries for children without parental notification or consent. This is not the only state to do so. Most of these stories are not covered by the majority of the news media.
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Anonymous Someone:
I have no interest in engaging in culture wars with you. People on both sides of the political spectrum care about social issues – escalating gun violence, childhood poverty, the lack of affordable healthcare, and the dangers of social media, to name a few that may not concern you. The answers to these issues and the concerns you raised (like late term abortion, which is actually quite rare), are complex. I don’t believe that stoking fears by exaggerating and outright lying (Donald Trump’s modus operandi) is the solution. We live in a sinful world. No human being and no human laws can save us from our sins. Only God has the power to change hearts.
You insult my intelligence by claiming that “the vile hateful comments attributed to him [Donald Trump] are false or edited by a biased news media in order to paint a false picture of the man.” I have seen and heard him with my own eyes and my own ears. He is in fact vile, vulgar, and morally bankrupt.
I see Trump as a man who is the antithesis of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that the most important commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.” I see no evidence that Trump loves God or his neighbor – other than the people who praise him no matter what he does. The minute anyone tells the truth about Trump, he turns on them. As a narcissist, Trump loves himself above everyone else.
Jesus also said that we should love our enemies. Trump insults his enemies and calls them childish names. He is on tape bragging about his ability to sexually assault women because he is famous. He is a pathological liar. He is a racist. He is a bully. He has no humility. He is motivated by a desire for revenge and to elevate himself above everyone else.
He is a dangerous conman. I will have nothing to do with him..
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On the subject of Donald Trump I have to agree to disagree with you. We obviously see things from a different perspective and that’s fine. I prefer to focus on areas of agreement mainly that Jesus is our Lord and savior. HE is the only one who can fix our nation. We just need to be willing to let him work through us however He chooses.
I’m deeply concerned about the issues you mentioned above. I believe social media is using lies to deceive our young people. Poverty, violence, lack of access to adequate health-care are all related to the issue of respect for life. Many of us feel that abortion is NOT just a cultural issue. God created life and everyone has equal value in His eyes, regardless of age, illness or state of dependency. I have worked for a pro-life pregnancy support agency for over 40 years. We provided diapers, clothing and other baby items to single moms and low income families, many of whom were immigrants. As Christians we have a moral obligation to speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves. Babies in the womb are more vulnerable because they are not visible to the rest of us.
Have a blessed day!
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