Bless my enemies...

You may have noticed that I really appreciate written prayers. (See here and here) I used to think that they were a mindless ritual. Why write out a prayer ahead of time When you could just pray "from the heart"? As I am maturing (and yes, contrary to many opinions, I am maturing) I have come to realize the power of a written prayer to make me pray things that I need to pray. My heart isn't always willing to surrender. It wants to pray about the weather. Not about the things that lie within.

So now I like written prayers. They serve as signposts that help me to follow Jesus. Today I came across a prayer written by Serbian bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, who spoke out against Nazism in the early 1940s. Because of his protests, he was arrested and taken to the Dachau concentration camp. He prays,

"Bless my enemies, O Lord.

Even I bless them and do not curse them.

Enemies have driven me into your embrace more than friends have.

Friends have bound me to Earth; enemies have loosed me from Earth and have demolished all my aspirations in the world.

Just as a hunted animal finds safer shelter than an un-hunted animal does, so have I, persecuted by enemies, found the safest sanctuary, having ensconced myself beneath your tabernacle, where neither friends nor enemies can slay my soul.

Bless my enemies, O Lord.

Even I bless and do not curse them."

That's a prayer that my heart won't come up with on it's own. It's too honest. Too weighty. Too dangerous. So thanks Nikolai. You've helped to reorient me away from myself and back toward Jesus. That's what prayer should be all about.