Fervent Praying

Passion For All People

10.9.22 [1 Timothy 2:1-7] River of Life (18th Sunday after Pentecost)

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord and the Savior who gave himself as a ransom for all.

For the child of God, prayer is meant to be as natural & instinctive as breathing out. Lots of times, we have a many reasons to pray. Worries weigh heavily on our hearts. Our loved ones suffer & struggle. When we encounter personal hardships, when our loved ones languish, the fire in the belly for praying is stoked and roaring.

We tend to think of these moments as dark times in our lives. In these moments, we are keenly aware that in this life we (Ps. 23:4) walk through the valley of the shadow of death. (Ps. 50:15) We call upon the Lord in our days of trouble. We seek his strength and his deliverance during our bad days. This is good and pleases God.

It is sad that this good practice often falls by the wayside when things are looking up, when the days are bright, & nights are calm. Sometimes, we call out to our Heavenly Father as frequently as detached young adults do their parents. Only when we’re in trouble. Only when we need something. Only when we have nowhere else to turn. Even though prayer ought to be natural and instinctive for the child of God, it seems that all kinds of other people—who do not know our God of matchless power, mercy, and wisdom—put us to shame when it comes to prayer.

So Paul’s words to the young pastor Timothy are good for children of God like us to meditate upon today. (1 Tim. 2:1) I urge you to pray in a variety of ways for all people—especially for those in positions of power and consequence. Again & again in Paul’s letters, we see him imploring people to pray. Paul encourages people to be (Rm. 12:12) faithful in prayer. In Col., he tells them to (Col. 4:2) devote themselves to prayer. In 1 Thess. he encourages them to (1 Th. 5:17) pray without ceasing. In his letter to the very people Timothy was serving, Paul wrote: (Eph. 6:18) Be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Each of these encouragements to pray more are rather generic. These words from 1 Timothy 2, seem to be far more specific. (1 Tim. 2:1-2) Pray for all people, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. So it seems that this kind of praying had fallen into disrepair. It seems that the prayers of the Ephesians whom Timothy was pastoring had turned inward. Perhaps, as does happen still among God’s people, what they had been praying for most often revealed their own partisan way of thinking and looking at their world. It could be that what and whom they did not pray for exposed some hidden prejudices. It could be that their prayers were more geared towards getting a more comfortable lives for themselves, rather than advancing the kingdom of God so that the way, the truth, and the life would be known among the people of their city.

In an effort to circle the wagons, the church in Ephesus had slowly but surely begun to see the outsider as the enemy. And, in their case, this was not without reason. Ephesus was a place that Paul knew well and a city that we know quite a bit about from the Holy Scriptures.

During Paul’s 3 years in Ephesus (Acts 19:10) all the Jews and Greeks who lived in that area heard the Word of the Lord. (Acts 19:11-12) In Ephesus, the Lord did extraordinary miracles through Paul. His handkerchiefs were taken to sick people and they were healed. Evil spirits ran for the hills. So many sorcerers burned their wicked scrolls that the total value was more than 100 years wages. (Acts 19:17) The name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor and (Acts 19:20) the word of the Lord grew in power. Things were going great. Until the city turned on them.

The Ephesian economy was tied to the idol trade. People came from far and wide to worship the goddess Artemis. And Paul was teaching people that (Acts 19:26) gods made by human hands were not gods at all. Soon there was a riot and Paul and his friends were the targets.

Shortly after this, Paul left. He warned them about (Acts 20:29) the savage wolves who were to come. He told them men from among them would (Acts 20:30) distort the truth and draw Christians away from the truth. But in Revelation 2, we are told of Ephesus' faithfulness. They could not (Rev. 2:2) tolerate wicked people. They sniffed out false apostles. They endured many hardship for Jesus’ name. But then there is this strange statement from our Lord. (Rev. 2:4) Yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken the love you had at first.

What could this mean? The Ephesians were doctrinally steadfast but they struggled to see the lost as those they were called to love, witness to, and pray for. They loved God, but not those who were living like their spiritual enemies. Can you relate? Examine your prayer life. Do you pray for the souls of those who’ve taken a political stand against your views? Do you long for those who shout love is love to see that only God is love? Do you seek out opportunities to witness about the truth in love to argumentative atheists and contemptuous abortion advocates?

Doctrinal faithfulness is not meant to be an academic exercise. To know God is not merely about memorizing facts and passages. To know God is to know his love and to mirror that love. Doctrinal purity is always meant to produce passion for the lost, never disdain.

The Old Testament is filled with examples for us. (2 Pt. 2:5) Noah preached righteousness even as he was constructing an ark his wicked neighbors mocked. (Gen. 18) Abraham prayed on behalf of Sodom—and he had seen their wickedness first hand! He begged God to save the whole city for the sake of 10 faithful believers.

The Lord our God has always made it his mission to testify about his righteousness and love to notoriously wicked groups. He sent Jonah to Nineveh. He sent Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to the narcissistic Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. He sent Daniel to the Persian King Darius. God has always (1 Tim. 2:4) wanted all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth about themselves and their standing before God. God has always wanted all people to know of the ransoming work of Jesus Christ. He is the one true God & the only mediator between God & man.

For the most part, Jesus lived a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and holiness. There are thirty some years where we know little to nothing of what he said and did. Yet, Jesus did not seek a life of comfort and ease. He came to proclaim the truth. (Rom. 3:23) All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All people can only be justified through the redemptive work of God’s own Son, Jesus. The one true God is the Maker, Preserver, and Redeemer of all people—Jews and Gentiles, men and women, successful go-getters and struggling junkies, the highly educated and those with severe intellectual disabilities. Sinners are saved only because of God’s unconditional and undeserved love, not because they have cleaned themselves up, amended their ways, or made room for Jesus in their hearts and lives. We all need Jesus as our Savior. Throughout his time on earth, Jesus made it clear that he came to (Mk. 10:45; 1 Tim 2:6) give his life as a ransom for all people. That is why God sent his Son, because (Jn. 3:16) he so loved the world.

(Mk. 8:1-9) Jesus had compassion on a crowd of Gentiles, so he fed the 4,000 in a way quite similar to how he fed (Mk. 6:35-44) 5,000 men from Israel. (Mt. 15:21-28) He healed the daughter of the Canaanite woman. (Lk. 8:26-39) He cast out the demons that were tormenting the one who called himself Legion.

Even though Jesus came primarily for the lost sheep of Israel, he did not only go after those who seemed to have their lives together. He spent time with those who were powerful, connected and intellectually gifted like (Jn. 3:1) Nicodemus and those who were none of those things, just (Mt. 19:14) infants. He was not afraid to have dinner with Pharisees and also tax collectors. Jesus associated with people who loathed one another to demonstrate to them what God’s love looks like and does. He discipled (Lk. 6:15) political zealots and (Mt. 8:5-13) healed the servant of a Roman Centurion. Jesus healed the mother-in-law of his close friend Peter and Malchus, the servant of the high-priest who hated him.

And on the cross, he continued this crusade. (Lk. 19:41-44) Jesus wept for the city that cried out for his crucifixion, (Lk. 23:34) he prayed for his executors, and (Lk. 23:43 blessed the thief who had earlier joined in on (Mt. 27:44) mocking him. Jesus didn’t do any of this to be known as someone who works across the aisle. He did all this because he came to give his life as atonement for the sins of all people. He didn’t live this way because he wanted to be universally loved, but because he wanted to give (1 Tim. 2:6) himself as a ransom for all people. So we love the world because God loved the world. We have passion for the lost because we know the lengths Jesus went to to save lost sinners like us.

Loving the world also means praying for the world. There are many people we cannot speak with personally, but we can pray for them. There are many hostile people who will not listen to a word we have to say. We should pray that God open their hearts to listen to his Son. Asking God to advance his kingdom and accomplish his will in and for this world. We pray for people of power and consequence and for those who seem to be powerless and those the world deems inconsequential. We pray that God might bless unbelievers with good things and a knowledge of the truth about themselves and their Savior. We offer prayers of thanksgiving when God blesses our world with prosperity and our country with peace. We offer prayers of thanksgiving when God uses heartaches and troubles to bring deliverance and salvation to those who were dead in their transgressions. We pray boldly because we are God’s dearly beloved children. We pray fervently that our Lord would use us to bring many lost sinners to know Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. We pray with confidence and passion because we know that in all our prayers we are placing this world in the hands of the one who so loved the world that he gave himself up for all us, so that all sinners might have eternal life in his name. Amen.