In need of grace...

It's easy for me to pray for Sophia, to remember the pain in her eyes and be motivated to pray for her freedom and safety. Twice this week I've told her story, and both times I've cried. (Keep in mind that this in about nine months after having met her for a few brief minutes - and that I am not one who cries easily.)

Do you know what's hard for me? Finding any motivation at all to pray for her pimp. When I try to, I talk myself out of it by saying that the one ripped Sophia away from her family and country and now forces her sell her body does not deserve my prayers. Her pimp is a bad person - a sinful, selfish person.

But so am I.

Henri Nouwen puts it, "In the face of the opressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands. Their flesh is my flesh, their blood is my blood, their pain is my pain, their smile is my smile."

Sophia's pimp and I are both sinful, selfish people in need of grace. God has extended that grace to us - to all of us - freely.

So who am I to decide who 'deserves' my prayers and who doesn't?

But I have to be honest: I'm not 100% there yet. Pray with me that I will be able to pray for Sophia's pimp, that I will be able to pray for him with same fervor that I pray for her - and that others pray for me.