Oct. 17

1 Timothy 2

In his self description at the beginning of this letter, Paul identifies himself by emphasizing his credentials as an apostle, and his authority as commanded by God.  He did this to encourage Timothy and now that we are reading this, I believe his words are to encourage us as well.  His words should not be taken lightly.  We are approaching the end of our 40 Days of Prayer journey and I have to say, it has impacted me tremendously.  Our spirits were opened up to the wisdom of who God is, and we learned how to pray with the intention of changing our hearts and the culture through prayer. While we may have prayed for our family, friends, and loved ones, as I read the Apostles instructions on Godly worship and prayer I was reminded that we are commanded to pray for everyone. It's easy to pray for people we like, but what about our enemies?  What about the person who might have offended you?  We are commanded to pray for our government and those who are in authority, whether we agree or disagree with what we see happening around us. We are also told we can find something to thank God for regarding all men. Even those who persecute us and are against us have a place in the over-arching plan of God.  I don't know about anyone else but this challenges me.  It's hard for me to thank God for the defiant 5 year old in class or pray for my neighbor who gives new definition to "extra grace required".  However the core of this truth on prayer is found in verses 3 through 6. "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." The purpose of prayer is so that everyone will be saved and come to know Jesus, therefore the gospel must be presented to all without reservation. This actually can be done with very few words, all we have to do is pass along the free gift of love and grace that we have received through Jesus. It costs us nothing to receive it, nothing to give it, yet it cost Christ everything for us to have it.  When we worship and pray, it's not about us, it's about the One who gave it all for us.

Randi