Perfect...Complete

Matthew 5:43-48

Jesus said to the disciples, "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers and sisters, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Walls of resistance crack, shift, melt, move when I pray this passage. The hard edges of the judgement and fear that block my heart from entering into relationships begin to dissolve.

I hear the logic...if I love my enemies, I won't have any. I need God's help to identify who I have ommitted from my capacity to love.

Christ is reminding me that to be perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect is to be complete....whole. As long as I have one person or group who are prohibited (by my own fear or prejudice) from the compassionate concern of my heart, I am incomplete...imperfect.

Are there people you fear? Is there someone you discount?

Sometimes it is revealing to take time for a different sort of intercessory prayer.

Instead of approaching the Father with YOUR prayer concerns, simply pray that God will reveal to you the names and faces for whom you should pray.

It may take a few moments for you to silence your mind ... and it may seem that nothing or nobody is emerging in your heart. However, as you linger before God, ask for God's help in noticing the people, places, groups, situations that YOU tend to consider to be the enemy.

Trust this process....God is inviting you to be perfectly complete and whole as you pray.