Pray for Everyone

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. 8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. (1 Timothy 2:1-8, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
For a little bit of context, this passage comes right after Paul encourages Timothy to fight the good fight, keep the faith and a good conscience in regard to his (Timothy’s) instructing men at Ephesus not to teach strange doctrine.  I think there is a tendency to interpret doctrine as dogma, which then gets understood as rigid rules.  And, if I might afford a little sidetrack here, isn’t that exactly what we have done with the following verses of this chapter (especially verse 12 about women teaching men)?  Usually these first eight verses are skipped over as if they are optional, and yet Paul sets them off with “first of all” or “above all” or “more than anything else.”  If anything, this is the passage which should become dogma or unmovable for us.  We are often selective in what we want to hear or apply, at least I know I am.  I wonder what kind of world we could be living in if these verses would carry the weight given to verse 12.

What if it wasn’t optional to pray for people?  What if we demanded of ourselves to stick tightly to praying for all people?  What if we were more offended by our own lack of prayer for all authority than we were by a woman teaching a man?

I can actually answer these questions!  What good news!!  J  If we, more than anything else, committed ourselves to interceding for, and expressing gratitude for every person, we would have tranquil (still), quiet lives, full of godliness (reverence) and dignity (respect).  We have an answer to stress-filled lives.  We have an answer to lives full of conflict and empty of respect.  Pray for everyone.  

And I find this interesting:  these aren’t just prayers of “Jesus, please bless so and so.  Please give them blah blah blah.”  The word “entreaties” in Greek is deesis which has a root of deo.  This deo means, “to bind, tie, fasten.”  To me, this means we allow our hearts, minds, and souls to become bound not only to the process of prayer but to whomever we are praying for! These are the prayers that have you up in the middle of the night, with your gut clenched because the Spirit has persuaded you to carry on in behalf of another, because God desires for all to be saved and to know truth.  In other words, we really are to expend some energy on our prayers for everyone.  


POINT OF ACTION:
Pray for our co-workers, our bosses, the people we oversee.  

Pray for our doctors, our dentists, our auto mechanics, our grocery clerks, our lawyers and accountants. 

Pray for our friends, our family, our in-laws.  

Pray for our government leaders—mayors, council members, senators, representatives, president, vice-president.  

Pray for other drivers on the road, for our police force, our firefighters, first responders.  

Pray for our teachers, our classmates.  

Pray for authors, news reporters, movie directors, tv show producers, actors/actresses.  

Pray for our pilots, flight attendants, air traffic controllers.  

Pray for those who are oppressed, those in prison, those in the sex trade industry, for those who are abused and abandoned.  

Pray for those who steal and kill.  

Pray for those who use and abuse others, including those who have abused you.  

Pray for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol or gambling or sex.  

Pray for those who starve themselves.  Pray for those who overeat.  

Pray for those who can’t understand they are loved beyond measure.  

Pray etc., ad infinitum.

Truly the list is endless… after all it is everyone!  We’re talking 7 billion people!  If we were praying for everyone we wouldn’t have time for all of our distractions and dissensions!


PRAYER:
JESUS!  Please forgive me for choosing to see this passage as optional; for failing to pray for others until I can pray no more.  Remind us as a church that no doctrine or set of rules and beliefs is worth anything until we have prayed.  I love You desperately and I am so thankful You do not leave me in my failures.  So Jesus, will You bring Your salvation and truth to the people I sit next to at church, the people I drive by on the road, the waiters and waitresses I encounter?  Will You reveal Yourself to those who make decisions for businesses, for churches, for governments?  Will You make Your name known to those without hope, those needing your healing (emotionally, physically, relationally)?  You alone are the One who saves us.  You alone are the One who holds all truth.  We are in need of both a savior and of truth.  Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus.


WHO AM I?
I am Beth Peeples and I’m really interested in making these verses stick in my life.  Earlier this year, I set out to pray for our church leaders.  I typed out a sheet with everyone’s names and some general things to pray for:  marriages, relationships, finances, health, etc.  For those that I knew had specific needs, I included those as well.  Then I taped it to our bathroom mirror so Max and I could both be praying for people as we get ready for our days and when we end our days.  I’d say it’s worked well as far as keeping people in my mind and offering up a quick prayer.  I’d say it hasn’t worked so well in actually entreating the Lord—truly binding my heart, soul, and mind in prayer for the people listed.  This saddens me and I’m renewed in my desire to not just check off names as I pray, but to wholly enter into a space where I am honestly interceding for others.  May God be my help and my guide.

This is a picture of my mountain, Mt. Baker, near Bellingham, WA.  This is what I was treated to this past Easter day.  “Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord… that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.” (Isaiah 2:3)