HEAR the Word Wednesday – April 29, 2009
“ I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…”
-1 Timothy 2:1-
As Christians we are taught that prayer is instrumental to our relationship with God, and rightly so. But as I read through the words of 1 Timothy 2:1, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…” I am reminded how quickly I forget that last little clause “for everyone“. I have no problem praying for my family, my friends, the congregation of my church, the organizations I volunteer with, etc… but what about things that don’t directly affect me? Or the bigger question, what about praying for people, organizations, movements, and so on that I don’t even like?!?
Whether we choose to live this way or not, it is clear through the words of 1 Timothy 2:1, that we are called to go to God on behalf of EVERYONE. I shouldn’t ask God to change people that I don’t like into people that I do like or to change circumstances that make me uncomfortable into circumstances that are comfortable. I should pray on behalf of everyone I encounter, with thanksgiving, asking God to bless them immeasurably.
For it is as we pray for others that our heart will mold ever so much more closely to the heart that God desires of us – one that places the needs of others before our own, as Christ did so unreservedly for us on the Cross.
Blessings,
Dirt
