A Child’s Prayer for Love

As children of God, if we truly love Him, we are to love other people. Jesus has summarized all the commandments into two. The first is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind, and the second is to love our neighbors (Mark 12:30-31). Loving our neighbors includes loving our enemies and the people who have hurt us (Matthew 5:43-48). 

What is the highest form of love?

The highest form of love is what we call an “agape” kind of love. In 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, the Bible tells us about what love is. It says that love is patient, kind, neither arrogant nor rude; it does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful, rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. In other words, real love is selfless. That is why “agape” love is a sacrificial kind of love all for the well-being of others. That is the very love that God had shown us when He sent and sacrificed His Son Jesus to die for us on the cross, so that in Christ we may be saved from the penalty of our sins  (For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16). We can only experience agape love from God. In fact, the Bible says that God Himself is love. Love is the nature of God Himself. 

What does the Bible say about agape love?

Whenever the New Testament commands us to love, it pertains to the “agape” kind of love. That is why, when Jesus told us to “love” God with all of our heart, soul, and strength, this meant we are to love God with an “agape” kind of love. This means that we are devoted to God and willing to sacrifice everything for Him because we love Him. That is why we don’t just love God, but we love Him with “all” of our heart, soul, and mind. We love God above everything else. It is also the same kind of love that we should show toward others. That is why it is written in John 15:13:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

This means that just as God showed us agape love through His Son Jesus, we also ought to show the same kind of love to others (Luke 10:25-37). It is important to remember that God is the very source of this agape kind of love. 

How do you pray for agape love?

Knowing what agape love is and that it is the kind of love that we receive from God, thanking God for the love that you have received from Him would be a good prayer to start with. Here is one way you can pray for it:

Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me so that You sent Your own Son Jesus to die for my sins. You didn’t have to do that, but You still did it for me. Thank You for loving me and forgiving me through Christ even though I never deserved it. You didn’t just forgive me in Christ, but You also adopted me as Your child. Thank You, Father, for all the grace and the mercy that You have shown me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Another thing that you can pray for is that just as you have received this agape kind of love from God, you shall also love other people. You can pray for it like this:

Heavenly Father, I thank You because even though I am undeserving, You still have given me this agape kind of love. Only because You loved me first can I love You, Father, with all of my heart, soul, and mind. I pray that my love for You shall also be shown through my love for other people and that I shall love others with a sacrificial kind of love and always seek the good of their well-being. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Lastly, the hardest people to love sacrificially are our enemies. However, just as the Bible commands us, we should love them with an agape kind of love. When we realize the selfless and sacrificial love that God showed us even while we were still sinners, it empowers us to love even those who are difficult to love (Romans 5:8). Here is how you can pray for the grace to love your enemies with agape love:

Heavenly Father, give me the grace that I need to love, with an agape kind of love, my enemies and those who have hurt me. Give me the strength to willingly sacrifice for them for their sake even though they are my enemies and have hurt me. Help me to love those who are difficult to love. I thank You because this is the same thing that You did for me. I was once Your enemy because of my sin, yet You still sent Your Son Jesus to die for my sins, and now I am adopted as Your child through Christ. Thank You, Father, because no matter how difficult it is to love my enemies, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). We can never love others with an agape love unless we first receive it from God. In the same way, we will also never love God with an agape kind of love unless He first loved us. The Holy Spirit has poured this love into our hearts in Christ. Loving God and others with an agape kind of love is also the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us (And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Romans 5:5), (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Galatians 5:22).