The Power of Prayer - 1 Timothy 2:1-7
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Higgins Lake Baptist Church
Kevin Pierpont, Pastor-Teacher
8/24/03
I just love the faith that children bring to prayer.
I read about a little 8-year-old boy that came home from school
with a stuffed animal he had won at the class Valentine’s
party.
His dad asked him that happened. “Well,” the little guy
explained, “the teacher put all our names together, and then picked
one out. I cheated, though, — I prayed!” (Davy Troxel, New Albany,
Ind. Christian Reader, “Kids of the Kingdom.”)
We need that kind of faith in prayer don’t we?
As we come to the second chapter of 1 Timothy we’ll find
some essential teaching about prayer in the life of the church.
Paul has direction from God about prayer that is especially
important for us. This timely passage is found in the first seven
verse of 1 Timothy 2.
2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all
men,2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead
a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior,4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
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 a ransom for all, to be testified in
due time,7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle; I
am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying; a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and truth.
At the beginning of chapter 2 we find Paul emphasizes to Timothy
the importance of prayer in public worship. Use of the phrase
first of all tells us prayer has a primary importance in the
life of the church. Paul reminds us that one of the primary
functions of the church is prayer. How do we know he’s
speaking to the collective body of believers we call the church
rather than individual believers? We can be confident that Paul is
instructing Timothy in the responsibility and conduct of the church
by the reminder he gives Timothy in 1 Tim. 3:15
…I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct
yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living
God,…
Paul tells Timothy. In the church there should be prayer.
Remember. Mark it down. First things first. Pray.
Paul’s emphasis on prayer is based on the preceding verses in 1
Timothy 1:18-20. How do we know this? The first word in verse 1 of
chapter 2 is therefore. It has been said
that when we see the word “therefore” used in the
scriptures, you need to stop and find out what it’s there
for. Look at 1 Timothy 1:18-20…
18 This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to
the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may
wage the good warfare,19 having faith and a good conscience, which some having
rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck,20 of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered
to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Therefore…
2:1 … I exhort first of all that supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made…
Paul is saying in order to fight the good fight, for the sake of
your faith and for your conscience to be clear you must pray for
others. How is it that we need to pray for other people to have a
clear conscience? Let’s think about this.
How can you have a good relationship with someone you cannot
bring yourself to pray for? And I’m not talking about the kind of
prayer where we say “Lord I want to pray for Howard today, that,
you’ll just fix him good!” I’m talking about the kind of prayer
that is taken to the Lord for others spiritual and physical needs.
I mean the kind of praying for others that asks God to work in and
through their lives for His glory not for my satisfaction. And
doesn’t this involve being truly concerned for others, even those
that rub us the wrong way? Remember what John 13:34-35 tells
us…
34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one
another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
35 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if
you have love for one another.”
If you are praying, with the right attitude, for those you may
not agree with or those that trouble you, you are likely to have a
clear conscience before the Lord, a conscience that does not
condemn you. You are likely to have a good attitude toward others.
Your conscience will not have to prick you for failure to love
others. And I would suggest that if you find your conscience
bothers you about your attitude toward someone then you should be
holding them up in prayer and praying for yourself that the Lord
would help you correct your attitude. One of the beautiful things
about prayer is the positive change in our attitudes toward others
when we are concerned enough to pray for them with a sincere
heart.
And when we love one another we glorify God in the eyes of
others. One of the best testimonies we can have in this community
is to love one another. By this all will know we are Jesus’
disciples.
Paul doesn’t just leave us there with the urgency and importance
of prayer itself but also describes four kinds of prayer.
1 …supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of
thanks…
What are Supplications? These are the requests of other
people. Each Wednesday evening we share prayer request with one
another. We all have heard others say, “pray about this for
me.” These are requests and these requests are the desires or
needs of others. Prayer certainly begins with desires and needs. We
can be holding one another up in prayer whether it is here in the
services or in our own family and private prayer times. And we know
that God always has an ear that hears us. He wants us to bring ours
and others needs and concerns to Him. He cares about each of our
needs.
Paul also mentions prayers. It is the most common term
for this activity and the emphasis is on the fact that we are
praying to God. This is an act of worship, which requires our
respect toward God and a humble attitude.
Intercession is that sort of prayer that is
conversational and a form of petition. This helps us understand
that our prayer ought to be one that is an intimate petition made
by a friend to a king on behalf of someone else. We need to be
bowing before our maker, our king, and in the intimacy of that
relationship to God we can bring our petitions for others needs and
concerns.
And then Paul mentions giving of thanks. Remember, this
passage is instructional for Timothy in the corporate worship of
the church. This thanksgiving is the type of prayer that is a
worshipful prayer as is the intercession mentioned before. We
should be careful not to tack this thanksgiving on the end of our
prayers. A prayer of thanksgiving should be thankfulness for
answered prayers, thankfulness for who God is and what He has done
for us through his Son Jesus Christ. All of our prayers ought to
have some element of thanksgiving in them and at times our prayers
could be only thanksgiving. David gave us a good example of a
prayer of thanksgiving in Psalm 103, which we read together this
morning.
Paul also tells us whom we are to be praying for, all
men. We ought to be praying these kinds of prayers for everyone
not just our best friends or family members but everyone and verse
2 says…
2 for kings and all who are in authority
Paul reminds Timothy here that the church should be praying for
everyone and especially rulers and those in authority. Note that at
the time Paul wrote this he was probably under house arrest waiting
for a trial before Nero. Nero had launched terrible persecution
against the Christians. He eventually had Paul and Peter executed.
Nero was so bloody and ruthless he is said to have had made the
death of Christians “a matter of sport; they were covered in wild
beast’s skins and torn to pieces by dogs; or they were fastened to
crosses and set on fire to serve as torches by night.” (Zondervan
Pictorial Bible Dictionary)
If Paul could urge Timothy that God wanted the church to pray
for rulers and those in authority even under this sort of
persecution, how can we possibly justify a lack of prayer for the
rulers and those in authority in our day?
Some terrible and godless things take place in our society these
days. Some of our leaders in government have gone out of their way
to legalize many things that just a few years ago the average
person never would have dreamed of. It is common practice for
Republicans to despise Democrats and Democrats to despise
Republicans. We make jokes about our political leaders. Sometimes
we have a hard time praying for our political leaders. I remember
when President Clinton was in office a believer telling me they
couldn’t bring themselves to pray for our President and Vice
President at that time.
We may find the condition of our society and the political
landscape, upsetting. And the truth is many of our leaders in
government are unbelievers. Many of those holding public office
have never yielded their lives to the living Christ.
These are the very reasons we must be found praying for those in
authority over us. The early church was often subject to
persecution and opposition. So prayer for those in authority was a
good idea.
And Paul tells us why it was and is such a good idea.
2 … that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and reverence.
It’s a good idea to pray for those in authority over you because
it’s good for you. We may not like everything our leaders do but
they are in a position to make our lives miserable if it weren’t
for the hand of God. Even a corrupt government that rules is better
than anarchy. And God’s Word reminds us that He can use even the
unsaved ruler.
(Prov 19:21 NASB) Many are the plans in a man’s heart, But
the counsel of the LORD, it will stand.(Prov 21:1 NASB) The king’s heart is like channels of
water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.
So Paul’s instruction is to pray for those in authority over you
because God can use them for the good of the Gospel. Or as John
Piper has said that, “it is important to pray for leaders because
the conditions they create can either advance or impede the
gospel.”
We do want to live quiet and peaceable lives don’t we? But
listen to what Weirsbe says; “quiet refers to circumstances
around us while peaceful refers to a calm attitude within
us. The results should be lives that are godly and honorable.”
Why should the church pray for rulers to keep the peace? Is it so we
can live in a peaceful happy world? No. The main idea is not that
we would be able to live in peace and tranquility. But we should
want quiet and peaceable lives so that the gospel
would be advanced, that all people would have the knowledge of the
truth of God. That is what we see in verses 3 and 4.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our
Savior,4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth.
So you see we are not praying for peace for the sake of a happy
life but that God’s word is delivered to a lost and dying world. A
world that needs to be exposed to the truth of God’s Word.
God certainly wants all men to have the opportunity to be saved.
John 3:16, 17 tell us so.
16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but
have everlasting life.17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn
the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
And 2 Corinthians 5:14, 15 also tell us that…
14 … the love of Christ controls us, having
concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;15 and He died for all, that they who live should no
longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on
their behalf. (NASB)
Note that this does not mean all men without exception but it
means all men without distinction - Jews and gentiles, black and
white, rich and poor. Christ died on the cross for the whole world
but the whole world will not be saved. Many know the truth and
reject Christ. But God wants us to pray for them, none-the-less.
God is long-suffering with the lost. 2 Peter 3:9 reminds us that
God may even delay judgment so that the lost can come to
repentance.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that
any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
How will people come to repentance? How can they be saved? Paul
makes it very clear for us. Look at verses 5 and 6…
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and
men, the Man Christ Jesus,6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in
due time,
Paul reminds us that there is one God. In spite of all our
differences there is one God. In spite of all the things that seem
to make us different, we will all have to face one God. There is
not one god for the Hindus and one for Muslims. There is not one
god for Hebrews and another for Gentiles. There is ONE GOD.
But not only is there one God there is only one mediator between
God and men. That mediator is Christ Jesus. In the original
language mediator meant “one who intervenes between two, either in
order to make or restore peace and friendship, or to form a
compact, or for ratifying a covenant.”
There is disharmony between God and men because of our sin. We
are out of fellowship with God because of our sin. We are separated
from God and we need a mediator. Jesus Christ is that mediator and
is the only one able to mediate for us because he is both man and
God. Only Jesus Christ can bridge the gap between God and man.
Paul says in verse 6, Jesus Christ gave himself as a ransom to
save us.
Jesus gave himself for everyone, all kinds of people. This
ransom for all men is “what is given in exchange for another as the
price of his redemption”. (Thayer) Christ died on our behalf. In
our place. But only those who accept his sacrificial gift are set
free from the chains of sin.
But how is it people will come to the knowledge of truth?
Paul told us there is one God, one Mediator, one ransom and he
says I am an appointed messenger.
7 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle; I
am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying; a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and truth.
The term preacher was used for “a messenger vested with
public authority, who conveyed the official messages of kings,
magistrates, princes, military commanders, or who gave a public
summons or demand” (Thayer, p. 346). So Paul calls himself a
preacher for the King of Kings. So the preacher is God’s messenger,
God’s herald of the good news of the gospel of Christ. The preacher
is not one who is to voice his own opinions and ideas but one with
a commission to teach and proclaim God’s Word.
The need for Paul to add, “I am telling the truth, I am not
lying”, implies that some of the church members at Ephesus were
challenging his apostolic authority, as had happened at Corinth.
(Expositors Bible Commentary)
But Paul was under God’s authority and reminds them that he was
sent by God to teach the Gospel of Christ.
Like Paul we are also under God’s authority. We are to be
God’s heralds of the gospel to a lost and dying world. And this is
the message Paul sends to Timothy. He explains the priority for the
church to pray. Pray especially for those in authority, because
this pleases God, because God’s desire is for all men to come to a
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We need to have a renewed understanding of God’s desire for us
to pray. We must not be guilty of prayerlessness for those in
authority over us. You should find on your list (and I hope you
keep a prayer journal or prayer list) the names of government
officials that you ought to be praying for. I hope you will use a
prayer list and add to it some names of leaders you should be
praying for.
We need to understand the power prayer holds for us as God’s
church. God can use the unrepentant, heathen leader. But God wants
us to put His hand in motion in the life of that leader through
prayer. We need to be praying for the salvation of our leaders and
praying that God would use them for the advance of the Gospel
whether they repent or not.
We may not be able to physically go to the far reaches of the
world. But through the power of prayer we can. We can be praying
for the working of God in the lives of people we have never met and
never will.
As I think about Higgins Lake Baptist Church and the fact that
we are a small group of believers in a large area of need I’m
encouraged when I understand that, we have enormous potential in
the eyes of God. We may think we don’t have much influence in this community.
But we can pray for those in positions of leadership in our
community to be influenced by God.
Are you concerned about the condition of the public schools?
Maybe you should develop a list of teachers and principles names to
make a part of your prayer list.
Are you concerned for your community? Get the names of law
enforcement officials and township and city and county officials
and make it your regular habit to pray for them.
Are you disgusted by the lack of morals, character and,
truthfulness and the constant presence of political wrangling in
our national leaders? We need to be praying for them by name.
And don’t overlook the fact that God is concerned about
how you are living your life. It’s not just a matter of being
people of prayer but also of being people of faithfulness to God
and His Word.
Andrew Murray said; “The effective prayer of
faith comes from a life given up to the will and the love of
God. Not as a result of what I try to be when praying, but
because of what I am when I’m not praying, is my prayer answered by
God.” (Andrew Murray - With Christ in the School of
Prayer)
I’m certain God will use us mightily in our community and around
the world if we will just commit our lives to Him in faithfulness
and pray earnestly and faithfully bringing our requests,
prayers, intercession and thanksgiving, before the Lord, for
one another and those in authority.
For… (2 Peter 3:9) The Lord is not slow in keeping his
promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.
Kevin is a husband, dad of eight, pastor and blogger from beautiful Higgins Lake, Michigan 
