Lifting Holy Hands
1TI 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
1TI 2:8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
What Paul wants young Timothy is that the church needs to be a praying place. Prayer is a strategic element of the life of the church. A church that does not pray is a social group, it is cut off from the one for whom the Church exists. Lifting up holy hands is a sign of praise, in the OT people lifted up their hands. It was a sign of purity and devotion. Much like we teach our children to fold their hands when we pray, or the joining of hands. The position of the hands was symbolic of purity. Psalm 24:3-4 says:
PS 24:3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
PS 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
The position of the hands is symbolic of the position of the heart. So why is it we do not lift hands in prayer? Some will say because of a certain group of people that do that on a regular basis and since we do not agree with them doctrinally we don’t want to be like them, we don’t do that here. Well, we know certain groups that evangelize going door to door, so do we stop evangelizing? NO! Lifting up holy hands is symbolic of the pure heart and worship during prayer.
The first priority of the church: is that it is a place of prayer. When Jesus confronted the moneychangers, he said; “My house is a house of prayer.” Any place dedicated to the Lord is a place of prayer. This building we call a “church” is a dedicated place. It is dedicated to the Lord, therefore it should be a place of prayer. It is not the only place we can go to pray, but it should be identified as a place of prayer. When Paul writes his first letter to Timothy he lists priorities of the church, and at the top of that list is PRAYER.
1TI 2:1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior
Paul wants Timothy and us to know that Prayer should be first and foremost in the life of the Christian and the Church. Prayer should be for everyone. Such a request brings God down into the lives of people everywhere and in an active role in the lives of His people. The prominent metaphor about prayer is that it is a conversation. In a conversational manner we should talk to God about everyone. Not just for the church but for the nation. One of the characteristics of the early church, why they enjoyed the favor of God and man is that they were a praying church. Acts 2:42ff says;
AC 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Do you think it is coincidence that they enjoyed the favor of all around them, and that they were a praying group? NO! the reason they enjoyed the favor of God and of men is because they were a praying group. Not just for the church, but for the people around them. The people were praying daily, and the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Daily they prayed, had fellowship, and enjoyed the Apostle’s teaching, witnessing, sharing and caring. That is why the church grew.
Whenever a decision needed to be made, the church prayed. When deciding who would take the place of Judas, first they prayed. When Peter was in prison, the church prayed. They went to the Temple during the time of prayer, to pray and teach. Their prayer had engaged God in their conversation. They made known their need with thanksgiving. Paul tells us in Phil 4:4
PHP 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
When you asked me to come here to be the evangelist, you did so with prayer, when Loretta and I made the decision to come here, we did so with prayer. Prayer is the lifeblood of the church. God works in an atmosphere of prayer, prayer creates an atmosphere for God to work. A church that prays pleases God. 1 Tim 2:3-4 says
3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
People come to know truth, people come to know Christ because of people engaging in intercessory prayer. We had made our goal here to pray for people that we know who are not saved, and pray for them by name. Let me say this, if you are here, and you do not have Jesus as your personal Savior, if you have not followed Him in baptism, and your grandmother is here praying for you? Give up now, because these godly grandmothers will not stop interceding on your behalf, so you may as well surrender now. There is a godly mother, aunt, father, brother or friend who is praying for you. When I came to Christ in April of 1981, there were people at that revival who did not know me other than that I was a friend of one of the members, and those people were praying for me that night. My friend and his wife were praying for me from the moment they invited me to that revival. I am a Christian today because of their intercessory prayer. And so are you. There is that famous hymn “I am praying for you” everyone of us are here today because someone invited you and someone was praying for you.
3. The church is always in prayer with the one and only mediator. The text we read this morning says 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
This is the greatest reason for the church to become a professional at prayer. We are too often satisfied with being amateurs. Now I am not talking about eloquence of prayer, but all of us having a heart for prayer, a heart for daily conversation with Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. It is the learning method of putting God’s word into our lives, prayer at times is quoting scripture. When we pray, passages of scripture will come to us, how often, maybe without knowing the address, when we are asking God to forgive us do we quote part of the 51st Psalm; Create in me a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. Or maybe we quote 1 John 1:9 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Acts 1:12-14 is a great text for this idea. AC 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
They were constantly in prayer, they had just seen Jesus ascend into heaven. Maybe they were praying for his return, maybe they were praying for the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had told them about. Whatever they were praying for, they were in a constant state of prayer. Now remember I am not talking about that pious prayer position, kneeling or standing, head bowed hands folded, I am talking about engaging God in a conversation. This was the only way to keep in contact with Jesus.
4. The church that is at prayer is a church that is at peace. 1TI 2:8 I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing
Lifting Holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing is a place of peace. We begin every business meeting with prayer. During the meeting we may have different ideas, different views, but in the end we are of one mind, one Spirit because we have “lifted Holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing.” I am told of a business meeting over the selection of a place to build a new building. Many of the men had an idea of the design of the building, they had different ideas of the location of the building. One of the men who was selected to have the devotions that morning went out into the kitchen area, came back with a basin filled with water and a towel. He knelt next to the man nearest the door. He asked him and all the other men to take off their shoes and socks. Now these were proud men, and they were not about to take off their shoes and socks for anyone. The men were uncomfortable, wiggling in their chairs. This man took the water and bathed their feet and dried his feet. He then told that man to wash the feet of the next man, and so on down the line. When someone washed your feet, you would wash the feet of the next man. I am told that it was amazing how well that meeting went from then on. This simple act reminded them who they were there for, they prayed and then had their discussion. They did not come away in total agreement, but they did come away without hostility or anger. A church that is noted for hostility and anger is a church that is not in prayer. We pray for others who are sick or in need, sometimes we know that they are sick or in need because of their own doing, because of sin in their life that they will not give up. We pray for God to grant mercy and grace even though we know they do not deserve it. Some may have a problem praying like that, I am reminded that Jesus prayed like that for us, all of us, and we did not deserve it. Our hearts should soften, remembering that we too do not deserve God’s mercy and grace for we are all sinners. Need I remind you the words of Paul in Romans 3:23? When our hearts soften, we are not in anger. Maybe we are angry at God because of suffering of a loved one? I confess though I was not angry at God, I did in some way question why? Why did this have to happen? I know, I should not ask why, but ask what are you trying to teach me through this? But I did in a way question God, when seeing Brenda, Joan, and Barbara went through. How unfair it was to them, they who did nothing to cause that cancer to invade their bodies. But then I am reminded how unfair the cross was. It humbled me, soften me deeper, and changed my outlook. The suffering was temporary, their new body is eternal, they are in the place where it can never harm them again. And they are in that place, Heaven, where we who are in Christ shall see them again, and nothing will separate us from them or any of our loved ones in Christ again. They are in the place of their eternal reward. That helps me to pray without anger or disputing, to pray with tenderness and understanding
We will profit spiritually if we will take the opportunities that we have to come together for a time a prayer. The same results will happen if the church today practices what the early church did and make prayer a priority. If we really want to enhance experiencing God as a church body, then come together in prayer groups. Sunday mornings come early and join us for a time of prayer, Wednesday night we join for prayer and study. Develop a prayer group with your neighbors, a time to come together and pray and study. Home Bible studies are a great way to experience God. They did that in the early church, they gathered daily from house to house (Acts 2:46,5:42). Pray scripture with that group. Pray for the leaders of our country and the leaders of our congregation.
When I was working at Winn-Dixie, one of the few jobs I had while attending JBC, we had 3 Christians working the night shift together. Well 3 that I knew of at the time. Our new manager was very oppressive, the mood and attitude of the workers was down and disheartening. It was no longer a joy to come to work there. We decided to do something about it, we gathered during our break time to pray. As we did and others found out about it, they joined us. Soon we announced it over the store PA system, even customers came to the back to join us. And the attitude of the place changed, no longer was there disputing or anger. No longer was it the feeling of oppression, the place once again became a joyful place to work, we looked forward to our time of prayer and fellowship. Even the district manager came back to join us. If that could happen in a small grocery store, what could happen in a congregation?
What would it look like when we gather here, in the hallways, in the pews, in the classrooms, in the kitchen to have prayer groups praying for the worship service and the ones who will attend. We have the places to gather so why not do so. What about the worship team, the ones serving at the table, and the one preaching that morning gather together for prayer before the service? That could be what we need to experience God in this place. So let us commit ourselves to put prayer as a priority in our lives.
I am convinced there is someone in this place today that needs prayer
I am convinced there is someone here today that needs Christ in their life
I am convinced there is someone here today who needs healing or forgiveness
I am convinced there is someone here today who needs to rededicate their lives
During this time of decision if you fit in any one of these groups, I invite you to come forward. We will pray with you and for you, whatever the need. Don’t let pride steal the JOY you can have, by coming forward today.
