Scripture — Luke 6:28 KJV
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Welcome back to 31 Days of Prayer for Estranged Family and Friends—a journey of surrender, healing, forgiveness, and restoration.
Today is Day 21, and we’ve reached the end of our third week together.
This week, we’ve intentionally turned our prayers toward the person we love.
We’ve prayed for their relationship with God.
We’ve prayed for their wounds.
We’ve prayed for their protection.
We’ve prayed for truth.
We’ve asked God to soften our hearts.
And yesterday, we prayed that God would surround them with wise people.
But today…
we’re going to pray something that may be difficult.
We’re going to bless them.
Jesus says in Luke 6:28:
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Those aren’t easy words.
Especially when the person we’re praying for has deeply hurt us.
But today we’re going to ask God to help us move beyond simply saying:
“Don’t let me be bitter toward them.”
We’re going to pray:
“Father, help me genuinely desire Your good for them.”
Blessing Someone Doesn’t Say They Were Right
Let’s begin with something important.
Blessing someone doesn’t mean saying that everything they did was okay.
It doesn’t mean pretending you weren’t hurt.
It doesn’t mean returning to an unsafe or unhealthy situation.
And it doesn’t mean abandoning wise boundaries.
Jesus doesn’t say:
“Call evil good.”
He tells us to bless and pray.
We can acknowledge:
“What happened was painful.”
And still pray:
“Father, be good to them.”
Those two things can exist together.
In fact, perhaps that’s one of the clearest signs that bitterness is beginning to lose its grip on our hearts.
What Does It Mean to Bless Them?
When we hear the word bless, sometimes we think only about material things.
But today we’re praying for something much deeper.
We can pray:
“Father, give them wisdom.”
“Give them peace.”
“Provide what they truly need.”
“Protect them.”
“Heal them.”
“Strengthen their faith.”
“Give them healthy relationships.”
“Help them become the person You created them to be.”
And perhaps the hardest prayer of all:
“Father, let them experience joy—even if I’m not presently part of that joy.”
That one can hurt.
Because sometimes we secretly want the person who hurt us to recognize what they’ve lost.
We may want them to miss us.
To regret what happened.
To feel the absence as deeply as we do.
But love can eventually reach a place where it says:
“Father, I don’t want their suffering. I want their good.”
Blessing Releases Judgment Into God’s Hands
There’s another reason blessing someone is so powerful.
It helps us release our position as judge.
When we’ve been wronged, we can spend enormous amounts of emotional energy keeping track.
They did this.
Then they said that.
They never apologized.
They don’t understand what they’ve done.
And perhaps all of those things are true.
But keeping the account doesn’t heal us.
So when we pray a blessing, we’re saying:
“God, I’m giving this person back to You.”
You deal with what needs correcting.
You reveal what needs revealing.
You heal what needs healing.
You convict where conviction is needed.
And I’ll pray for their good.
That doesn’t erase justice.
It simply puts justice into God’s hands instead of ours.
When You Don’t Feel Like Blessing Them
And maybe you’re listening today thinking:
“I don’t feel this yet.”
That’s okay.
Prayer doesn’t have to begin with a feeling.
Sometimes obedience comes first.
Maybe you can’t honestly say:
“Lord, I feel wonderful toward this person.”
But perhaps you can say:
“Lord, I want to want their good.”
That’s a beginning.
Remember our mustard seed.
We haven’t been carrying that little seed through this journey because we expect enormous faith every day.
Sometimes all we have is something very small.
Maybe today’s mustard-seed prayer is simply:
“Father, bless them.”
Three words.
And perhaps today that’s enough.
Returning to Our Garden
Let’s look again at our echinacea and mustard.
The echinacea reminds us of healing.
The mustard reminds us of faith.
But today I’d like you to imagine something else.
Imagine standing in your garden with a watering can.
You don’t pour water on one plant while wishing the plant beside it would wither.
You water what you hope will grow.
And today, our prayer becomes a kind of watering.
We’re not watering resentment.
We’re not watering revenge.
We’re not watering the desire to see someone suffer because we suffered.
We’re watering something entirely different:
Blessing.
Maybe we never see what grows from today’s prayer.
That’s okay.
We aren’t blessing them because we expect something back.
We’re blessing them because Jesus taught us to.
Today’s Action — Speak a Blessing Over Them
Take out your journal and write the person’s name:
“Today I bless __________.”
Then write five simple prayers.
May they draw closer to God.
May their wounds be healed.
May they be protected.
May they walk in truth and wisdom.
May God bring what is genuinely good into their life.
And then, if you’re able, add:
“Father, bless them even in ways that have nothing to do with me.”
Don’t ask for reconciliation during this particular prayer.
Don’t ask them to recognize what they’ve done.
Don’t ask God to make them miss you.
For these few moments…
simply bless them.
And if that is difficult, tell God the truth:
“Father, I’m struggling to pray this. Help my heart catch up with my obedience.”
Today’s Prayer
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father,
Your Word says:
“Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Those words aren’t always easy, Father.
You know what has happened.
You know what was said.
You know the wounds I carry.
You know the moments I still replay.
And You know how deeply I miss __________.
But today, I choose to pray a blessing over them.
Father, bless __________.
Draw them closer to You.
Heal the places in them that hurt.
Protect them wherever they go.
Give them wisdom.
Give them discernment.
Surround them with good and godly people.
Provide for their needs.
Give them peace in their mind and heart.
Give them strength for whatever burdens they’re carrying.
Lead them into truth.
Help them grow in character, wisdom, compassion, and faith.
And Father…
give them joy.
Even if I’m not presently part of that joy.
Help me mean that.
Where my heart still resists, soften it.
Where bitterness still whispers that they deserve to hurt because I hurt, uproot it.
Where I secretly want vindication more than restoration, correct me.
I release judgment into Your hands.
If they need correction, You know how to correct them.
If they need conviction, You know how to reach their heart.
If they need healing, You know exactly where the wound is.
None of those things require me to control the process.
So I release them.
Father, I don’t bless wrongdoing.
I don’t call evil good.
And I don’t abandon wisdom or healthy boundaries.
But I refuse to allow another person’s choices to determine the condition of my heart.
I choose to pray.
I choose to forgive.
And today…
I choose to bless.
Let something good grow from this prayer, even if I never see it.
And if my faith today is only the size of a mustard seed, let it be enough to whisper:
“Father, bless them.”
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.
And with that, we’ve reached the end of Week Three: Praying for Them.
This week, something important has happened.
We’ve stopped praying only:
“God, change this situation for me.”
And we’ve begun praying:
“God, do something beautiful in them.”
We’ve prayed for their relationship with God.
Their wounds.
Their protection.
Truth.
Softened hearts.
Wise people.
And today…
we blessed them.
Look once more at our garden.
The echinacea reminds us to pray for healing.
The mustard reminds us that even a tiny amount of faith can be planted.
And today, the watering can reminds us:
Be careful what you water.
Don’t water bitterness.
Don’t water revenge.
Don’t water the desire to see someone suffer.
Water the blessing.
And when their name comes into your mind today, instead of rehearsing the hurt, try saying just three words:
“Father, bless them.”
You may be surprised at what that simple prayer begins growing—not only in their life…
but in your heart.
Plant the prayer. Tend your heart. Bless the person you love. Water what is good. And trust God with the growth.
And as always,
may your roots grow deep and your spirit stay nourished.
God bless you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
