Stephen's Prayer for Compassion

Years ago, boxer Mike Tyson once said regarding his opponents plan to defeat him in a match, "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." In short, unexpected developments often throw off the best laid plans.----------Jesus told us to love our neighbor as ourselves and show concern for our enemies. In truth, that can be our plan... to be compassionate to everyone in our sphere of influence. But, as Mike Tyson warned us, that doesn't always work out when we get punched in the mouth.----------It can be challenging to maintain a compassionate heart and attitude when the response is apathy, or worse than that, anger or bitterness. Yet, that is exactly the kind of person we are called to be in Christ. Not only did He set the perfect example of this, he provided examples of others who got "punched in the mouth" (actually much worse), and still remained compassionate through their persecution.