Blog 19 - The Curse Trap: Praying for Enemies and Responding to Opposition

Today we're tackling a weighty, urgent theme: How do we pray for our enemies, our competitors, and those who oppose us?

The Spirit pressed this on my heart weeks ago, and each outbreak of violence reveals how critically intercessors must understand this: our prayers can either defeat darkness or feed it.

We're living in a sobering moment. Many of us are feeling grief, confusion, even anger over what we've recently witnessed in our nation—and if you're listening from another part of the world, I know your nation may be facing its own kinds of violence, injustice, and hostility. Wherever we live, the question is the same: How do followers of Jesus respond when opposition rises against us? How do we pray in a way that honors Christ?

The temptation is strong to retaliate in words, in action, or even in prayer. But the call of Jesus is radically different: "love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who persecute you." Paul echoes, "Do not repay evil with evil." We can grieve and bring our anger to God, but we do not weaponize prayer to curse people. That veers into manipulation—and manipulation in the spirit is the essence of witchcraft. Whenever prayer shifts from seeking God's will to trying to enforce our own will on others, we're stepping into that same dark spirit.

Loving our enemies is not easy. It goes against every instinct of the flesh. But it's where true spiritual authority is found. Today, we're going to look at how we pray for enemies—not with cursing, not with bitterness, but with a Christ-centered intercession that aligns us with God's heart and opens the door for His justice, His provision, and His redemption to break in.

Imprecatory Psalms and Misinterpretation

For many of us, our first instinct is honest anger. That's not surprising. God can handle our honesty—real emotions in real pain. Even the Bible gives voice to raw, emotional prayers—what theologians call the "imprecatory psalms." That word "imprecatory" simply means calling down a curse. There are passages in the Psalms where David and others cry out to God: "Break the teeth of the wicked," or "May their children be fatherless."

Those are raw, gut-level prayers. They came out of anguish, betrayal, and warfare. And here's the thing—we can relate to them. When someone slanders us, oppresses us, or harms us, there's something in us that wants to pray, "Lord, get them!"

But here's where we need discernment. These psalms were never meant to be a model for us to curse people in prayer. In fact, in some parts of the world today, it's not uncommon—even among Christians—to pray what amounts to a curse, often with the psalms as justification. I want to be empathetic here. I understand how that happens. Those psalms are in our Bible, and they give voice to real pain. But when we pray them against flesh and blood, we cross into something that looks more like witchcraft than intercession.

Jesus never gave us permission to curse people. He taught us to bless, to forgive, and to trust God's justice. So the challenge is: can we bring the pain and anger to God honestly, but then let Him reshape it into prayer that aligns with His heart? The practice of cursing only makes sense if you're reading the psalms without the lens of Jesus. But through the cross, Jesus transforms how we pray those words.

 
Romans 12:14 — "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse."
 

Reconciling OT and NT Prayers

What was once directed at human enemies, we now recognize as a cry for God's justice against the powers of darkness—the demonic forces behind hatred, violence, and deception. The imprecatory psalms give us language for lament, but they must be reframed through Christ so we don't fall into the trap of self-fueled, spiritual retaliation.

The Psalms teach us honesty and a hunger for justice. The New Testament teaches us to release judgment to God and to intercede for repentance. Together, they model integrity in intercession. We cry out for justice without taking vengeance. We pray for transformation without denying evil.

Psalm 37 gives us this consistent perspective: "Do not fret because of those who are evil… trust in the Lord and do good."

Ezekiel 9 shows us God marks those who grieve over unrighteousness in their nation. God isn't asking us to deny our pain—He asks us to bring it before Him with tears, not curses.

And Ezekiel 33:11 reminds us: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that they turn and live.

If our own daughter or son became deceived, turning their backs on righteousness, our hearts break, as we grieve before the Lord. We know that apart from God, their lives will not showcase His goodness and glory, nor will they experience the richness of God's abundance reserved for them.

We were made in God's image.

This attitude towards our own beloveds reflects the heart of God towards every man and woman created by God. Indeed, in Isaiah chapters 15-16, while pronouncing judgment on Moab, God through Isaiah used phrases like, "My heart weeps…", "My tears will flow…", "My heart's cry is like a lament on a harp…", "and I am filled with anguish…". Prophets often spoke in ways where their own heart and God's heart overlapped. The Spirit filled them, and their emotions could become vessels to reveal God's compassion and grief.

The character of God does not change from one covenant to the next—God is Love. When we pray strategically, our own heart and God's heart will also overlap. When we allow the Spirit to fill us, our own emotions also become vessels to reveal God's compassion and grief.

Divine love shifts the way we pray, away from judgment and toward grieving. Unrighteousness causes suffering-- whether in political leadership, the business world, within ministries, educational systems, or even in our own families.

Who Are Our Enemies Really?

When someone betrays us, blocks our ministry, steals a deal, or mocks our faith, it feels very personal. And politically, the duplicity and corruption we see can feel unbearable. But Paul reframes the whole battlefield in Ephesians 6:12: "We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers."

Yes, in the Old Testament, Israel fought literal nations. But in Christ, the real enemy is the demonic realm that enslaves people. That means the one who slanders you is not your ultimate enemy—the spirit animating that hostility is.

The system of evil, the powers of darkness—that's the battlefield. And when we realize this, our prayers shift. We stop trying to weaponize scripture against human beings, and we start wielding prayer against the demonic strategies at work as we usher in the provision, promises, and Kingdom of God. Invoke the River of Life, invoke Love, invoke the Peace of Heaven! Through your prayers and interventions, act in the opposite spirit as the kingdom of darkness.

Encouragement

I'm reminded of Robbie Dawkins, author of Identity Thief: Exposing Satan's Plan to Steal Your Purpose, Passion, and Power, who recounted his experiences pastoring in Aurora, Illinois—a city plagued by gang violence and one of the highest murder rates in the U.S. at the time. Robbie and his family moved there to plant a church in a bullet-riddled building in the heart of the most dangerous neighborhood, despite warnings from local police that it was essentially a "death sentence." He set up shop in the midst of enemies!

The story centers on a series of murders tied to gang activity. In response to each killing, Robbie, his family, and church members would immediately go to pray at the murder site. They refused to leave until leading exactly three people to accept Christ before departing. Robbie frames this deliberate outreach as their form of "revenge" against the violence and spiritual darkness—not retaliation through harm, but by stealing back souls for the Kingdom of God, countering each act of death with eternal life. Instead of cursing, they turned the tragedy into an opportunity for salvation. That's strategic intercession in action: turning the enemy's attack into a platform for advancing God's purposes.

Add to Robbie's modeling, Christian author Graham Cooke's divinely sourced wisdom: "Every challenge is an opportunity for Jesus to be something for you that He couldn't be in any other circumstance." Graham encourages asking God questions like, "What do You want to be for me in this situation that You could not be at any other time?" to reframe difficulties as divine opportunities.

Even in the midst of opposition, Christ reveals new dimensions of His sufficiency.

Zero-Sum Thinking vs. Kingdom Abundance

Another idea I want to expand is what I call zero-sum thinking. That's the mindset that says: If you win, I lose. If you succeed, it comes at my expense. We see it in politics, in business, and even in ministry competition.

But the kingdom of God doesn't work that way. God's resources are infinite. His blessings multiply rather than diminish. He can raise up multiple ministries, multiple businesses, multiple leaders—all flourishing without one canceling out the other.

So when we pray for our "competitors" or even our enemies, we're refusing zero-sum thinking. We're declaring, "Lord, there's enough of Your goodness, enough of Your provision, enough of Your Spirit to go around."

This is a powerful act of spiritual warfare—because zero-sum thinking breeds jealousy, rivalry, and suspicion. But blessing prayers break that cycle.

Crisis Intercession vs. Strategic Intercession

So, how do we pray? I want to introduce a distinction between two kinds of intercession: crisis intercession and strategic intercession.

Crisis intercession is when we look back at what has been done. We pray things like: "Lord, look at the injustice. Look at what they've done to us. Look at how much it hurts."

It's real, it's honest, and sometimes it's the only prayer we can manage when we're reeling from shock. And that's legitimate. God hears those prayers. But if we stop there, we can get stuck in the past, rehearsing the pain instead of moving forward, wielding the authority Jesus entrusted to us to make us world changers through prayer and faith-fueled action.

Strategic intercession looks forward. It asks: "Father, what is Your heart for this situation? What provision do You want to release? How do You want to turn this for Your glory? How does the victory of Jesus need to be revealed right here, right now?"

Instead of getting trapped in what was done to us, we align with what God wants to do through us.

Joseph is a great example: betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, wronged in countless ways. But when he finally faced his brothers again, he said, "You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good." That's strategic intercession. It acknowledges the pain, but it shifts the focus toward God's redemptive plan.

Think about Stephen in the book of Acts, the first martyr of the church. As he was being stoned to death, his prayer wasn't, "God, bring fire on these men." His prayer was, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." That prayer opened the door for Saul—the murderous Pharisee holding the coats of the executioners—to become Paul, the apostle who would carry the gospel across the Roman world. That's strategic intercession.

Seven Powerful Strategies to Pray for Your Enemies

So here are some practical strategies for praying for enemies:

1. Start with heart posture: grieve, don't gloat: Proverbs 24 warns us not to rejoice when our enemy falls, or God may turn His wrath away. When tragedy strikes, we allow ourselves to lament before God, but we resist the temptation to cheer over anyone's downfall.

2. Pray from God's heart, not just our pain: God reveals His heart: He longs for repentance and salvation.

3. Act in the opposite spirit; resist hate with love: Speak life where others speak death, whether on your knees, in your personal network, or on social media.

4. Recognize the true enemy: People aren't our ultimate enemies—Satan and the powers of darkness are. This reframes prayer: "Father, break the deception over their minds. Deliver them from bondage to the evil one." That way, we target the spiritual chains without cursing the person.

5. Bless instead of curse: refuse zero-sum thinking: God's abundance is enough for all. Out loud, with intentionality, pray God's blessing over those who oppose you—whether that's a competitor at work, a political figure, or a personal enemy. Tap into God's heart for these intercessory targets.

6. Ask for transformation, not destruction: Remember, Saul the murderous persecutor became Paul the apostle because someone prayed.

7. Set boundaries with wisdom: To love and bless doesn't mean to be naïve. You can pray a blessing over someone while still walking in discernment—protecting yourself and refusing to enable harm. Sometimes obedience to God looks like creating distance. Then, if and when you hold that person before the Lord in prayer, do it in a way that reflects the heart of Jesus.

Using these prayer strategies, I discovered quite by accident God's power to change my own heart toward those who insult me, persecute me, or falsely say all kinds of evil against me. When I consistently came along beside Jesus to hear His heart and to pray what He showed me, my own hate melted away.

Praying for those I disdained actually became a spiritual strategy to address judgment and hatred I carried in my own heart. It took an entire year of praying regularly for one enemy until I fully lost my animosity. When we walk in obedience to Jesus, loving our enemies, blessing those who curse us, and praying for those who persecute us, we find ourselves transformed. Bonus!

Conclusion

Friends, this is what intercessory integrity looks like. We don't deny our emotions. We don't pretend that opposition isn't painful. But we also don't weaponize prayer to curse. We refuse to twist prayer into a weapon of hate.

Instead, we align ourselves with the heart of God. We pray forward into His provision, His love, His plan, His justice, and His redemption. We bless, we forgive, and we trust God to be the Judge who makes all things right.

We grieve over the wicked, we bless those who persecute us, and we resist the demonic forces at work behind human hostility.

We pray not for destruction but for transformation. And we trust God—the only righteous Judge—to balance mercy and justice.

This is how we overcome evil with good. This is how we pray for our enemies in the power of Christ.