I shouldn't start with, “Who are my enemies?” I probably don't have many people I'd actually call enemies.
Instead I should ask:
Then I should notice who comes to mind.
It could be someone I know personally. It could be a public figure. It could be someone in the Church. It could even be a category of folks rather than an individual.
Once someone comes to mind, I shouldn't immediately scold myself for the reaction. Psalm 139 gives me permission to put the unedited reaction before God:
Father, you already know how I feel about this person. So I'm not going to clean it up for you.
I want you to stop what I believe is wrong. I want you to stop what I believe is wrong, if it actually is wrong. I could be the one who is wrong. I want you to frustrate what is harmful, whether it is in me or in those I oppose. I want you to frustrate what is harmful.
But Jesus tells me to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. So I will ask something harder too: bring this person to truth. Bring them to repentance where repentance is needed. Heal whatever needs healing. Give them wisdom. Draw them toward you. Do whatever is genuinely good for them.
And search me too. If I'm seeing them wrongly, show me. If my anger contains something that doesn't belong there, show me that too.
I don't have to approve of them. But I don't want to want evil for them.
And then I should stop talking.
Who came to mind when I read, “Who do I most want God to stop, correct, defeat, expose, or get out of the way?”
That's probably where today's conversation should go next.
Father, you know I don’t particularly want to do this right now. You know what I’ve been doing instead. You know what I’m worried about, what I’m angry about, what I’m hoping for, and who I’m concerned about. I don’t need to go through the whole list.
I’m giving you these next few minutes. What do we need to deal with today?
I should stay there for a moment. I have asked the question; I don't need to manufacture God's answer.
I might continue:
Father, I'm listening.
You already know the things competing for my attention. Which one should I put before you right now?
If there is something I would rather avoid, I'm willing for you to bring that to mind too.
I should give myself perhaps a minute of actual silence.
I shouldn't hunt for a profound thought. Notice what comes to mind—a person, frustration, unfinished task, desire, fear, resentment, idea, or even something apparently trivial.
I need to take whatever surfaced as the subject to examine rather than automatically assuming it is a revelation from God.
From there, I need to look for an appropriate passage of Scripture so that the other side of the dialogue is grounded in something more substantial than what either I or anyone advising me might imagine God would say.