First of All, Pray

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. – 1 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV

This chapter is filled with familiar verses around which some have built entire doctrines regarding the church. In many cases, they have ignored the context while focusing on a single concept or idea. But we have to remember that Paul was giving his young disciple, Timothy, instructions regarding his ministry among the people in Ephesus. The focus of this entire chapter appears to be the gospel and the environment in which it thrives and spreads most effectively.

Certain activities and circumstances can hinder the gospel’s impact and make the good news of Jesus Christ difficult to understand. Well-meaning Christians can also conduct themselves in ways that discredit their role as messengers of the gospel. Paul’s primary emphasis in this chapter is the salvation of others, and that is what he is trying to communicate to Timothy. Everything else he deals with becomes the context in which the spread of the gospel flourishes.

He begins with an admonition to pray. Prayer is not a magic formula or secret weapon believers use to get what they want from God; it is intimate communication with their Heavenly Father. The ability to speak directly with God is a privilege every one of His children enjoys.  As the church, we are the people of God and, as such, we should always have a Godward focus in our thinking. Paul tells Timothy to pray for all people and even suggests what to pray. 

Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. – 1 Timothy 2:1 NLT

Paul actually lists four different aspects of prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. Paul chose each word carefully because, in the Greek language in which he penned this letter, each word has a specific meaning that helps illustrate the rich depth that should mark our communication with God.

"Supplications" is the Greek word deeseis, and it carries the idea of determination and earnestness based on a conviction of the need. As believers, we understand that every human being has one primary and pressing need: to know Jesus. When we pray to God on behalf of others, our primary concern should be their salvation. Whatever their perceived or expressed need may be, only a saving relationship with Jesus Christ will truly transform their life. Those who receive healing from sickness but remain unsaved are still under the condemnation of death and face eternal separation from God. To pray for someone’s financial well-being without having a concern for their spiritual health would be short-sighted and, ultimately, unhelpful.

The word "prayers" is the Greek word proseuchas, a more general term that covers all communication with our Heavenly Father. Its focus is on Him, not the one for whom we are praying. We are to lift up all men to God, placing them in His hands and under His care, trusting that He knows what they need. The content of our prayer is less important than the identity of the one to whom we pray. Our requests are based on His character, focused on His faithfulness, and fully dependent upon His power.

"Intercession" (enteuxeis) seems to cover the specific requests we make on behalf of others. When we become aware of a need or circumstance in another person’s life, we are to take it to the Lord. Interceding on their behalf requires that we converse with God about the matter, sharing our concern for their needs. This is a selfless act of love and compassion done for the benefit of someone other than ourselves. Jesus modeled intercession when He prayed in the garden on the night of His betrayal.

“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you…protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.… I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.… Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.… I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” – John 17:9, 11, 15, 17,  21 NLT

Finally, "thanksgiving" (eucharistias) conveys the idea that our prayers are to be characterized by gratefulness. But in this context, Paul suggests that we thank God for the ones we are praying for, including all men, not just some. Again, Paul’s focus is on God. To thank God for someone we would normally be unthankful for is to express trust in His sovereignty; it reveals that we know He is in charge and has a purpose for that person's presence in our life. With this call to unbiased thankfulness, Paul reflects Jesus' words.

“Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” – Matthew 5:44-45 NLT

Prayer is not meant to be formulaic or ritualistic. It is to be marked by a variety and intensity of style and content, with the focus always on God.

Paul goes on to instruct Timothy that the prayers of God's people are to include kings and all those in authority. These people are sometimes the most difficult to pray for. But Paul emphasizes God using these people to help create an atmosphere in which believers might "live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity" and the Gospel might prosper and spread. Why? Because God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. His desire is that all men hear that "there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone" (1 Timothy 2:5-6 NLT). So pray!

But Paul wants Timothy to know that certain things can hinder our prayers and destroy our witness as believers. He mentions anger and controversy. Jesus Himself warned us that "if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God" (Matthew 5:23-24 NLT). Reconciliation and restoration of the relationship is far more important to God than adherence to a set of religious rituals. 

Disunity can derail our prayer lives, but so can our actions. Our behavior among those for whom we are praying can powerfully affect whether they eventually experience the salvation they desperately need. So, Paul encouraged Timothy to make prayer a high priority in his life and ministry and, in doing so, he echoed the words of James.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
– James 5:16 NLT 

Father, thank You for the gracious gift of prayer. Through Jesus, You opened a line of communication that not only allows us to talk to You, but to hear from You. Yet, for too much of my life, I have tended to neglect this lifeline to Your throne room. For the most part, my prayer life ebbs and flows based on my circumstances. When things are going well, the frequency and fervency of my prayers diminish. But when things take a turn for the worse, I became a praying machine, casting all my cares on You because I have run out of options and desperately need Your help. But what Paul told Timothy about prayer is what I needed to hear. My prayer life not only needs to become more active, but also more diverse and other-oriented. I can easily turn prayer into a one-sided monologue where I communicate my needs to You and then wait for Your response. But Paul suggests a more well-rounded, selfless form of prayer that focuses on who You and all those for whom Your Son sacrificed His life. Open my eyes to see the true purpose and power of prayer. I don’t want to pray because I need to, but because I want to. I have been given me the privilege of communicating with You and I don’t want to take it for granted. Amen. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Fighting From Our Knees

18 To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. – Ephesians 18b-20 ESV

Paul ended his description of the armor of God with a call to prayer, strongly advising his readers to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion” (Ephesians 6:18a NLT). Constant communication with the Father is essential for our spiritual survival. Prayer is not simply a tool we use to get what we need from God.

As Paul will show, prayer is not to be used for our own selfish desires either. Throughout this letter, Paul has been addressing God’s mysterious doctrine of the church, the body of Christ. In chapter one, Paul addressed Christ's headship over the church, which He had earned through His sacrificial death and resurrection.

And he [God] put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. – Ephesians 1:22 ESV

And all believers are members of that body because they share a common faith in Christ, and that faith was a gift from God, “not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:9 ESV). The church was the mysterious or previously undisclosed plan of God to miraculously join Jews and Gentiles into one body, “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14 ESV). 

It was God who made us “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Ephesians 2:19 ESV). And it is through the church that “the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:10 ESV). It was Paul’s prayer that the Ephesian believers would “know the love of Christ” and be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19 ESV). Paul knew that God had a divine plan for the church. He also knew that the future success of the church, including all those who would become part of it through faith in Christ, was totally dependent on the work and glory of God. That is why he ended his prayer in chapter three with the following words:

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. – Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

The body of Christ, the church, is a powerful force, but only as long as it remains dependent upon God. It is a divinely ordained agency of change in the world, but only when it remains committed to the will of God and connected to His power made available through His Spirit. When we lose sight of the fact that God saved us and placed us within the context of the body of Christ, and begin to see our salvation as something individualistic and isolated, we miss the whole point.

A self-centered, what’s-in-it-for-me attitude has no place within the body of Christ. Even the armor of God is of little use to the Christian if worn in isolation and utilized as a one-man army. As Christians, we must come to grips with the fact that we are in this battle together. Even the best-equipped, most highly trained army will fall to its enemy if its members fail to fight as one. And without constant communication with and obedience to its commander, even the most powerful army will suffer defeat. So Paul calls the army of God to “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 18 NLT).

There is a sense of camaraderie and co-dependent community in his words. We are to pray not only for ourselves, but for one another. We should desire that every believer on the planet live in the power of the Spirit and in accordance with God’s will. The body of Christ requires members who are healthy, whole, and committed to the cause of Christ. That is why Paul even asks for prayer on his behalf.

And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike. – Ephesians 6:19 NLT

Paul knew he needed the prayers of the saints to remain committed to the call God had given him. He coveted their prayers, and he longed for them to pray for one another.

What more selfless, loving thing can we do than pray for God to protect, guide, strengthen, and embolden our fellow believers? We must realize that our strength, while provided by God, depends on our unity with other believers. Together, we form a powerful force that can dramatically alter the landscape of the world in which we live. Solitary soldiers, even though well-armored, will have little impact “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV).

So we must pray. We must seek God’s face, determined to know His will, lift up our fellow soldiers, and rest in His divine strategy for ultimate victory.

Father, I am amazed at how prayerless I can be at times. My prayer life always seems to ebb and flow based on the severity of my circumstances. When times get tough, I turn into a veritable prayer warrior. But when things are going my way, I tend to go radio silent in my prayer life. In those moments are comfortable in my life, I talk with You less because I think I need You less. But nothing could be further from the truth. I desperately need You at all times, and prayer is not intended to be an emergency response system I use in times of trouble. That is why Paul said, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:15-17 NLT). And Paul reminds me that prayer is not solo-sport with me as the focus. It is a group endeavor. That is why he said, “Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere” (Ephesians 6:18b (NLT). I am part of the divine team You have created and I fight alongside a host of other Christ followers who deserve my support and supplications. I need their prayers and they need mine, so that the body of Christ might remain strong, unified, and able to “resist the enemy in the time of evil” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT). Thank You for this much-needed reminder. Now, help me to live, not as an army of one, but as a prayerful and properly equipped member of the army of God. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.