Last week we began studying the passage in the Sermon on the Mount known as “Love your Enemies”. We talked about the origin of loving our enemies being rooted in Jesus’ character and how He lived His life. In Romans 5:10 we read “when we were enemies we were reconciled to God. . .” We were all once in the place of being enemies of God. We did not deserve it, but God poured out His love, sought us, and interceded for us. God, as our Father, never asks us to do something He has not already done which includes loving and interceding for our enemies. This week we talked about intercession being the greatest act of love. Our prayers are not about the moving of people, but about the movement of God. We move God not to do what we desire, but to show Himself. There are many times in Scripture when we see that Jesus was moved by love and there is nothing more loving than intercession especially for those who persecute us. In Acts, we read about Stephen’s death and in those final moments he did not cry out to God to save him, but he cried out to God to forgive those who were persecuting him and to not judge them. We are told that not only was Saul present for Stephen’s death, but that he approved of it and wrecked havoc on the church. Later in Acts we read about Saul’s Damascus road experience which is a direct result of Stephen’s prayer. We have no Paul if Stephen is not willing to pray for those who persecuted him, his enemies. Praying for our enemies is not about them seeing that we are right, but about the revelation of God. It is about love.