Read with Me
1 Timothy 2:1-7 (HCSB)
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
Listen with Me
Paul had just warned Timothy to stay close to the true faith, and to never let himself be led off the path like some already had been. Now he reminds him of some things to help him do that.
First was a reminder that he must be a man of prayer, always keeping the lines of communication wide open between himself and God. And that is not much of a challenge, because there is never a shortage of things to pray about. Timothy is to lift up all those in the church, including Paul himself. Requests for the things that he needs are always appropriate, as is intercession for the situations he would be facing on any given day. It gave Paul confidence to know that others were standing in the gap on his behalf.
In addition, Paul urged consistent prayers for those in authority. Paul knew that God Himself had established governmental authority in every nation to ensure stability in society (Romans 13:1-7). And if the government becomes unstable, society itself will become unstable and dangerous, which in turn makes it difficult to share the gospel and to save people.
Paul segues into a short reminder of the core of the gospel, starting with the fact that God himself is the Savior, and that He doesn’t want to merely save a small group of people. He wants to save everyone and to have them come to that knowledge of the truth. That was why everything that Jesus did was not done in a corner, but publicly, and why His instruction was not to form secret societies, but to proclaim the good news publicly.
And Paul himself was appointed, not as a clandestine high priest of a new mystery cult, but as an apostle, a “sent out one”, and a herald, a person who makes public proclamations on behalf of a monarch. And with every fiber of his being Paul was being faithful to that calling, and he wanted Timothy to be as faithful in his.
Pray with Me
Father, I appreciate this dual reminder, first, that our call to pray is not something that is designed to be onerous or boring. There is always plenty for us to hold up in prayer, because everyone we know has needs that we can lift up, supplies that they need, and wisdom that they will need in order to face the challenges of the day. And I appreciate the reminder about how important it is for us to not omit praying for our leaders, or to pray for their failure or downfall. We need to pray FOR them, not against them. And if they are poor at what they are doing, we need to pray Your blessing and grace on them so that they will be better. An unstable society helps no one except those who want to overthrow us, and an unstable society really does make it more difficult to share our faith and to bring others to you. Help me, Lord, to always keep this calling to be a herald of Your good news in the front of my mind, so that I can faithfully do all You have called me to do. Amen.