1 Timothy 2:1-8: The church’s priority (please click here for todays post)

I imagine most churches in the UK are wide of the mark if they measure their public worship against Paul’s words here. He says clearly that the church’s priority is to pray, and it is an ‘urgent’ requirement. This praying is to be carried out in unity and with purity of heart (8). And it comes ‘’first of all’’ (1). That could mean ‘first in time’, i.e. it’s the first thing you should do in a service; or as a priority, so that it is seen as the most important thing you do. I take it to mean the latter.

Notice a number of interesting and important details:

  • There are different types, or forms, of prayer (1; see Ephesians 6:18);
  • Prayer is to be offered for ‘’everyone’’ ;
  • We are to pray for people in authority (2), and be thankful for them too! We may not approve of them. We may not have voted for them. But we do have a solemn duty to pray for them, and to thank God for them. In His sovereignty He has raised them up for a reason. (Remember Paul and his fellow-Christians lived under Roman rule when he wrote these words and they read them. They didn’t have the opportunity of casting a vote);
  • Our prayers will affect the atmosphere of our society (2; see also Jeremiah 29:7). We can pray that the culture will remain open and free so that we can continue to spread the gospel and live the Christian life;
  • In particular, in praying for our leaders, and for all people, we are to remember that this pleases God because He ‘’wants all men to be saved’’ (4). It may be hard for us to believe at times, but God can save those in high authority in our land. (In fact, we are led to believe that there already are many Christians working in and around Westminster, and they need our prayer support);
  • So at the heart of this passage a classic statement is made about the saving work of Christ through the cross (5, 6). We pray for people knowing how much Jesus loves them, and in the certainty that only He can save them. We pray with the confidence that He is able to save them. This message of salvation through Christ’s death lay at the heart of Paul’s ministry (7). Whenever we come boldly before God in prayer it is because of Jesus’ sacrifice. At the heart of all our praying there must be this evangelistic desire that all people may be brought to know God through Jesus. ‘’Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray – not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God.’’ The Message.

What a privilege we have; what a responsibility. Probably most Christians and churches in Britain today need to take these words more seriously, and get on with obeying them; at least, doing so more consistently. Our land desperately needs the urgent, on-going prayers of God’s people.

‘’The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Saviour God wants us to live.’’ The Message.

Prayer: Lord, teach us to pray.