Do I look forward more and more to the time each day spent in prayer?
Do I have complete faith that God will hear and answer my prayers?
Do I have enough faith in God and prayer to pray for specific and practical things?
How often do I ask others to pray for me?
Prayer is our life-line to the God of heaven. The point of the whole context of 1 Timothy 1 is to preach the Gospel. In chapter 2, Paul comes to the subject of prayer.
We have here: The objects and content of prayer (vss 1-2); the goal of prayer (vss 3-4); and three features of acceptable prayer with God (vss 5-7). Let’s study.
THE OBJECTS AND CONTENT OF PRAYER – 2:1-2:
Verse 1 – Paul begins by urging prayers be made for all people.
Paul uses four synonyms for prayer:
- Supplications – to “supplicate” means “ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly”
- Prayers – this is a general word that refers to speaking to God (used 37x)
- Intercessions – to “intercede” means to ask in behalf of someone else
- Thanksgivings – showing gratitude
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THE GOAL OF PRAYER – 2:3-4:
Verse 3 – Simply put, praying for all people, kings, and all who are in authority is a good thing and it pleases God. If it pleases God, it should thrill our hearts to engage in such!
Verse 4 – The goal, then, of prayer is that all people should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Salvation is not going into your closet and praying for the Holy Spirit to come over you and cleanse you of your sins. Conversion is, rather, faithfully embracing the word of truth and acting on that knowledge.
ACCEPTABLE PRAYER – 2:5-7:
Verse 5 – Begins with “for,” drawing a conclusion from what has been said before. God our Savior wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth, because there is only one God. The ultimate end of life for all human beings is to stand before that one God.
Secondly, prayer is acceptable as it is offered through the single Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.
Verse 6 – Thirdly, prayer is acceptable as it involves us in the ransom paid by Jesus Christ. “Ransom” is a business term. It described the setting free of captives taken in war or the liberation of slaves from their owners. Jesus Christ died potentially for every person. But He died effectively only for those who obey Him.
Finally, in verse 7, Paul writes that it is for this testimony that God made him (and he emphasizes it with “I, myself”): a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.
In the following paragraph, Paul will go on and give further details about prayer as it relates to public worship.
Let us work at strengthening our prayers.
–Paul Holland
