One Prayer, Two Miracles

I don’t know many people who want to have enemies. Likewise, I don’t know many people who actually pray for their enemies. And so is it any wonder that these people still have enemies? No. As long as I continue to consider someone to be my enemy, they will be. I will see to it through my attitude toward them. And it makes no difference if they started the fight. I am choosing to perpetuate it.

The solution is as simple as one small daily prayer: “Dear God, please soften the heart of (place name here) toward me, and please soften my heart toward him/her.” One prayer. Two miracles.

As I say this prayer, my heart begins to soften toward my enemy. When I next encounter him/her, I greet him/her with a softer, more positive energy. My softer, more positive energy encourages the return to me of a softer, more positive energy from my “enemy.” I notice the change almost immediately.

As the prayer and the positive energy continue over time, I find that I know longer have an enemy in this person. And I learn that I greatly determine who my friends and enemies are. More often than not it’s about my attitude toward someone. It’s about the space I’m in. It’s about who I project my negative, unresolved issues on to as opposed to owning them and managing them properly myself.

Of course, I can’t control how other people choose to project their issues on to me. But I can control how I choose to act. I don’t have to own anyone else’s issues, and I don’t have to take their acting-out personally. I don’t have to choose to make an enemy of someone who is just troubled and unaware of how to deal with their issues properly. Instead I can have empathy and compassion for them.

And I can pray for them; remembering “One prayer, two miracles.” In doing so, I free myself of enemies and I allow my soul to shine!