Loving Your Neighbor

Many of you will probably remember the classic 1984 movie, The Karate Kid. That movie contains a very memorable scene. It's become a pop culture reference. In this scene, the teenager, Daniel Larusso, vented his frustration toward his mentor, Mr. Miyagi, for assigning him what seemed to be meaningless tasks - painting a fence, sanding a floor, and waxing a car. Daniel wanted training in martial arts, but instead he heard, "Wax on, wax off."

Then suddenly it all came together and made sense. Daniel realized all these tedious hours of work were part of his training. What seemed like meaningless chores had been cultivating skills and building the strength he needed. Mr. Miyagi wasn't ignoring or even delaying Daniel's request to learn karate. He was fulfilling it in an unexpected way.

In a similar way, if we are supposed to carry out the Lord's commandment to love others as ourselves, we have to be trained by the Holy Spirit. And one of the primary ways the Holy Spirit grows and shapes us is through prayer. When we pray for others, we are building a spiritual skill and strength that we need in order to love like Jesus loves. Our main passage today comes from 1 Timothy 2. PRAYER

*****1 Timothy is the first of two letters that the Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor named Timothy. In chapter 2, Paul addressed the topic of prayer, and he began with the phrase "first of all." Paul stressed that it's important that we pray - and that we pray for everyone. So I looked up the word "everyone" in the original Greek text, and it means everyone! That includes that person who gets on your nerves. Yes, he's included. It also includes the family member who rubs you the wrong way almost every day. Yes, she's included too.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 – “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Paul urged his readers to pray four different types of prayers: petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving. We usually use these terms interchangeably, but their meanings carry different meanings that explain in detail how we should pray.

Petitions. A petition points to a need - something a person lacks. It means appealing to God about a matter.

Prayer. Prayer simply describes communicating with God. That term doesn't emphasize what we're praying for, but to Whom we're offering our prayers.

Intercession. This is the type of prayer we most often think of when we pray for others. An intercession has the idea of a meeting or an interview with someone. It is like an appointment with God in which you present a request.

Thanksgiving. We express thanks when we express gratitude to God for something He's done for us or on behalf of another.

Notice that in his instructions on prayer, Paul even went so far as to command believers to pray for earthly authorities. He wrote these words in a world that didn't have a representative government or 'liberty for all" like we value in America today. The first century culture was one in which authorities could imprison, torture, or even kill anyone who fell out of favor with Roman rule. Paul didn't stipulate between godly rulers and wicked rulers. Instead, he instructed Timothy to practice the pattern of praying for all those who are in authority.

But notice why Paul told us to pray for those in authority in verse 2. So that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. So, we are to pray for earthly authorities because their decisions affect how we live out our lives as followers of Jesus. As we pray for those in authority, we are praying to the ultimate authority: the Lord God. We make our petition to God and ask Him to give us rulers who will let us live for God in righteousness and integrity, protected from harm. For Paul, ‘how earthly authorities ruled’ was the difference between peace and persecution. But no matter who sits in that place of temporary authority, God's eternal authority is still sovereign.

Now would be a good time to evaluate your own prayer life in light of this passage. Who do you pray for? What do you pray about? Ask God to help you in areas that you would like to improve. But all in all, we are to pray. It was George Herbert that said, "Prayer should be the key of the day and the lock of the night."