Luke 23:33-34
When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.
It’s amazing to note that Jesus, up to this point, has been spit upon, ridiculed, whipped, had His beard plucked out, and beaten beyond recognition as a human being. Now He’s nailed to the Cross. But in the midst of this undeserved treatment, He continues in prayer. To cease from prayer in the midst of suffering is to abandon the only comfort available to us. Never, under any circumstances, no matter how severe the suffering, should you cease from prayer.
Not only does Jesus pray in the midst of terrible undeserved suffering, but His prayer is not for Himself, but for the very people that have put Him in this situation. He prays for the cruelest, most abusive enemies any person could have ever had! They certainly did not deserve to be prayed for! They conspired to put Him to death. He also prayed for the one thing they really needed; FORGIVENESS!
I sure wish this was the end of this lesson, but look what Paul says:
Philippians 2:4-5
Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Our attitude is to be exactly the same as Jesus’ was in His prayer on the cross. We should be interceding in prayer for EVERYONE, not just our friends and loved ones.
Jesus’ prayer was answered.
Acts 6:7
The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the
disciples continued to increase greatly in
Even the very priests in
With Jesus as our example, our prayers should be unselfish; showing concern for others regardless of what they do to us.