??A little boy prayed for God to give him a new bicycle. He prayed every night. On the first night, he told Jesus “If you get me a new bike, I will never scream or yell again.” On the second night, he told Him “If you get me a new bike, I will be nice to my siblings forever.” On the third night, he told Him “If you get me a new bike, I’ll do anything you want!”
On the fourth night, the little boy was fed up with Jesus not answering his prayers. He took a statue of Mary, wrapped it in a blanket, and stuffed it in a closet and locked it. He told Jesus, “If you ever want to see your mother again, you better get me a new bike!”
OK, that’s a little humor to get us started, but I’m sure we all know that’s not how prayer works, amen? Thankfully, it’s so much more than that. The great British preacher Smith Wigglesworth once said that God is more eager to answer than we are to ask! Friends, we have an audience with the Creator of the universe any time we want it!
Prayer is one of those areas that it's really easy to be hard on ourselves about. No matter how far along we may be, there is always room for improvement! So I share this teaching with you this evening, not as one who has perfected it. Not by a long shot! With that in mind, let's look at our text:
1 Timothy? ?2:1?-?4? ?ESV??
[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.
??1 Timothy? ?2:1?-?4? ?AMP??
[1] First of all, then, I urge that petitions (specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all people, [2] for kings and all who are in [positions of] high authority, so that we may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. [3] This [kind of praying] is good and acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, [4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge and recognition of the [divine] truth.
The grass fades, the flower withers but the Word of our God will stand forever.
It seems that this is a guideline for public prayer in the church services but it would certainly apply to our own personal prayer lives as well.
First of all ..
Prayer is our first priority.
Acts 4:31
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
If they hadn't prayed first, I think it's safe to assume that the impact wouldn't have been the same!
Now we are going to look at the different types of petitions that Paul tells us to use. Hopefully I won't butcher these words too badly I'm not a Greek scholar In only play one on TV
supplications (deeseis) A need, entreaty that is personal and urgent. Used 18 times in the NT.When the angel told John the Baptist's parents that their prayers for a son has been heard, this was the word used.
prayers (proseuchas) pray to God, i.e. supplicate, worship:—pray (X earnestly, for), make prayer. It often refers to prayers made in a public assembly.
intercessions (enteuxeis)
intervention led by God, marking intersection between heaven and earth as it reflects the Lord's specific will. To hit the mark.
This is the deepest, most intense and most intimate form of prayer. Examples in the Bible would include Abraham interceded for the people of Sodom.
Also Moses whopleaded for God's mercy for the Israelites. Daniel would be another example
thanksgivings (eucharistias)
Thank, Thanks (Noun and Verb), Thankful, Thankfulness, Thanksgiving, Thankworthy. As Tyler recently discussed, this word is sometimes used to describe communion. Thanksgiving is crucial to having an effective prayer life. Does anyone else get really convicted by the story of the ten lepers? I sure do.
Ok, who do we pray for? First of all, we pray for kings and all who are in high positions,
When Donald Trump was president, many Christian leaders rightfully called on us to pray for him. But later, when he wasn't president anymore, some people were mocking us saying “Where are all of the Christians calling us to pray for the president now?” And do you know what? They were right. That's a very fair criticism. We are called on to pray for ALL who are in authority, whether they are members of our party or not, whether we agree with them or not, whether they are Christians or not.Keep in mind that ther was not a single believer in the government that Paul was telling Timothy to pray for.
Friends. God uses imperfect people because that's the only kind of people He has to use
A biblical example would be King Cyrus. He was not a follower of Israels God, but God still used him to bring blessing to His people. In our own history, the Christian faith of Abraham Lincoln was, at best, questionable. Nonetheless, can we deny that He was used of God to end the evil of slavery? Similarly, we can see that Trump was similarly used to overturn the unconstitutional travesty that was Roe v Wade.
Yes, this is God working with less than ideal situations to accomplish His will, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't aim for the ideal when we pray.. Turn with me to
??Psalm 2:10-12 I would encourage you to use this passage as a prayer guide:
[10] Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. [11] Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [12] Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Friends, this is the kind of leadership we should ask God to raise up.
Why do we pray for our leaders?
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,
As you know, the Gospel message is very countercultural. We are on the narrow path and we will be going against the grain most of the time. The Gospel message is offensive. We don't need to make it more offensive by our lives and our conduct..So how do we
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world” (1 Peter 2:12, NLT).
Our society has plenty of negative stereotypes about Christians and unfortunately there are plenty of people who reinforce that. It's our duty as followers of Jesus to let His light shine in this dark world. We see the reason why in verse 4
[4] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Here we get into the sticky area of Calvinism vs Arminianism. Predestination vs free will. Obviously that's a lot more than what we can go into tonight.There are Scriptures like this one, which stress the universal scope of the Gospel. It doesn't matter what color you are. It doesn't matter what your background is. The Gospel message is for all humanity! At the same time, Scripture also says in passages like Romans 8:28-30 and Ephesians 1:4-5 that our individual salvation was something God had ordained from the foundation of the world. Now I don't claim to understand how all of it fits together but as Vance Havner used to say, I may not fully understand electricity but that does not mean I have to sit in the dark!
Spurgeon gives us wise advice on how to navigate these issues: “Until God reveals the roll call of the elect, I will continue to preach the whosoever will Gospel.”
As we conclude, I would like for us to look at John 12:24:
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Of course, Jesus made this statement in reference to His death and that seed that fell to the ground that day began to come to fruition at Pentecost and continues through us today.
Friends, God is going to harvest this earth and the closer we get to that time, the more exciting it is to be alive! He is allowing us to be a partner with Him in that and one of the key avenues He has called us to is prayer. Thank you and keep it real!
