2020-03-29 Virtual Chruch 1 Timothy 2:8 PUBLIC PRAYER (3): PRAYING WITH HOLY HANDS

PUBLIC PRAYER (3): PRAYING WITH HOLY HANDS (I Tim 2:8) March 22, 2020 Read I Tim 2:8 – Well, I Timothy is about “how one ought to behave in the household of God (I Tim 3:15b), being prepared for public worship. And I Tim 2:1-8 deals with prayer. We’ve seen: I. The Intensity of Prayer – 4 kinds indicates urgency! II. The Inclusiveness of Prayer – It’s to be global – “for all people”. III. The Influence of Prayer – to provide safe harbor for the gospel. IV. The Intent of Prayer – salvation of those outside of Christ V. The Incentive of Prayer – that Christ is the only way to God. Today from v. 8 the Implementation of prayer. How is it to be done? “I desire (wish, expect) then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” There is a lot there about praying rightly. Greek has 2 words for “men”. One means mankind in general, and could include women. But Paul uses the other (ἀνήρ) which means men as opposed to women. The text actually reads, “I desire . . . the men should pray.” Men should lead in this activity. God wants men to assume leadership in His church, and here’s one way that’s displayed. Men are to lead in public prayer. Does that mean women cannot pray publicly? Of course, not. In any informal Bible study or private meetings, women should be encouraged to pray. But, particularly in public, corporate worship, men are singled out to take the lead in praying. They are to do this in every place where the church congregates. VI. The Implementation of Prayer Paul gives 3 very pointed instructions regarding public prayer, which apply to any prayer. Once we understand these, we’ll see how critical they are for public prayer to show God off to best advantage. But they are equally valuable to prepare all of us for effective private prayer as well. A. Without Hypocrisy (With holy hands) 8) “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands.” Lifting hands. Is this about posture? Uplifted hands? Well, there is nothing wrong with that. And if you are so moved, I hope you will do so. 1 But the issue here is not posture. People in the Bible pray with many postures. In Ezra’s time they lifted up their hands (Neh 8:6). Daniel knelt (Dan 6:10); David sat (II Sam 7:18); Abe’s servant bowed his head (Gen 24:26); Abe fell on his face (Gen 17:3); and Jonah lay in the belly of the fish (Jonah 2:1). Jewish men usually prayed while standing with arms outstretched and palms up like Solomon (I Kings 8:22). Jesus is often said to pray with eyes uplifted, but never with hand lifted. Posture is not the issue. The heart is the issue. Jn 4:24: “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The issue isn’t posture of the body, but posture of the heart. “Holy hands.” That tells us this is figurative language. Holy hands signifies a holy life. That is a prerequisite for effective prayer. Psa 66:18: “If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (NASB). There’s the issue – hidden sin – secret habits – the idea I can serve myself and still expect God to answer my prayers. Luke 8:17: “Nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest.” God misses nothing, and He turns a deaf ear when we harbor unconfessed sin. He withholds the blessing He would like to give. We might cover sneaky ways to get blessing from our earthly father – but not God! Holy hands signify a life not defiled by known sin. To come with holy hands is to come as an open book, seeking God’s cleansing “Holy hands” speaks of a heart that is toward God. Those leading public prayer, then, must be such people – humble people, quick to confess wrongdoing and eager to set things right. Someone whose actions and words are consistent. Not a hypocrite! Barlow North was an evangelist in 19th century Scotland. But he had a past. Once, just before preaching in Aberdeen, he got a letter that detailed some shameful acts of his life. It concluded, “If you have the gall to preach tonight, I will stand and expose you.” Shaken, North fell to his knees. Then, he began his message by reading the letter. He said, “I want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I am ashamed of what I have read and what I have done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven.” It was the start of a life for North – one that lifted up holy hands. Holy hands don’t mean perfection, Beloved. But signify an open, humble and repentant life. That’s the heart for public prayer and for private as well. B. Without Hatred (Without anger) Next, prayer must be “without anger.” Greek has two words for anger; θυμος – sudden, rush of anger when someone pushes just the right button. Boiling over. It usually results in harsh words or even blows caused by loss of temper. 2 But then, just as quickly the anger dissipates. Θυμος anger flares up quickly and dies out just as quickly. It is the anger of the moment. But Paul’s word is οργη – a settled, coddled grudge that doesn’t go away. It carries with it the desire for revenge. It may not be seen outwardly, but it is hiding in the heart, awaiting an opportunity to get even. It is that obstinate hatred of another that Paul says must not be in the heart of one who is praying. Jesus agrees. Mt 5:23-24: “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24) leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” Harboring anger negates prayer, even in marriage. I Pet 3:7: “live with your wives in an understanding way (no grudges) . . . so that your prayers may not be hindered.” Holding grievances is danger business. Jesus taught us to pray: Mt 6:12: “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” How can we ask God to forgive us much when are unwilling to forgive others comparatively little? That’s a big, big deal with God. He paid an awful price to make forgiveness available; we mock Him when we hold anger in our heart – against anyone. Paul said to pray “for kings and all who are in high positions” (I Tim 2:2). Nero was emperor when Paul wrote that – imposing unspeakable tortures on Xns. How could they not hate him and desire revenge? Here’s how. Rom 12:19) Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” When we cling to a desire to get even, we are trespassing on God’s territory. We’re saying, “Sorry, God, but I don’t trust you on this one. I just don’t think you are big enough.” Would you say that to God’s face? When we embrace anger against someone, that is exactly what we are doing. No wonder prayers are hindered. Jonah found this out the hard way. God told him, “Jonah, get to Nineveh and “call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). Nineveh was east; Jonah went west! I always thought it was bc he was scared. Not so! The issue was he hated the Assyrians – for good reason. They were merciless -- running spikes thru the middle of captives, skinning them alive, keeping them in agony for days. No wonder Jonah hated them. It would be like God telling us, “Go find ISIS and warn them judgment is coming.” Jonah wanted Assyrians to die! But when he got there, a revival broke out. The people repented and God deferred judgment. Now Jonah was really ticked: Jonah 4:2: “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my 3 country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” A preacher who hated revival. He didn’t trust God with vengeance, because he feared God would bring repentance instead. It’s easy to get in that boat. Afraid to trust God with revenge, fearing He’ll mess it up, and maybe even forgive them. But with thoughts, we might as well forget about praying – publicly or privately. Anger hinders prayer. So if angry, should we not pray? No! We should confess the sin and get on with the prayer. But we must not think we can trespass on God’s territory and expect Him to hear us. Prayer is about sharing His heart, not countering it. A woman appeared in court charged with stealing. The judge asks, “Mrs. Krupnick, what did you take?” She replies, “Just a can with only six peaches in it.” The judge says, “Right. That’ll be 6 nights in jail – one for each peach.” She’s about to collapse when she hears her husband speak from the gallery: “Your honor, you should know she also stole a can of peas.” Well, I don’t know if that man had been praying, but God wasn’t hearing! Anger was in his heart. Prayer is about sharing God’s heart, not countering it. What would the world think if they see us praying while they know we harbor hatred in our heart? We’d make a mockery of worship. C. Without Hesitancy Then, prayer should be without “quarreling.” The word is διαλογισμος – from which we get “dialogue.” As in Lu 9:46 the disciples are quarreling: “An argument (our word) arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.” They were quarreling about that. Paul uses the word in that sense in Phil 2:14: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing (our word).” But the word originally spoke of inward reasoning. In the NT, out of 14 uses, 8 times it is translated “thoughts.” It describes the back and forth inward debate we often have when we are uncertain. It is an inward dialogue – the heart quarreling with itself. Once when a lame man was lowered through a roof where Jesus was preaching, Lu 5:20: “And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” 21) And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22) When Jesus perceived their thoughts (our word), he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts?” They were having an inward dialogue – is this guy for real or not? This, I believe, is the sense of the word in I Tim 2:8. Quarrels are little different from “anger.” But 4 Paul goes deeper. He is saying, no anger at others, and no inward debates about God. Will He or won’t He answer? That’s his point. No doubting. No hesitancy, but believing God hears and answers prayer. So public prayer, and private as well, must be done in faith, believing that God cares and answers. That doesn’t mean God answers exactly as we pray, but He answers with what is best. He answers the prayer we would pray if we knew everything He knows! That’s what it means to pray without inward doubt – with a heart in dialogue with itself. So men who lead in public prayer must be men of Christlike character, without anger against others but with complete faith in God to answer. This man believes Heb 11:6: “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Do you believe that? Then you are ready to pray without hesitancy. Ravi Zacharias tells of his mother suffering a stroke at age 57. Near death, elders were called to pray for her after which one commented that the Lord had told him that Ravi’s mother would recover. Ravi’s brother, a 22-year-old medical student at the time was greatly encouraged by this assurance. However, a few days later, her condition worsened and she died, leaving the family, especially the brother, not only grief-stricken, but guilt-stricken wondering if it was his lack of faith that allowed her to die. He was asking, “Is it possible that I am responsible for her death, or was this always in your plan and purpose?" That’s an inward quarrel, caused by an elder who should have known better. It led to people having faith in their prayers rather than faith in God. Paul is saying, I don’t want anyone praying who would quarrel inwardly with God. Rather, I want men of faith who believe in God to do what is best. We must pray without hesitancy, trusting God to do His will. Warren Wiersbe says, “God’s people live by promises, not by explanations.” Vance Havner agreed: “God marks across some of our days, ‘Will explain later.’” The person of faith knows that and trusts in the good of God’s person, not in the good of God’s blessings. This isn’t always easy. One woman who had cancer was asked how she was doing answered, “It’s not easy to be a Xn with your head in a toilet bowl.” It’s not. But that’s where the rubber meets the road and we discover do we believe in God or just His blessings? Conc – So Paul’s message here is that public prayer must be without hypocrisy, without hatred and without hesitancy. It must stem from a holy life, immersed in faith. And what is true of public prayer must be true of private prayer as well. So how is your prayer life? 5 J. C. Ryle, one of the most articulate of Puritans, said it this way: “Have you forgotten the lives that many live? Can we really believe that people are praying against sin night and day, when we see them plunging into it? Can we suppose they pray against the world, when they are entirely absorbed in its pursuits? Can we think they really ask God for grace to serve him, when they do not show the slightest desire to serve him at all? Oh, no, it is plain as daylight that the great majority of men either ask nothing of God or do not mean what they say when they do ask, which is just the same thing. Praying and sinning will never live together in the same heart. Prayer will consume sin, or sin will choke prayer. I cannot forget this. I look at men's lives. I believe that few pray.” No hypocrisy; no hatred; no hesitancy. Let’s pray. 6