Hard Prayers

Introduction

Have you ever had someone do something to or against you which really crawled under your skin? Or how about living through history, and all the terrible world leaders that have come and gone in the last 60 years?

What is your natural response to these kinds of people? What do you do about them?

I know that in my past, and sometimes even in my present, it’s easier to hold on to resentment toward people I view as evil or who have wronged me.

However, what are we supposed to do?

Serve them

Tell the gospel to them

Pray for them

It is this last point which we will discuss this morning for a little bit.

What We Pray For

What do our prayers look like most often, do you think?

Maybe we pray more often for the things which we ourselves want to have or accomplish. Maybe we do pray on behalf of other people, but only those which we particularly like. Maybe, we don’t spend hardly any time in prayer at all.

This morning we will look at, not only who to pray for, but to pray for people and why we should do it.

How to Pray

I know a long while ago, nearly a whole year, I preached on prayer, and there we looked at what is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer.” This morning we won’t be in Luke, but in 1 Timothy 2.1-4

1 Timothy 2:1–4 CSB

1 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.

Now, there are 4 different kinds of prayers here which we are told to make. Before we get to those, let’s be clear that we understand the scope of these prayers.

Who does Paul say to pray for here?

Everyone, kings and all in authority

1 Timothy was written in approx. 64 AD, well into the reign of Emperor Nero.

Remember what we’ve said about him? One of, if not the, first great persecutors of the Church from the Roman government. A total madman, he burned down half of Rome just to blame Christians and get rid of them! He threw many into prison, he burned some at the stake to light his garden, and he was one of the earliest emperors to develop a literal god-complex, decreeing that he was to be worshipped.

This is the king that is in place at the time Paul says to pray for kings!

How easy would it be to do that?

What kind of prayers are we to make?

Petitions

Petitions are prayers which are made sometimes on behalf of someone else, in the sense that we ask God to bless them in ways we see they have need perhaps. Petitions can also be made on one’s own behalf.

With petitions come a sense of desperation. These are prayers of pleading and begging God for something.

There is a passage where Paul says he wrestled in prayer over some of the Christians; and it meant literally that he agonized in prayer over them! This seems to be a good image of what a petitionary prayer could look like. Though, they perhaps needn’t all be so extreme — the important part is the heart of pleading with God.

Prayers

Prayers here is more a basic word for going before God to speak with Him.

Intercessions

Intercessions come back around to having particular intentions and motives.

Intercessions are prayers we make on behalf of others, when we pray for what they have asked of us to or we are stepping in to pray on their behalf over their need.

For example, if I see a brother having a conflict with someone and no communication is being had, I could intercede for him in that moment and speak for him to the other person.

Thanksgiving

Finally, we come to thanksgivings.

It’s hard to be thankful for some people! But, God isn’t saying that we should be thankful for them in this verse — rather we ought to thank God on their behalf!

We can always thank God for the way He blesses and moves in and for people!

Tranquil, Quiet Lives

Why does Paul say we ought to pray for people like this?

Live tranquil, quiet lives in godliness and dignity.

What do you think it means to live a quiet and tranquil life?

It seems to mean a life that is unhurried, peaceful, not full of drama.

Another form of the word for “quiet” is also used by Paul to mean that one is not going from here to there all the time and one is minding their own business. (1 Thess. 4.11)

We are to strive to live lives that aren’t hurried around or where we are involved in everyone else’s business all the time, and I believe too that there is perhaps and element of praying to not be harassed by the government forces.

Then, Paul says we are to live “in all godliness and dignity.”

We usually define godliness, how?

By meaning “like God” in some way, right? However, this is not what the word actually means. That is, perhaps, a portion of it, but that is not the only aspect of it. Godliness means to be reverent toward God in your behavior and thoughts about God. It is defined, “the devout practice and appropriate beliefs of God; piety. the behavior of a religion.”

Therefore, to live godly is to live the way God commands of us! It isn’t itself to “be like God” but to reverent toward Him.

Dignity is a very similar word. It means to behave in a way that is fitting. It can also mean behaving with seriousness and respect.

Now, certainly Paul does not mean that we ought never to laugh or be silly. These things, in their right context are very good! However, putting things in their context is very important.

The Church is meant to live in a way that is befitting the Gospel (Eph. 4.1-3), and we ought to take that very seriously! We ought to be serious about living holy lives and dedicating ourselves to being mature, respectful, loving people according to Christ Jesus our Lord!

Pleasing Prayers

These kinds of prayers (petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for all men everywhere) is pleasing to God! He desires that all men would be saved and come to know the Truth! Therefore, this should be part of our prayers, yes?

For the leaders of all the nations, and for all the men and women in between, we must pray for them that God would draw them to Christ our Lord as we plead, pray, intercede, and give thanks to God on their behalf. It is an act of love to go before the Lord on behalf of another person in need of the same grace we need.

Inventory

How often do we say things like, “I’ll pray for you!” And then, well, we forget? It is very easy to do, especially if we fall into the trap of going from one thing to the next without being present in the moment wherein we live.

So, our takeaway for this week is going to be two-fold:

When you tell someone you will pray for them, do so immediately and incorporate these kinds of prayers into that as are fitting the need.

Think about the person, whether a normal person or a world leader, who really gets under your skin. Then, three times this week, pray for them specifically!

May we be a people who pray for all men, as we ourselves strive to live in full submission and reverence to our Father in Heaven.