Agape in JANE VENNARD’s “Praying for Friends and Enemies”

Because Jane Vennard is a Spiritual Counselor, in those places in Praying for Friends and Enemies where she uses ‘love’ in a spiritual way, ‘agape’ is used in the following quotes.

      “The process of praying for others begins with God. God already has agape for us. God is already involved in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray. God calls us into a network of relationships with God and all of creation. 

      "When we pray for others, we respond to God’s call and become engaged with God and our sisters and brothers. Our prayer is also an expression of gratitude for God’s ongoing presence in our lives.

      “As we pray for others, our prayers are gradually transformed, our hearts are softened, and our eyes are opened. Once opened we can never close our eyes again. We begin to see the world through God’s eyes of agape.

      “The process of praying for others — intercessory prayer — is an exploration into our relationship with God and our relationship with our sisters and brothers. God is the beginning and the destination in the process of intercessory prayer. Intercessory prayer comes from deep agape and trust in God.

      “When we begin prayer by allowing everything to pour out of our hearts, God will enter our hearts and prayers, and any obstacles we meet will be transformed.

      “Intercessory prayer is about agape. When we pray for others, our relationships are transformed from objective, utilitarian I/it relationships to intensely personal, mutual I/Thou relationships. To see others as Thou draws us closer to them. We see ourselves reflected in them, we see God in them, we have agape for them. We discover true compassion.

      “The words of Jesus [to pray for our enemies] … become difficult when we attempt to obey them. For to pray for our enemies is to bring them before God. When I bring them before God, I am reminded that they too share in the agape of God. Then I must recognize that the one I am holding at arm’s length is my sister or my brother.

      “Praying for others reveals to us what we have been trying to hide from ourselves. When we pray of those who have hurt us, our hearts soften and we begin to sense agape. We become vulnerable. We feel at risk.

      “Therefore, we must move slowly and gently when we begin to pray for our enemies. Prayers for those who persecute us begin with what is in our hearts. If I am filled with fury, I need to express it in prayer. If I am afraid, I need to cry out my fear.

      [In the Bible’s Psalms that do that] “the purpose is not only to give voice to what is in the psalmist’s heart, the purpose is also to bring the enemy back into relationship with God.

      [When we feel the anguish that is expressed in Psalms (like Ps. 22, 83, 59, or 137)] “first we need to turn to God, we need to feel God’s agape, we need to open our hearts to God’s agape.

      “By praying about our experience (of fury, anguish, or even abandonment) we move back into relationship with God.

      “When there are times when we are ready to pray for our enemies with agape and compassion, offer a prayer of gratitude to God who is agape, and pray that the one who has persecuted you will experience the agape of God and know the hope God offers.”