17th Sunday after Pentecost ~ September 23rd

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we look at prayer as being a vital part of our renewal in Christ. The apostle Paul is stressing to Timothy, a young pastor, the importance of prayer in his ministry. Paul even uses 4 words for prayer to make the point that it is important.

Now there is a lot we could talk about when it comes to prayer. There are many books and articles on the subject of prayer and even a whole magazine entitled “Pray.” People have all kinds of view on prayer from “how to” ideas to attitude, to what did other people pray (I like collecting prayer from ancient times as examples). But today I would like to focus in on one area that Paul is discussing here in 1 Timothy – that prayer is a vital part of the mission of God and His church.

Paul says in verse one, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,” (1 Timothy 2:1, ESV, emphasis added) Paul makes sure that Timothy, the young pastor, knows how important prayer is in ministry and that it is the starting point of missions. We often pray for other people like our family, friends, etc. But do we pray for people we don’t even know? Do we pray for the whole world? I believe Paul uses “all people” because he wants to emphasis that prayer is for the world and at the heart of missions.

Why do I say Paul is emphasizing missions? Look at verses 3 and 4, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4, ESV) Our prayer for the world is pleasing because God desires that we have a heart for missions to all people like He does. He desires that all people would come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. That is missions. Paul invites Timothy to consider the power of prayer in missions. “First of all” places prayer at the beginning of the ministry. It is where we can start (and do without ceasing) as we consider the task of reaching the world for Jesus.

Interesting here to see what Paul says after he says to pray for all people. He says we should pray for our leaders. Why would Paul get so specific here? I believe Paul was encouraging early Christians, and you and me, to see missions as not so much of a political movement but a change in our lives. Instead of making waves with our leaders we should find peaceful ways to bring the Gospel to the world. If leaders are not “cooperative” then how can the Gospel be proclaimed. Interesting words spoken at a time when local leaders were feeling threatened by Christians and persecution was beginning to flourish in the world. Maybe Paul was trying to slow down the persecution of Christians through these words. But probably it was more likely that Paul was seeing what was happening and asking the church everywhere to pray for God’s assistance and guidance in the face of persecution. Good words for us even today, while we don’t face persecution like then we still can pray for our leaders that they would lead us in peaceful lives. There is a big election coming up – lets prayer for our potential leaders.

Paul goes on in his instruction here to talk about where we direct our prayers and why they are so effective – namely Jesus Christ. Paul calls Jesus our mediator, the one who comes between God and man and brings about resolution. In our sin we became enemies of God and alienated from Him. But through Jesus, our mediator, we can now approach the throne of God with our requests and He hears us and answers us according to His grace and mercy. We direct our prayers to Jesus, true God, and trough Him we find new life. Again the mission idea is here as Paul tells us that Jesus was a ransom for all people. Christ died and rose again because of His love for all people.

Prayer has the power to redirect our attitudes and lives. It is powerful to know that God, in His love and mercy, listens to each and every one of our prayers and answers according to His holy will. But it is also powerful to know that we can pray for all people. When we get caught up in a self-centered life, only focusing on our immediate needs, it is good for us to pause for a moment and pray for the world. It widens our view when we pray for others. A few years back I received a book about missions in the world, it was like an encyclopedia of countries and condition related to religion and Christianity. That book opened my eyes to see how important prayer is in world missions. When we start to pray for others, even those we don’t know personally, it opens our eyes and humbles us to see the vastness of God’s love for the whole world.

This past week I had opportunity to re-join a pastor’s prayer group that I have been a part of in the past. We took the summer off and got back together on Tuesday. In this group we spend a fair amount of time talking about what is going on in our lives and ministries and then we spend time in prayer for each other. We pray for others in our group and their ministries. I came into the meeting thinking about what had gone on in my life this summer and about the ministry here at Mount Olive. In a way you could say I was very self-focused. Once in the meeting I had opportunity to hear other’s stories. There were many similarities and differences, but in the end it opened my eyes again to see the vastness of God’s working in our world. And in prayer for others it humbled me to leave control of my life and ministry in the hands of God.

As we think about renewal here at Mount Olive lets begin with prayer. Prayer will bring things into focus for us as we let God be in charge of the renewal. When we stop in prayer we stop being self-focused and realize that there is a mission field out there that is bigger than our own place. It changes our attitude to realize that God’s mission is huge and that God died for all the world. The other part that is powerful is that in the vastness of God’s mission He still promises to listen to each and every one of our prayers!

Think about some one right now who needs our prayer so that they can hear about Jesus Christ. Let’s pray for them: Heavenly Father we thank and praise you for sending your Son to be our Savior and restore our relationship with you. You hear our prayers and answer them. We are now bold to prayer for the individuals that are on our heart that need to hear about You… (Silent prayer) How amazing Lord it is that you have heard each of our prayers. We lift the lives of these individuals and our before You knowing and trusting that You will hear and answer our prayers. Let us be a part of our mission. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.