“I urge, then, first
of all, that requests, prayers,
intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone…”
(1 Timothy 2:1, NIV)
“The first thing I want
you to do is pray.
Pray every way you know
how, for everyone you know” (The
Message)
My NIV Bible begin chapter
two with a title Instructions on Worship;
and NLT Instructions for the church. Okay,
if the apostle Paul is going to talk about the church he certainly will start
out with either preaching, teaching or church service order, right? Wrong! “The first thing I want you to do is pray.” How different
from us, from me. No doubt, we affirm that prayer is the most important thing
in a church and the highest privilege of a Christian, we said. But we live as
if it didn’t amount to much at all. The busier we become the less time we spend
in prayer. I once leading a prayer meeting, and if you had too, I can be sure
that (most but not all) it is the poorest attended meeting of the week compare
to Christmas party, family outing and youth concert. Where are the prayer
warriors?
Now, back to the text. Paul
uses four words to describe prayer: requests, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving. The first is “requests”
or “supplications.” It is an
expression of need, coming helplessly to our Heavenly Father to bring all our
needs to Him. The second word “prayers,”
is the general word used for prayer and it carries with it the idea of worship
and reverence or the fear of the Lord. The next word is “intercession.” Simply put, it mean to pray for and on
behalf of other people. If you read verse 2, Paul asked Timothy to pray and
intercede “for kings and all those in
authority.” I think one of the reason many people (especially netizens)
complaints and criticize our political leaders (yes, they are wrong most of the
time) is because they didn’t pray for them. If we understand what it means to
intercede for others, we would pray more and criticize less.
The last word is “thanksgiving.” I like to highlight this word because I sense
that people of God today lack the attitude of giving thanks. Two things that,
if people said it, it make them super rare these day are: “I appreciate you” and “thank
you.” After people send you home, say “thank
you”; after someone helped you, say “thank
you”; when God answered your prayer, say “thank you” (even before you received it, say “thank you”). Hey, thanksgiving is a form of prayer! It is
interesting that one of the sins mentioned in Romans 1:21 that cause God’s
wrath against mankind is that they “neither
glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.” Yes, thanksgiving to God is
not natural to our old natures, so we need to cultivate it in our hearts.
So Timothys, “the first thing I want
you to do is pray.” Do it.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
