Good morning all!
Father, I pray that You hear us today Lord, that You find our words and heart acceptable in Your eyes. I pray we never lose sight of Who You are, of what You’ve accomplished and Why You did it. Thank You Lord for loving us like no one else can, thank You for blessing us with the goodness of this life and thank You Lord for setting us free, Amen. Does your prayer life look different today compared to your earliest memory of when you first spoke to God? Has it been awhile? Maybe you just finished praying? Do you pray?
1 Timothy 2
1Ti 2:1 KJV – I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
I strongly urge you to FIRST pray every kind of prayer you might have in your heart AND give thanks for ALL men…oh boy!
1Ti 2:2 KJV – For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
For the heads of countries and anyone else that has any authority in your life, the purpose to pray for ALL those is simple…PEACE…in ALL godliness being honest.
1Ti 2:3 KJV – For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
This is the very thing our Lord and Savior finds acceptable and looks for in us…that’s how He knows He’s saved us.
1Ti 2:6 KJV – Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
After all the One that GAVE Himself, did so for ALL mankind and in due time God will make it known.
1Ti 2:8 KJV – I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.
It is with this belief in mind that we should pray for mankind EVERYWHERE and lift our hands in surrender without anger and strife towards others.
Bottom line
What I have recently found with my own prayer life is that it needs to remain the cornerstone of my faith all of the time. What I have also come to realize is where I pray or when I pray isn’t as important as who I pray for and how I pray for them. I believe this is what Paul is encouraging our young brother Timothy to do, he has him working on that who and how. You see, praying should eventually just become a lifestyle that acknowledges God in our everyday life circumstances and pausing to hear for His direction. And what is the FIRST thing we do for ALL men? PRAY!!! The first thing isn’t to tell them they’re wrong or if your prefer, like me, tell them you’re right. The first thing isn’t to get mad at them and then argue with them, why do you think he told you to pray EVERWHERE and lift your hands? He knew you’d be someplace else besides church, perhaps sitting down with your family at home arguing about something or maybe at work fighting with a co-worker over why your idea is better…too real? Oopsy daisies. Funny, He didn’t say when you’re hit with a problem in life stop what you’re doing and get to church and pray. I mean really, here’s why I don’t like religion, religion is the prayer on Sunday that doesn’t change HOW I live with the people in life. We hold onto our prayers and our religious lifestyle while we ignore the people in our life. I mean really why do you think He gave Himself a ransom for ALL? And don’t lose sight of the ransom…the PRICE. I mean, I know He paid the price for me but the one that I don’t want to pray for…well I guess Jesus came up short for that person, right? Isa 53:6 NLT – All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. God’s word is clear we ALL stray, we ALL leave God and do what we want to do. It’s the story of the prodigal son, how else would we know the house we leave is really the one we want…the house of faith. Now you might think that if folk don’t belong to your house of faith, then they’re on their own and God really doesn’t require anything from us, right? Gal 6:10 KJV – As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Do you have an opportunity this morning? To do GOOD unto ALL men? Especially those of faith? A life of faith in Christ Jesus has NO boundaries, in fact, it looks for every opportunity to pray for others…especially that one you don’t want to pray for. How else can we live a peaceable life in godliness? What does your godliness look like? The opposite of godliness is selfishness. God isn’t selfish…for God so loved the world He GAVE. You want to know what a godly prayer sounds like? Luk 23:34 KJV – Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. This is the perfect example of how we should pray, even as He hung on that cross Jesus had no anger, no retaliation in mind, no care for self at all…godliness in the form of flesh. My prayer this morning is for all us is to pray always and to never give up on praying for anyone, instead pray just a little more and trust God to make good on His promise. 2Th 1:11 NLT – So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. You have the power and I pray your faith prompts you to a new life, one that is filled with love and forgiveness.
Point to Ponder
What does faith prompt us to do? Luk 18:1 NLT – One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. Pray for people and never give up on them.
Let’s all pray for others and trust God to deliver.
In Him,
Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
