A long time ago my wife and I were visiting some friends at their apartment.  Since it was getting late on a school night we decided to leave. Walking out the door I noticed a big Ford Quad cab pickup parked perpendicular to and directly behind our cars. It was blocking us both and everyone else who used that lot. (My wife had come later so her car was there too.) That big white behemoth was parked less than a foot from our bumpers!  I asked my friend if I had done something wrong: wasn’t this ‘visitors’ parking?  He assured me it was.  He knew who owned the pickup and we went to knock on his door.  If I had known what was going to follow I would have driven over the sidewalk and grass and left. 
A young kid answered and I asked to talk to his father.  He told me his father was asleep. As I started to explain, the door suddenly shut.  I knocked again and again he opened it and I said that we really needed to talk to his father.  As the boy started to speak, the door suddenly slammed shut. I waited a moment and then knocked again. This time an angry bulldog of a Mexican man answered. He yelled at me and told me I had taken his spot.  I started to respond that this was visitor parking but he never gave me the chance. He pored out some very sharp, vindictive comments and emphatically declared that I had taken his parking.  He stalked to his vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot so we could get out.  As I started up my car, my friend pointed out that this fellow’s parking was at the far end of the lot. A spot, in which it would be difficult, if not impossible, to park such a large truck. It was his own fault for buying a vehicle as large as a bus.  My wife quickly got her car out and we headed home. 
I was rather upset and thought about things I would like to do or say to the man. But I knew I never would do anything to him now or to anyone else who treats me badly. As much as I would really like to slit his tires or toss a rock into his windshield; I will never participate in revenge. It’s not the way to peace. Peace over pride. Always. It bites sometimes. Actually it bites every time.
Once when I was denied a visit with my son, the pain in my heart was so strong I had trouble breathing.  I desperately wanted to do something harsh against my ex-wife.  I prayed and was reminded to pray for those who hurt me. After about twenty minutes of praying that the Lord would bless my ex-wife, I no longer hurt. Rather I just felt sad that she was so far from the path of goodness. So I went back and left her an early $50 child support check. A few hours later I was reunited with my son.
That night of the parking incident I didn’t pray for the fellow who had blocked me in.  I forgot. Instead I was thinking of the high price that peacemakers frequently have to pay.  Yet isn’t it better than the alternative? Like Gandhi once said, “If you take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, then soon the whole world will be blind and toothless.” I look around the world and notice the violence which claims so many people. I want no part of that kind of thinking. In the long run, being a peacemaker is the cheaper way to go.
The next morning I woke and as I was going to work I prayed for the angry man. I hope life teaches him more tolerance. By time I got to work, I was at peace and would be happy to meet him again. (Assuming he was in a better mood.)
Praying for those who cause us pain is most affective, the more immediate to the pain the praying is done. The more passionate the prayer; the better. 
Ask any Christian if they would like to work a miracle and I am sure they will say yes, of course.  Yet the miracle of finding peace of heart and mind in the midst of conflict is one anyone can do.  Jesus was clear in His instructions. Next time offense is offered, pray for good to be done to the offender.  Just watch how fast God joins us.  We shouldn’t underestimate just how great of a miracle peace is. 
A long time ago, while doing something my Life Guide asked me to do, I aroused a lot of anger in some of those close to me. Even as they were venting their feelings, I was praying for them. Their anger and conflict couldn’t touch me.  I was filled with love for them even as they poured out their fury on me. It was an emotional miracle.
War, however justified, isn’t peace. Whether we commit it as a group, or as individuals, it isn’t the way to find our Lord. Rather than fight, Christ was willing to die. How I wish wisdom could rule us and guide us closer to a Christ-like life! We can at least start by turning aside from violence so we can claim the title of ‘Peace Maker’.  Then go a step further and pray for the source that temped us to anger and violence. This isn’t easy.  I have check with many and only two have honestly declared that they prayed for someone who hurt them. Most refuse because of pride.
The way to God is just as narrow and difficult as He said.  But I believe our successful passage through the narrow and difficult way is measured by how closely we actively do His teachings. Not by beliefs, doctrines, or the religion we espouse. Life is worth so much more when we really try.