Dear Church Leaders (and everyone else)
After last month’s post on prayer, with its lengthy preamble prior to the call to pray for wisdom, this month I am starting straight away with the relevant text: Jesus’ instruction to his disciples to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.
As ever, the context — from Matthew 5 — is important:
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them.
Jesus opens what has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount with this set of statements, often called “The Beatitudes”:
3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’11 ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’
Collins English Dictionary defines beatitude as “supreme blessedness or happiness”. It is also apparently an honorific title of the Eastern Christian Church.
I have included the above verses not least because of Jesus’ statement in verses 10-12, that “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Persecution — in its many and various forms — should not come as a surprise to us. But, according to Jesus, his followers can take some comfort in it. And even rejoice and be glad. And it is of course not new.
I am reminded of the apostle Paul’s statement that:
Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Recent years have for me shed new light on the nature of “evildoers and impostors [going] from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”. As ever, at least some of them masquerade as servants of righteousness.
The Beatitudes are followed by Jesus’ striking teaching on salt and light, emphasising the distinctive nature of the Christian life. He then turns to the Old Testament law, and makes the striking statement that “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Even more strikingly, he then turns to parts of the Old Testament with the formula “Scripture says this… But I tell you…” and all that that implies. He likens sins of murder and adultery to those of anger and lust, thus making it clear that all of us fall short of God’s exacting standards, a point which, in case anyone has missed it here, he reiterates in verse 48: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Presumably at least part of the point of the Sermon on the Mount is to teach us that we need a Saviour. None of us can live up to the Old Testament law when it is taken at face value, let alone when Jesus shows how the underlying principles should be applied.
Jesus then teaches about divorce and oaths. And about how his disciples are to act against those who oppose them. Here too his teaching is challenging to say the least:
38 ‘You have heard that it was said, “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” 39 But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. 40 And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. 41 If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
And it is this context that he gives the instruction to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”:
43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
I am reminded of the words of many of Jesus’ disciples in the context of Jesus’ teaching on the bread of life in John 6: “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” For loving our enemies does not come naturally. And nor does praying for those who persecute us. As with so much of Jesus’ teaching, not least in the Sermon on the Mount, his instructions here are extraordinarily counter-cultural.
I have heard it said, not least from the pulpit at the church I attend, that in the UK we do not face much by way of persecution. And on one level that is true. In the words of a 2012 Parliamentary report, “Christians in the UK are not persecuted. To suggest that they are is to minimise the suffering of Christians in many parts of the world who face repression, imprisonment and death if they worship, preach or convert.” Countries such as North Korea, Somalia and Sudan have been at or near the top of the Open Doors World Watch List1 for some years. And the recent suffering of the church in Nigeria — currently #7 — springs to mind.
But 2012 now seems a long time ago. Things are changing fast in the Western world, and the direction of travel is ominous. I am reminded of the case of Isabel Vaughan Spruce, arrested and charged for silently praying near an abortion facility. And that of Aaron Edwards, sacked by Cliff College in Derbyshire after posting comments defending the biblical view of sexuality. And of the Commission of Inquiry into Discrimination Against Christians (CIDAC).
Jesus does not say exactly how we should pray for those who persecute us, but he does give a reason: “that you may be children of your Father in heaven”. And he reminds us that it is characteristic of God to bless both “the righteous and the unrighteous”. And that “even the tax collectors”2 love those who love them.
As to biblical examples, Jesus himself prayed, as he faced an utterly agonising death on a Roman cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And the first martyr, Stephen, as he was being stoned to death in the context of false accusations, cried out: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”
As Christians, we are called to follow such examples, albeit usually in less extreme circumstances. And presumably at least part of the reason that we are told to pray for our persecutors is that our prayers have an effect on us. For the very act of praying reminds us that we are not in control.
According to what God has revealed, for the time being the whole world is under the control of the evil one. But we also know that nothing happens outside of the will of the Creator of the universe to whom we have the extraordinary privilege of praying. There is a bigger picture. Satan’s time is short. There is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed. The Judge is standing at the door. And, “as it is written, ‘No eye has seen… no ear has heard… no human mind has conceived…’ the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
Not unrelated:
PS for subscribers wondering about the reason for the emailing of this post at the end of April… I think I changed the publication day to the 10th, but not the month (from the then-default of April) to May; and so Substack published the post immediately
Previous posts on prayer:
April 2026: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God... and it will be given to you”
March 2026: “...let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”
February 2026: “…give your servant a discerning heart... to distinguish between right and wrong”
January 2026: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...”
For 2025 posts, a list including the Bible texts can be found at the end of the January 2026 post linked above. All previous posts on prayer can also be accessed here.
Dear Church Leaders (and everyone else) homepage
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The Big Reveal: Christianity carefully considered as the solution to a problem
An annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution
Tax collectors often cheated people for their own financial gain and were thus widely despised