I have a dear friend who I confide in often. She is also a co-worker, so she basically hears everything from the good to the bad! She gives great advice and will often make me see perspectives that I didn’t think about. One time I was telling her about something, and her advice made me stop and say, “Wait, what?”

Her advice? “Well, just sick the Lord on ’em!”

Now, when I first heard her say this, I really did say, “Wait, what? Sick the Lord on ’em?” I was somewhat confused as to what she meant. However, now I completely get it, and it’s some of the best advice I’ve ever been given!

The bible tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). We should pray for guidance in every situation! When we “sick the Lord” on people, we are essentially praying to God about what is bothering us, rather than praying for someone to get what we think they deserve. Don’t lie to yourself. You know you’ve done it!

Someone in a car was hateful to you? You honk and hope/pray they get a flat tire.

Someone at the front desk, or a cashier, was super rude and short with you? You may get rude back and hope/pray that they get rude customers all day to get a taste of their own medicine.

Your husband came home from work hateful and grumpy? You’re hateful back, it ends in a huge argument and you hope/pray he doesn’t sleep well.

You get my point. Now, when she said, “Sick the Lord on ’em,” the thoughts above are NOT what she meant. What she meant was pray for God to touch their hearts, pray for yourself to see the bigger picture, pray that God uses those moments as unrealized blessings, and maybe even uses you to help them.

Now I realize this is not easy. In fact more often than not, my human side takes over first. Then, I realize that I need to stop and reflect on the situation and just pray- or “sick the Lord on ’em.”

Matthew 5:43-44 tells us:

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

Now, we may not think of these rude people as enemies per say, but isn’t the devil our enemy? And… could it possibly be that the devil is using that person to invoke a reaction in us? In this case, wouldn’t our enemy be attacking us?

Now, I know how hard it is to not react! Trust me! However, if we can hold it together just for a little bit, when we get a moment, we can “sick the Lord on ’em!” We can even send up a quick prayer right then. We can pray for them and/or we can pray for God’s help in those situations. That’s what the Bible tells us to do (Philippians 4:6)!

Verse 46 goes on to say:

 ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?

Verse 46 makes a really good point! It’s so easy for us to love and be kind to those who love and are kind to us. What makes us stronger Christians is when we love and are kind to those who don’t like, or are against, us, or to those who are hateful to us for whatever reason. When we pray, or “sick the Lord” on these people, we are giving these situations to God. He knows how to handle them and we get a reward out of it in return.

Reward? What?

Hear me out.

We get peace, we get understanding, we get more sympathy towards people, we get love, we get patience, we get grace, and the list goes on. All of these are gifts, or rewards, from God!

Like I have said before, I’m not saying this is something that is easy to do. I’m also not saying to pray spitefully- that’s bad! I am challenging you to look at the bigger picture and remember that everyone around you is also a child of God. They are your brothers and sisters in Christ. If you are bothered by something, go tell on them to your Heavenly Father! After all, He knows them the best! Maybe, through the Holy Spirit, your single prayer will touch their hearts and make a change!

Sick the Lord on ’em, but…… buckle up and get ready to see the amazing work that God can do!

Challenge: Take time today to truly pray for someone you don’t like, or someone who doesn’t like you.