May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine upon us, Selah that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations. Psalm 67: 1-2
Not only does every nation matter to God but every person within every nation matters to God:
...He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2Peter 3: 9
There can be a certain level of arrogance sometimes within American Christianity. We can often confuse the morality of Christianity with the love of Christ. God's desire is for people everywhere to lift their hands in prayer to Him. That means even people who do not look like you. That means people you may not even like. And yes beloved, that also means Muslims and people who do not believe what you and I might. In the days of Jesus the most scorned and derided sect was the Samaritans. They were considered half-breeds by the Jewish people. Is it any wonder when telling a parable about the love of Christ and being a good neighbor, Jesus made the hero a Samaritan? That is radical Christianity. It challenges stereotypes and breaks down barriers.
Secondly, our key verses speak about not holding any anger (wrath) in our hearts while we pray. Why? Because you cannot focus on God if you are carrying around resentment and anger towards another. In fact, you cannot even love God in that condition:
If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 1John 4:20
God does not want a distracted heart. The enemy speaks anger and resentment into our hearts so he can draw us away from God. I can guarantee you this. If you choose to walk out your door today and step into this world, someone, somewhere, somehow, will say or do something, that you don't like. It is just human nature. But while we cannot control the actions of others, we can always control how we choose to let it affect us. I hear the often sad lament, "he makes me feel so angry." Nonsense! Only YOU can make yourself feel a certain way. The world sells you constantly on the victim model, where you give up your own control over yourself. That is not Biblical because as long as you play the victim, you pretend that you have no control over your own circumstances. But God said:
No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1Corinthians 10:13
