I pray for the persecuted church on a regular basis. But I usually do not pray for the people who are doing the persecuting. Likewise, I pray for the poor, the victims of violence and injustice, but I do not pray for the murderers, rapists, liars and swindlers.
That is a mistake. The truth of it is that this life is very short, and when it ends, we no longer have the chance to turn things around. If a person is going to turn to Christ in repentance and remorse and seek His forgiveness, they need to do it now. Never put off asking God to forgive you. Life can be snatched away in an instant.
By the same token, we should remember to pray for the people who are actually are harmed the most by cruelty, and dishonesty, and that is those who perpetrate these things on other human beings. Every time someone does a thing like this, it gets easier for them to do it the next time. Very few of them are like the man in this film. They don’t look back on what they have done with remorse and take action to undo it.
Instead, the harden in their sin and make excuses for themselves; excuses which often revolve around blaming their victims.
The persecutors need prayer just as much, or even more, than the persecuted. When someone is persecuted for Christ, the persecutor is handing them heaven. At the same time, the persecutor is dooming his or herself to eternity in hell … unless they repent and turn to Jesus for forgiveness.
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