At this level [asking-out-of-need] also comes that curious contradiction in terms known as “praying for one’s enemies.” The contradiction lies not in the actual words, but rather in the way in which they are usually interpreted. While you believe you have enemies, you have limited prayer to the laws of this world, and have also limited your ability to receive and to accept to the same narrow margins. And yet, if you have enemies you have need of prayer, and great need, too. What does the phrase really mean? Pray for yourself, that you may not seek to imprison Christ and thereby lose the recognition of your own Identity. Be traitor to no one, or you will be treacherous to yourself.
An enemy is the symbol of an imprisoned Christ. And who could [Christ] be except yourself? The prayer for enemies thus becomes a prayer for your own freedom. Now it is no longer a contradiction in terms. It has become a statement of the unity of Christ and a recognition of [Christ’s] sinlessness. And now [prayer for enemies] has become holy, for it acknowledges the Son of God as he was created.
Let it never be forgotten that prayer at any level is always for yourself. If you unite with anyone in prayer, you make him part of you. The enemy is you, as is the Christ. Before it can become holy, then, prayer becomes a choice. You do not choose for another. You can but choose for yourself. Pray truly for your enemies, for herein lies your own salvation. Forgive them for your sins, and you will be forgiven indeed. (A Course in Miracles, S-1.II.4-6)
Despite the appearance that we exist in a world which we have no control over, everything we perceive is a projection from our mind. This is why that to pray for an enemy we must pray for forgiveness of ourselves. The “enemy” is only a projection of our own belief in guilt.
Until we fully accept that we were created as Christ, God’s holy Son, our perceived world will be populated with adversaries. We can continue to do battle with our adversaries and stay bound to the ego thought system. Or we can use these perceptions as reminders to accept the Holy Spirit’s help to let go of our mistaken belief that we are separate and disconnected from God’s Love.
The Holy Spirit will help us join with the Christ in our brother which is eternally united with the Christ in ourselves. It is a joining in the one Self that God created as His Son. This is the prayer that will set us free of the ego’s limitations and return us to our Home in God.
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