Today we continue our short series in Paul’s First Letter to Timothy. As its name suggests, this epistle was written by the apostle Paul to his disciple Timothy – a young man he affectionately calls his “true son in the faith”.
As I said last week, this letter seems to have been written by Paul towards the end of his life – perhaps around the mid-60s AD. As we learn from verse 3 of the letter, Paul has just travelled into Europe – into Macedonia – leaving Timothy behind to take charge of the new Christian congregations in Ephesus, part of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
Last week we heard about Paul’s desire that Timothy should refute false teaching within the churches of Ephesus. Exercising his full apostolic authority, Paul urged Timothy to correct error and teach the true gospel. A true gospel that Paul summarised in a ‘trustworthy saying’, namely that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”
As we come to today’s passage, at the start of the second chapter of this epistle, Paul is urging something different. He is urging Timothy and the Christians of Ephesus to pray. For he writes: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people.”
Prayer is to be offered for all people, notice, not just for other Christians, not just for people we know well, not only for friends or family. But all people.
Notice too that such prayer is pleasing to God. Prayer is not just Paul’s personal peccadillo or preference. To pray for others is a God honouring, God-pleasing activity, says the apostle. With that in mind, let’s delve deeper into exactly the kind of prayer that Paul is advocating in our passage.
I’ve divided our text into three topics:
- The anatomy of prayer (v.1)
- The priority for prayer (v.4-6); and
- The authorities and prayer (v.2).
Lets look at each in turn…
The anatomy of prayer (v.1)
Firstly, the anatomy of prayer. Because in our opening verse Paul urges that “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people”
Prayer is, at its heart, simply speaking to God – whether its silently in our hearts or out loud. Whether its alone or with others.
And the first three words Paul uses here – petition, prayer and intercession – all refer to speaking to God about other people. To petition God is to ask God for something for someone. To intercede is to pray on behalf of someone in need. Another word for this type of prayer is ‘Supplication’, its to ask God for something we or others’ need.
I’m sure some of you will have heard of the acronym ‘ACTS’ – A C T S. Its an acronym that summarises the different types of prayer we can pray. Its an acronym that can help us follow a healthy, diverse, ‘balanced diet’ of prayer:
- So ‘A’ in ACTS refers to Adoration – praising and worshiping God for who he is and what he’s done for us. A great example of adoration is actually found in the passage we looked at together last week. In verse 17 Paul praised God with these words: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory forever. Amen”. When we pray its so easy to launch into our list of demands, without remembering to praise him for his goodness and his grace – and that’s what adoration is all about.
- ‘C’ in the ACTS acronym, meanwhile, refers to Confession – saying sorry to God. Those of you who are perfect can omit confession from your prayers (!), but for the rest of us confession should be a standing feature of our prayer life. Confession is an acknowledgement of our fallen nature, a recognition of our ongoing need (this side of Heaven) for God’s mercy and grace. So before bringing the Lord your list of prayer requests, take time to apologise for those times when your words and deeds have fallen short – and confidently ask for forgiveness, for Jesus’ sake.
- The ‘T’ in ACTS stands for thanksgiving, a type of prayer that Paul explicitly mentions in our passage. Again, before we launch into a fresh set of requests to God, we should express gratitude for past answers to prayer. We should not be ungrateful children, who take good gifts from our Heavenly Father without ever remembering to say ‘Thanks!’.
- All of which brings us to ‘S’, the end of the ACTS acronym. S stands for that word supplication I’ve mentioned previously. It’s a word that encompasses the types of prayer Paul names today – petition and intercession. It’s a word that means asking God for new things – for gifts, graces and blessings – for ourselves and (especially) for others.
The priority for prayer (v.4-6)
But when we pray for others, what should be asking for. To use Paul’s language, when we are petitioning God and interceding for others, what should we say? What supplications should be on our lips?
Well, of course, in one sense we can pray for whatever we wish, for whatever we know someone needs. So it may include prayer for:
- Healing and recovery from physical or mental illness;
- Restoration of broken or strained relationships;
- Relief from anxiety, stress, loneliness or grief;
- Or for diligence and success at their place of work or chosen vocation.
But worthy those these things are, they are not the priority for prayer that Paul commends to Timothy. Because Paul is more concerned that we pray for peoples’ spiritual welfare. Paul’s number one concern is that we pray for the conversion and salvation of all people. It is Paul’s conviction that we should pray for men and women of every nation to come to Christ.
And why? We are given the answer in verse 4 – because “God wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” And what is this truth? Namely that “there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.”
It should be our greatest passion in prayer to pray that people across the globe get to hear and respond to the Gospel. That people from Azerbajan to Zimbabwe come to believe and trust in God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ.
As Paul explains at the end of our passage, this is the message of salvation that the Church is called to ‘witness’ to. This is the message that Paul himself proclaimed to Jews and Gentiles across the known world.
So when you pray for all people, pray above all for ears to hear the Gospel, and for hearts ready to receive it. Do consult the websites of global mission agencies like CMS and Crosslinks for inspiration. There are always Christian missionaries and new churches around the world in need of our prayer. There are always ethnic groups around the globe who have not yet heard the Gospel preached in their native tongue. So pray for all peoples, and pray for their salvation.
The authorities and prayer (v.2)
Poilticians are not typically held in high esteem are they? With just a few notable exceptions, our political leaders (of all parties) are generally viewed with a high degree of mistrust and suspicion. But as Christians we are to eschew cynicism and pray for our politicians. Rather than rushing to criticise or condemn our rulers, we should intercede for them.
Why? Because the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that so far I’ve omitted to mention verse 2 of our text. There Paul specifically commends praying “for kings and all those in authority”.
We are to pray for our rulers because government is a God-given invention. As Paul spells out more fully in his longer letter to the Romans, government is ordained by God as a way of restraining evil, upholding justice and protecting the weak. Anarchy is not an option in our fallen world. To live in a ’failed state’ (like Somalia) or a place of civil war, like Yemen or Sudan, is a terrible fate.
And so we should pray for our rulers that they will govern well and maintain the peace. For only in such circumstances, says Paul, can we “live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”. It is only under a good government that Christians can worship freely and safely. It is only under the rule of law that we can live (and share) our faith without murder, mugging or other misdemeanours being committed against us.
So lets pray for our government, that it will rule wisely and well. And let’s pray for those nations that lack sound and stable government – nations like North Korea for example. Pray earnestly that peace, prosperity, justice and freedom be enjoyed by all people in every land.
Conclusion
So as I finish, I hope we’ve seen that Paul’s passion this morning is that we all pray bigger prayers. Whether we are praying at home, at church or in a house group, lets be more ambitious in our intercession. Let’s widen the scope of our supplications:
- By praying for all people, not just those close to us – pray global not local.
- By praying for people’s salvation, not just for their short term physical needs.
- And by praying for all those in power, not just ordinary people – praying that they might keep the peace, govern wisely and rule well.
So after all that talk about prayer, there’s only one thing left to do – let’s pray…!