Prayers for Everyone - 1 Timothy 2:1-3

 

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior.1 Timothy 2:1-3

*Note: I used https://biblicalexegete.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/a-closer-look-at-four-different-types-of-prayer-in-1-timothy-21/ for Greek language help in this devotion.

I am a believer, therefore by definition I am a praying man. That doesn’t mean that I’m very good at it yet. I have a lot to learn. I’m saying that believers pray. It is what they do.

Prayer is wonderful. I get to enter the presence of the king of glory and talk to Him. What a privilege!

God hears it all. He even hears me when I don’t get it to come out of my heart correctly. He translates it for me.

And He wants me to keep getting better. He’s like that loving dad that loves watching me play baseball. He loves seeing me get a hit. He even empowers me to play. And He coaches me on how to hit.

Look at this list of kinds of prayers in this passage. It’s a pretty simple list, right? I look at it and realize that today, He is asking me to focus on how to do it better.

Notice that this whole list is about how to pray for “everyone.”

Petitions are requests. So when I think about praying for other people, the first thing I usually think of are requests I want to make for them. And I can ask for any need that the person has. A person’s attitude, physical needs, and maybe most especially their spiritual needs, especially if the Lord has revealed that need to me. One Greek scholar suggests that petitions are for those things where someone has a desperate need. Pray for everyone’s desperate needs. These prayers have an urgency behind them. Do you know anyone with one of those kinds of needs today?

The second word in the list is simply the word prayer. Back to what the Greek scholars say. Here we get the idea of a real intentionality or purposefulness to the prayer. It means getting specific and even meeting God regularly. If you don’t think you are specific enough in your prayers, ask God to show you how to be more specific. Pray about it. What an idea! God loves to fulfill our good desire.

How about the word intercession? To intercede means that I am close to God and I care for this other person. I am standing in the gap. Maybe that other person does not have what it takes to pray for themselves and their own situation. The word here suggests the praying person has a closeness to God. Am I close to God? If you are like me, you wonder. Whatever my relationship is like with God, I know that I can get even just a little bit closer to Him today, and I can ask Him to turn me into an interceding man of prayer. Don’t you think He would honor that prayer of yours? I think He would.

Thankfulness: It can be so easy to come before God and forget to thank Him. We see in scripture where Jesus makes a point of praising the leper who came back to thank Him after he was healed. When I don’t thank Him, I leave a gap. God is not a casino, giving out answers to prayers like Santa Claus at a Christmas party. I am to nurture a real and loving relationship with Him. Being thankful helps me do that. Lord, give me the grace to be more thankful.

And then the verse gets to the hard part. I am to pray for kings and all those who are in authority. Remember that when Paul was writing this, the Roman Caesars where the ones in charge! These were the ones who defined cruelty, the ones who killed people for sport in the coliseum. Pray for them! Of course, I get to pray that they might gain true spiritual understanding. Hey, there were eventually Christian emperors. If God worked in them, He can work in our leaders too! Let’s pray for them right now in fact!

The hope, according to the verse, is that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and dignity. What a beautiful thought: Live a quiet and tranquil life in all godliness and dignity! I want that for my family and me, and I desire it for my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I get to, in fact, I must ask God for it. I must pray for others, especially the authorities who are over me. Now, they may think that they work and move independently from God, but not so much. They were appointed by Him. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, right now.

I love how the passage ends: this is good and it pleases God our savior. If I want to please God, I can do this. It’s not a formula for success. It’s about my relationship with Him.

When I treat Him like He’s a magical formula, there is no power in my prayer. When I show Him the love and respect that He deserves, He blesses me. He pours buckets of grace onto my life and those I pray for.

Lord, draw me to you. I need you. I need you to correct me. And I need you to encourage me. Lord, I pray that you would enrich my prayer. Enrich my walk with you. I want to be faithful. All in. Today. May I petition you when there are dire needs. May I get that much closer to you, to have the desire to know your heart so that I can pray in a more detailed way. May I be thankful, more and more. And May I intercede. May I pray for others when they can not pray for themselves. Lord, give me the grace to pray for those who are in authority over me. I desire to live a quiet and peaceful life. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.