Pray for Everyone
Study Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Background 1 Timothy 2
Lesson 6

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Key Verse

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;

1 Timothy 2:1

 

INTRODUCTION

The Epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy along with Titus are collectively referred to as the Pastoral Epistles, as they to a large degree deal with church leadership, discipline and governance. In our study the Apostle Paul will address the issue of public prayer, a very important area in the individual and spiritual life of the church, as he sought to tackle some concerns in the Ephesian church.  

Conditions at Ephesus demanded urgent attention and Paul’s instructions to Timothy have found resonance and relevance among Christians and in the church, in the succeeding centuries.

Paul and his long-time evangelist companion Timothy (Acts 16:2), had arrived in Ephesus to find the Ephesian church in some state of disarray. False teachers had just about taken over the church as Paul had earlier predicted (Acts 20:29-30).  The Apostle immediately began to implement the necessary measures to put the church on proper footing and expelled two of the false teachers, Hymenaeus and Alexander, (1 Tim 1:19-20).

For reasons we are not told, Paul could not remain in Ephesus to complete the task as he had to press on to Macedonia. The situation however was still critical and so he asked Timothy to remain in Ephesus, to rectify the situation and re-establish necessary church order. Timothy was given instructions to deal with the heretics who had become leaders in the church; “As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer…”1 Tim 1:3.

It is noteworthy that throughout the Scriptures false teachers have arguably posed the greatest threat to the people of God. This situation is not surprising since false teachers essentially follow their leader Satan, whose ‘stock in trade’ is lies. They typically pursue their own selfish ends and necessarily teach falsehoods and distort the clear teachings of the Scriptures.(Gen. 3:1-4; 2 Peter 2:1; Jer.14:14).

Paul’s instructions to Timothy related to the false teachers that had infiltrated the church, church life and its leadership and personal exhortations for Timothy to perseverance and godliness in the face of opposition.

Note, that though these directives were sent to Timothy to be applied at Ephesus, at the same time they were sufficiently general to have been an invaluable guide to Timothy, not only at Ephesus but through his life. By extension, these instructions are applicable to all ministers of the gospel in every age and land.

Timothy’s first assignment was to correct the drift from apostolic teaching that had resulted in the destructive developments in the church and secondly he was to establish order in public worship.

Today’s lesson focus is on public prayer and it is interesting that the state of public worship is one of the first areas of church life that reveals what is going on in the church. By focusing on the state of public worship, Paul targeted the first area essential to reversing the church’s slide away from proper behaviour and worship.

The influence of the false teachers had poisoned the church in many areas. Among other things, they had persuaded some of the women to follow them (5:11-15: 2 Tim 3:1-7), public worship was in disorder, new leadership was needed and the conduct of the church had to be restored. The whole purpose of the Christian ‘walk’ had been side tracked and so Paul commanded the church to refocus on prayer for all people, especially for those in authority.

The Old and New Testaments are replete with calls, commands and injunctions to prayer among the faithful and we would do well to be rigorously exercised in this most essential element of our spiritual life.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14.
 

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me".  (Psalm 50:15). 

"Take words with you and return to the LORD," , (Hosea 14:2).   

"Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord," (Acts 8:22).

Prayer is clearly an indispensable weapon in combating the work of the devil on both the individual and corporate levels and Christians are exhorted to pray for everyone, especially for those in authority.

The benefit we will get as we study this lesson will only come when we understand what the basic elements of worship to God has been from man was created. These elements are prayer, praise, and worship.

There are good reasons for all these three essentials. If done in the right way, it will please God and affect men and society positively, for it will show or reveal what is in the heart of the people of God.

The corrupt heart will lead to corrupt forms of prayer, praise, and worship.

Hence Paul’s second assignment was for Timothy to bring order to the public worship of the Church. We will see what that involved and what is proper worship.

TEXT

Verse 1.   Paul firmly charged Timothy, (and everyone else), to public prayer as a matter of first priority.

First of all….. not to be thought of as establishing an order of worship but rather to set prayer as a matter of primary importance. Prayer in all its forms should occupy a central place in the church's service of worship.  Note that he does not prescribe a specific form of prayer.

We can learn much from investigating why the Apostle Paul puts  prayer first. Firstly, when we pray, from the very start prayer focuses our hearts and eyes on God. We begin immediately by recognizing God and who he is and showing that we understand that he is right there in the midst of us.  The presence of God makes us understand the reality of life and gives us power to focus and to gain strength.

Second, when we pray and recognize that we are in the presence of God, we begin to see God and his world in the right perspective and then the myriad problems that we all face on a daily basis do not quite appear to be so overwhelming.

We come to appreciate our humanity, what we are doing wrong, what  God is doing in our lives and we begin to see that we must obey God in what he has instructed in every area of our life.

When we come together as brethren to worship God and pray, focusing together on the greatness of God, something special is done to our hearts.  This effect on us is different from what happens when we pray to God privately.

Psalm 73:17 tells us clearly that when we assemble with the congregation, often the solutions to problems that we never saw before appear, for we now have a different perspective, simply because we are in the congregation, concentrating on prayer and recognizing the presence of God together with others of like minds.

Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.

Paul helps us now as he gives three forms of prayer and one form of praise.  This is in the form of a charge, not a request.  He tells us there should be “supplications”:

Supplications…(seeking, asking, entreaty to God).  This word means

“ the requests of the people”, and reflect the actual, day to day real life situations in the life of people who face different kinds of pressure, struggles, pain and disappointments.  Every saint is to be involved in meeting those requests or needs and so as James says, when someone who is hungry comes, the Holy Spirit often expects us to be the agency to solve the kinds of requests involved in “supplications”.

This is where Galatians 6:2 tells us we share the needs of people,  “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”. God uses the support of the brethren to meet the needs of the suffering saints.

Then Paul refers to “ prayers”. One writer defines this word as follows and explains:

“That sounds so general for us in the English translation that it does not help us much, but in the original language this is a special word that is only used for requests which only God can meet.  The first kind of requests, “ supplications”, are requests that we can get involved in… but all of us know that there are some requests that only God can meet -- somebody is heartbroken, somebody is suffering from some terrible experience he does not understand and nobody can explain it to him.  Only God can meet that need.  That is the kind of request Paul is talking about.

We are to bring those before the Lord and pray about them together.”

Prayers are therefore directed to obtain the good of others.

Intercessions (pleas on behalf of or against) means intimate petitions, and the word comes from describing the practice of ‘intimate petitions made by a friend to a king on behalf of someone else’. So when the saints meet in corporate prayer as a church, they recognize that they are children of the King and come to the King because of their intimate relationship, expressing the needs and special problems that others have, making petitions on their behalf.

So Paul’s instructions are all shades of prayer with different emphases.  Now thanksgiving, a form of praise, is put forth as an indispensable part of any worship and prayer activity.  One writer summarizes:

The supplications are petitions addressed to God; prayers include petitions but also thanksgivings, adorations, etc.; intercessions are usually thought of as pleas upon behalf of others; and the thanksgivings are expressions of gratitude and appreciation for blessings God has already bestowed, no prayer, in any sense, being complete without thanksgivings.

Logically then, contrived prayers and worship and anything done in a mechanical way makes no sense to God. The singing of hymns of praise which we do not mean should be avoided.  Anything done in thanksgiving must express the greatness of God and the truth in our hearts.

One may wonder when we sing words like:

‘Take my silver and my gold

Not a mite would I withhold”

Whether we ever mean it and whether God does not start laughing at that part. If saints ever begin to mean what they sing in that song, or in many other songs, then the financial problems of the church would be completely over and solved.  The church would overflow with so much love and compassion and caring that it would be marvelous.

This is what Paul wants when we pray together and give thanksgiving and praise to God.

These prayers are to be offered by the saints on behalf of all men. A concern for all of mankind is to be manifested in prayers, for all men without regard to rank, sect, party, country, race or name. Here is an indication of God’s universal concern for all men.

Verse 2.   The injunction of verse one is expanded here for particular reference to governments and those in authority. God sets up governments and they were constituted for the public good and benefit of people. Should the gracious pleas and prayers on behalf of those in authority be answered, then citizens stand to enjoy good and peaceable lives.

This injunction was particularly important in a place like Ephesus, where pagans ruled.

Early Christians were often accused of undermining the state when they claimed that their God was higher than Caesar.  It was important that they could point out that by being good citizens they supported the state. 

They could then show that they would be good citizens by praying for the Emperor, not praying to him.  Prayers should be made for him as well as for all those in high positions, thus covering all positions down to the local level. 

In praying for our governments, we take the most likely course to lead us to having a peaceable and quiet life. The exiled Jews in Babylon were commanded to: …seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace, Jer. 29:7.  

One writer comments:

The meaning here is, that while all men should be the subjects of prayer, those should be particularly remembered before the throne of grace who are in authority. The reason is, that so much depends on their character and plans; that the security of life, liberty, and property, depends so much on them. God has power to influence their hearts, and to incline them to what is just and equal; and hence we should pray that a Divine influence may descend upon them. The salvation of a king is of itself of no more importance than that of a peasant or a slave; but the welfare of thousands may depend on him, and hence he should be made the special subject of prayer.  

Furthermore, there is One Mediator who gave Himself a ‘ransom’ for all men and he acts and has acted on behalf of all men. Ransom is ‘what is given in exchange for another as the price of his redemption’.  

Men can find Jesus in many ways and through different circumstances, but Jesus is the only path to God and there is only one narrow gate for those who want to have life. 

For that reason prayers should be made for all, so that all may come unto the knowledge of the truth concerning Jesus Christ and so avail themselves of the salvation God has provided. 

The man…Jesus’ identification with the race renders all men his brothers and makes him the ultimate ‘kinsman redeemer that pays a ransom for his brothers and sisters. His qualifications as a mediator are impeccable, as he is both man and God. 

…A ransom….to be testified.. there are different interpretations of this phrase. Some believe Paul referred to the fact that prior to the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection, the details of God’s redemption plan was not clear to anyone including the prophets. In due time, in God’s appointed time, all the parts came together as Jesus paid the ransom for the redemption of men and secured their long promised salvation. (1 Peter 1:10-11; Gal. 4:4).

One writer comments in part:

Paul says that it was a doctrine of revelation that redemption was to be provided for all men, and that it was intended that the testimony to this should be afforded at the proper time. It was not fully made known under the ancient dispensation, but now the period had come when it should be communicated to all.

Verse 7.   Here Paul speaks of a very significant personal impact of the revelation now manifest, that of Jesus ‘as ransom for all’. God’s redemption of sinners through Christ was to be made known to all men, Jews and Gentiles alike. Previously Israel had had a limited role in carrying out this task but now Paul revealed that he had been placed in the office or appointed to the office of preacher, apostle and teacher of the gospel, to the Gentiles. This was no doubt a reference to Jesus designating him to this work, (Acts 9:15-16; Cor. 9:1; Gal.1:11-12). 

He was commissioned particularly to preach to the Gentiles the good news of redemption and salvation by Jesus Christ and the doctrine of Christ's mediation. He was to instruct the Gentiles in faith and the knowledge of the truth (faith and verity).

Those who would preach must avail themselves of the ‘truth’ and like the Apostle, they must also be faithful and trusty.

I speak the truth....a form of oath, a solemn declaration as there might have been those at Ephesus who denied that Paul could be an apostle.

(See Romans 9:1; Galatians 1:20).

Note this evangelistic thrust and assertion by Paul is consistent with ‘prayers being made for all men, God’s desire to have ‘all men saved’ and His provision of a ‘mediator, the man Christ Jesus’.

Note that there is one God, one Mediator, one Gospel, and Paul was a preacher of this one gospel. This was Paul’s authority. He was appointed by Jesus to teach and to preach. As a teacher, he patiently taught the great doctrines, so that the Gentiles would understand how great God was. 

Paul had to be very careful in how he explained the truths of Christ, for Gentiles had no real background in Scripture.  He had to carry out his mission in faith and truth, in complete dependence on God and in God’s power alone and in such a way that Gentiles would understand that God loves all men.

Verse 8.   As an apostle, a preacher and teacher of the faith to the Gentiles, Paul desired or wished….that men pray every where….

The Jews believed that prayers made at the Temple in Jerusalem were particularly effective and the heathen also had the same idea in regard to their temples. Jesus taught and Christians believe that God may be worshipped anywhere and should be worshipped anywhere and everywhere and He is equally near and accessible in all places.

Some also see every where as applying to the universality of Paul’s apostolic instructions. That is, wherever Christians gather these instructions are to received and honored.

Prayers are enjoined on all men and in the instances of public worship, it is not confined to deacons, elders or pastors but all men in the congregation can and should pray. Some even interpret this as meaning that only men should offer public prayers in Christian assemblies, since the verses 9-15 specifically address women issues in the church as opposed to men.

Lifting up…This is not a prescription for physical posture in prayer but the lifting of the hands denoted supplication or a plea or entreaty, as in the ancient practice of presenting the uplifted hands in respectful petition to God. ( See Neh. 8:6; Psa. 141:2 and Lam. 3:41. Exod. 9:29, 33; 1 Kings 8:22).

..holy hands means when we come to pray it should not be with hands stained with sin or hands that are still dabbling in sin. In Psalm 26:6, the Psalmist metaphorically captures our necessary pre-prayer routine. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:

Without wrath and doubting…It is not where we pray that counts but it is our mood, disposition and spiritual situation that matters. Our minds should be clear of all residual anger, malice or evil intentions. Jesus addressed this matter in Matthew 5:22-24….

“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift”. 

Without wrath. That is, without the intermingling of any evil passion; with a calm, peaceful, benevolent mind. There should be nothing of the spirit of contention; there should be no anger towards others; the suppliant should be at peace with all men. It is impossible for a man to pray with comfort, or to suppose that his prayers will be heard, if he cherishes anger. 

We are instructed to approach God in confidence (Heb. 11:6; Rom. 8:15) but doubting here is not a reference to uncertainty or hesitancy on the part of those praying. It is a prohibition against coming to God in prayer when one is still upset over some a situation or is in the middle of some dispute, heated debate or contention, when the mind is still in an agitated state.

Prayer is to be offered in a calm, serious and sober state of mind.

CONCLUSION

Christians are often consumed with their own personal interest and the concerns of those they love. While they recognize the need and accept the command to evangelize, often it is only within the confines of the Matthew 28 command. Here Paul would have us cognizant of God’s universal concern for all men, his provision and desire for their salvation and the means he provided; a Mediator that has paid their ransom.

It is important we see the rationale for all this. There is one God, the God of all people; there is one mediator between God and all mankind and so the church should diligently pray for all people. The church should be particular, especially in view of God's willingness and desire that none should perish but that all should come "to the knowledge of the truth".

There is a tendency to write off governments and those in authority as instruments of the Devil but God would have us pray for them and Christians stand to benefit from their wise decisions.

The practice of prayer must be the practice of all Christians and in the will of God, done in the proper posture and disposition.

Before the gospel is carried to men there must be prayer. This prayer must be made with hands free from the pollution of sin.

We are only fooling ourselves when we think that our prayers are acceptable to God when we carry anger, malice, feelings of superiority to other men and all other manner of evil feeling in our hearts.

Prayer in all the forms noted above by Paul and the evangelistic work which follows, is part of the church’s purpose.  One writer appeals to the church as follows:

“ The gospel is set at the heart of life, and life will be healed when the church functions properly.  The church is the key to life, the most relevant body on earth.  The church is the solution to the drastic problems that have baffled the minds of statesmen and others in our area.  We hold the answer.  That is why God has called into being this most remarkable people called “the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Let us have God take our lives, change our hearts and our life, so that we always live in the way of truth and faith and never do anything or behave in any way that is in contradiction to the commandments of God. 

Let us commit ourselves to God so that he will take our lives and make them count.  Let us obey and cease pretending that we have given all to God.  Let us pray that he will change us and that He will use us to change our communities.