hOw dO yOu pRay?

1 Timothy 2:1-7


I thank God because I am blessed with this privilege: to share the first message about our theme for this month. I thank God because even if I’m just a beginner, I get the privilege of being in the beginning, like this one. Well, it is a privilege indeed, for our theme for this month is Prayer. Some say, “Our highest privilege is to talk to God”. Others say, “To walk with God, we must talk to God”. And yes, they are right. It is really a privilege to talk with God as we walk with God. But how should we pray? What are the “things” that we should pray for? And what are the “reasons” why we should pray for those “things”? Before we answer these questions, let us first take a look at 1 Timothy 2:1-7.


A. The Range of Priorities in Prayer (v. 1-2a)

One of the questions we have a while ago is “What are the ‘things’ that we should pray for?”. In the first verse of 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul was telling Timothy that prayers should be made for everyone. And he wasn’t just referring to everyone inside the church, because he included “kings and all those in authority”. Let us not forget that Nero was the emperor of Rome at that time. We all know that this ruler was a notorious persecutor of Christians. He and together with those under his authority were persecuting Christians yet Paul was telling Timothy to instruct the Christians in Ephesus to pray for the authorities! Imagine having a Philippine president who persecutes Christians just like Nero, how hard could it be? Going back to Paul’s time, it was an era in which a Christian finds it easy to die for Christ, but finds it hard to live for Christ.
So brothers, we should be grateful because even though our government is not perfect, at least they are not persecuting us. I’m not saying that we should tolerate their mistakes, but instead, just like Paul’s command, we should pray for them! We intercede for them! We should remember everyone in our prayers, Christians or non-Christians, whatever their status in life is. It was Jesus himself who said that we should pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:44). But why? Why should we pray for everyone? Why should we pray even for those people outside the church? Why should we pray even for those who persecute us? That’s what we are going to fin out in our next point.

B. The Reasons and Purposes in Prayer (v. 2b-7)

In verse 2, Paul urges the church to pray for kings and authorities, “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”. So this is the reason why Paul was telling us to pray for them. It is for us to live “peaceful and quiet lives” in all “godliness and holiness”. It’s interesting to notice how Paul was insisting godliness in his Pastoral letters. Maybe we should consider the connectivity between “praying under persecution” and “godliness”.

In 2 Peter, the apostle told us to make every effort to add to your faith goodness; then knowledge; then self-control; then “perseverance” and then to “perseverance”, “godliness”! Praying under persecution is an act of perseverance, and perseverance results to godliness. This should be one of our reasons in praying: that we become godly.

Another reason why Paul was urging us to pray for everyone is because this is pleasing to our Lord. In verses 3-4, Paul said: This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. So God desires for all men to be saved. We should have the same desire and therefore we must pray for everyone so that they too “may come to a knowledge of the truth”.
But what is this truth that Paul was telling us about? That Jesus died for all men, as stated in verses 5-6, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time”. This is the truth that in the fullness of time Jesus gave himself as a ransom for “all men”! And this is why we should pray for “all men”! This is why in verse 7, Paul said that he was a teacher of the “true faith” to the Gentiles. Paul was emphasizing his ministry to the Gentiles and we should consider the fact that the authorities in the Roman Empire were Gentiles. So discrimination was out of the picture. Either Jew or Gentile, the truth must be preached. And that’s how it is in our prayers: Christians or non-Christians, slaves to the highest authorities, rich or poor, we should pray for them all.

So friends, I encourage you to consider this instruction of the apostle Paul. Let us thank God our Savior for reminding us through this message that God desires for all men to be saved. Let us thank Him for His love that conquers this whole world of sinners, in which you and I are part of it.

So now that we are reminded of this, how then should we respond to this call? Being aware of the situation of our country, the situation of our economy, the issues around the government, the tragedies that happened not just in our country but around the world, I really believe that the best time to pray for all of them is right at this very moment. I urge you to just spend a moment in prayer…just a silent prayer…keeping in mind the realities that are happening around the globe…the people who still haven’t come to a knowledge of truth…let us pray for them…
Now brothers, keep in mind that God loves the world and He desires for all men to be saved. Should we pray for them? Yes we should, we just did! Now should we reach out to them? If God wants them to have a knowledge of the truth, isn’t it right to preach the truth to them? I think it is. As we pray for them, maybe we should also put our prayers into action. After all, it is our Great Commission: to go and preach the gospel. Good day and God bless us all.