Mensa Otabil - Pray for Everyone
- Watch
- Donate
Welcome to a brand new week. This week, we’re going to the New Testament, and we’ll be looking at 1 Timothy Chapter 2. We’ll be focusing on prayer; the whole week will teach on prayer because that is what 1 Timothy Chapter 2 focuses on. We will do a verse-by-verse study of 1 Timothy Chapter 2. So, we start with verses 1 and 2: Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness.
As you can see, there are two verses here, but I will focus on verse 1, and tomorrow I will focus on verse 2. This is Paul talking to Timothy, who was a pastor of the church in Ephesus, teaching him how to run the church. He talks about prayer and gives us priorities about prayer and what you do in prayer. First of all, you would notice that he talks about supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. They all seem to be the same thing when you read them, but they give us little differences about the kinds of prayer that we should be doing.
The first one is supplication, which basically is making a request to God for a specific need. So, you want God to help you with your marriage, and you say, «Lord, help me with my marriage.» That’s a supplication; you are asking God for a specific need. Then he talks about prayer. In this sense, prayer is communicating with God, the general way by which we communicate with Him. We speak to Him, and He also speaks back to us. The third he talks about is intercession. Intercession is coming before God on behalf of others, so intercession is not for yourself. Intercession is the kind of prayer you pray for other people.
Then he talks about thanksgiving, which is expressing gratitude to God for what He has done. Prayer has different forms; it can be supplication, it can be intercession, it can be thanksgiving. That’s how Paul opens it. He then says a few things about what we should do with prayer, stating that prayer must be a priority. He says, «Therefore, I exhort first of all.» So, «first of all» means this is your priority; prayer must be a priority. It must be something that we do. We don’t just pray when we are in a crisis; we don’t pray when we are in a dilemma. We pray as the first thing in life.
It doesn’t have to be necessarily with a posture, although sometimes it’s necessary. You don’t have to be on your knees; you don’t have to clasp your hands. You can just breathe a word of gratitude to God or send a supplication to God at any time in your life, but it has to be a priority. So, first of all, we must pray. Then he says we must pray for all men. That means prayer must have an intercessory component. When you pray for all men, it means you’re not just praying for yourself or your personal needs; other people’s needs are in your view.
It’s important, as we pray, to remember that God doesn’t just want us to come to Him with «me, me, me, me, me, my need, my need, my breakthrough, my favor,» but we also have to be mindful of other people. As a matter of fact, the more you pray for other people, the more God takes care of your own needs. The more you selfishly focus on yourself, the fewer answers you have in prayer. So, if you see the pattern, you pray for all men. Intercessory prayer is important, and it must manifest concern for other people. Anytime we come in prayer, we should look at all men.
Why does he say " all men?» All people groups — human beings from different places, different races, different nationalities, and different social groupings. When you pray for all men, you’re not just praying for your family and friends; you’re not just praying for your church members; you’re praying for the whole world. You’re praying for people in China, people in Australia, people in Japan, people in Saudi Arabia, and people in Nigeria. Just pray, so your prayer should start looking bigger and broader than your own need.
So, that is the first thing we learn about prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. Tomorrow, we’ll look at the second verse. Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I pray for all the people of the earth. Let Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Amen.