Last Updated on October 19, 2023 by Emma
Are you struggling with someone in your life that continues to hate you? As a Christian you probably know that Jesus called us to love our enemies, but how do we do that?
We hope that these prayers will help guide you as you prepare to interact with and love your enemy.
Jesus reminded us that we will have haters in our life and they may even be close to us.
“Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22)
With the reality that we will have haters Jesus also commanded that we love and pray for those same people.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45)
Being able to love your neighbor and pray for them will take the work of the Holy Spirit. So let’s go to God now seeking for him to help us embrace both of these truths for God’s glory.
Short Prayer For My Enemy
God, it’s very hard for me to love my enemies, help to adapt to this command you have called me to. However, you have called me to this so I ask that you help me grow in this area.
Help me to forgive my enemy when you call me to, especially when his/her wrongdoing is so clear to me. Help me to pray for my hater’s well-being. Help me to have compassion, especially when my enemy has hurt me so much.
God, help me to love them well and to acknowledge their feelings and hurts. God, I desire that we get along because I truly do love them but help me to also stand firm on your truth. Help me to love them in a way that honors you and does not simply ignore conflicts or challenge the sin in their lives. Give me the courage to love like you.
I pray this all in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer To Forgive My Hater
Oh Father in Heaven, you alone are holy. I want so desperately to live in your presence. Help me to seek after you on this earth even as I wait to be with you one day.
God, help me to forgive my hater as you have forgiven me. Guide me as I give up the right to exact payment or revenge on my hater. You took on my debt on the cross and absorbed the debt I owed because of my sin. Help me to be able to extend this forgiveness to my hater.
Lord, I do not want to forgive like the world does as they ignore the pain or minimize the cost of the hurt they have caused. But as I forgive help me to do so in a way that challenges my hater to turn from their evil ways and to turn to you.
God, as I forgive give me freedom. Freedom from the bitterness and anger that my hater has caused in my life. Free me from the pride that I have not done anything in this situation. God help me to see and confess if I have caused any discontent feelings in my hater.
God, I pray that this forgiveness will be for the good of me and my hater. Change his/her heart.
God, as I seek to forgive my hater. I so often try and find excuses to not confront, to avoid, and to minimize interaction with my hater. Help me to understand that to truly love my enemy I must forgive him/her.
This is such a hard prayer to pray but I desire to be more like you so please answer these prayers for your glory and the good for me and my hater. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayer For My Enemies Well Being
God, each day I wake up I praise your name. You have blessed me so abundantly that I want to thank you. I want to also pray today for my hater’s well-being. This is not easy for me to pray because they have hurt me so much. But you have called me to love my enemies so today I pray for his/her well-being.
God, I know that my hater is probably hurting and that is why they hate others. I pray that today they will experience your greatness and that they will experience your glory and exceeds our human understanding. God, I pray that as they know you more that you will bless them.
God, throughout history your people have had enemies. You are a just God and I know you could destroy my hater at a moment’s notice. But you are also a loving God and I know that you are patient as you wait for my hater to come to know you.
God, I know the best thing for my enemy is that they come to know you. His/her well-being in this life and the one to come is only possible because of your love and the work you have done on the cross.
So I pray today that you humble my enemy, help them to confess you are Lord, for their well-being and for your glory. In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
Prayer For My Compassion Towards My Enemy
God, you are great and deserve all my praise. You have extended so much compassion to me that I do not deserve it. Help me to be compassionate towards my hater just as you have extended compassion to me.
God, your compassion extended as you provide for me, you give me life and breath. You have given me help when I am weak. God, I know that my hater is lost without you. They have not experienced your compassion and love. Help me to be how they begin to understand who you are.
God, when I call out to you I know you hear my cry. Your compassion towards me is great. Help me to have ears to hear what is wrong with my enemy and have the compassion to extend your love.
God, I am eager to be with you. When the work of the wicked is destroyed. I can’t wait to praise your name with all creation. Until then I pray that you help me have compassion in this broken world toward my enemy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayers For Reconciliation With My Hater
God, I pray that you reconcile my hater first towards yourself and then for reconciliation for us. I long to be in a good relationship again with this person. You know the hurt and pain in their life and what they have caused in mine.
God, I know that believing in Jesus will divide me from people I once loved, even family.
For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:35-37 ESV)
God, I know the only way we will be reconciled is if they know and live for you. I long to live for you alone. So while I long to be reconciled with loved ones help me to seek your above all things.
I know it’s only through you that we will be able to be reconciled with each other. Please help us restore this relationship. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Prayers For My Hater To Accept The Gospel
God, I ask that you open the eyes of my hater. They desperately need to know you.
God, I pray that you give me the courage to “turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Jesus)” (Acts 26:18 ESV)
I pray that you redeem him/her. Help me be and act in a way that helps them hear the Gospel and feel your love.
Allow his/her hearts to be softened to your truth and allow them to be good soil ready to hear your word, receive it, and allow the deep roots of truth to sink into their heart. I pray this in your name, Amen.
Closing Thoughts
It is not easy to think about how we will have haters in this world. But Jesus is clear that we will and we are to love them.
We can love our haters by forgiving them, sharing the Gospel with them, and praying for their good. These things are not easy and are impossible on our own. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will learn how to do this in a way that honors God and can help change the heart of our hater.
Having a hater is never fun. If you are struggling with someone who hates you and you want further prayer please comment below so we can be praying with you.