1 Timothy 2:1

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 and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. I desire, therefore, that men everywhere pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting.

Father, we stand in your presence today and we ask that you would speak to us by your word and that you would minister by your Spirit the things that we will see in this passage. Use your word to be transformative in our lives. As we go on through the rest of this week, may we see the effect of your work, your word, and the working of your Spirit in our lives, continuing to make us more and more into the likeness of your children. Lord, transform us by the renewing of our minds that we would display what is your good and perfect will in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen.

You can be seated. I'm sure that many of you had the very same experience that I did this last week on Monday morning when I got up. One of the first things I was greeted with was a long list of text messages from people asking, "Did you see what happened in Las Vegas?" I hadn't yet, so I went online to see what was going on and, unfortunately, I have to say I wasn't entirely shocked. These things that happen are absolutely horrific; they are terrible. But I think it's almost more horrific that it's become so normative to us that we're...

I am not as surprised by it anymore. The dreadful things that happen because we live in a broken and fallen world feel like a constant reality. For pretty much all of my adult life, I have anticipated almost every single morning seeing some dreadful thing that happened the night before in the news. It is heavy and hard to see. There are people in our church who are affected personally by it, as well as people in our community who are impacted, with loved ones who were injured or even killed. When we see these things, it weighs upon us, highlighting the reality of the brokenness of our world.

One interesting response that has emerged, probably only in the last five or six years, has become a standard reaction among many people in our society to these tragic events. In solidarity with those affected, individuals often go on their social media platforms—Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, or whatever it may be—and change their cover picture to something that identifies with the situation. Almost all the time, this change is accompanied by a hashtag, such as "pray for" followed by the name of the location.

I find it interesting that even people who are not necessarily churchgoers or who would not identify as religious will post messages like "pray for Nice," "pray for Paris," "pray for London," "pray for Manchester," "pray for Orlando," and now "pray for Vegas." People in our society and culture, who may not often speak about faith, Christianity, or religion, will hear newscasters say, "Our hearts and prayers are with all the people in Vegas." Politicians will stand up and urge, "Would you please pray for the people affected by these events?"

This reaction and response are noteworthy. In the passage before us today, we find an apostolic exhortation to do the exact same thing: to pray. The Apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy, who is the pastor of the church in the city of Ephesus, is called upon to urge those under his care, as a shepherd and pastor, to pray. This passage before us encourages our prayers and emphasizes the importance of this call from the apostles.

Desire, and ergo God's desire, is that we be a people who pray. It tells us the kind of prayer that we should pray. Our prayers should not be for ourselves only, but also for others. They should not only be private; they should also be public. We should pray for people, and we should pray certain kinds of things for those people.

Now, the context of this exhortation is important for us to remember. If you look back at verse three of chapter one, you'll understand the context. In First Timothy, chapter one, verse three, Paul said, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine." The word "urged" in verse three is the same Greek word that is translated "exhort" in chapter two, verse one. Paul says, "As the overseer of you, Timothy, the overseer of this church in Ephesus, I am coming alongside you." The Greek words "para kaleo" mean to come alongside, to call you to something.

In chapter one, he says, "Pastor Timothy, you pastor this church; you oversee the church and the overseers of that church. You are to call them to stand strong in sound doctrine, that they preach proper doctrine." That was the whole exhortation of chapter one, which we spent four weeks studying: that they be a people and a church that practice and preach proper doctrine.

As we come to chapter two, verse one, he shifts from proper preaching to proper prayer. He says that the church should be a place where prayers are offered. "I want you, Timothy, to establish right practices within the church: right practices of preaching, but now right practices of prayer." Accordingly, he says, "I exhort. I come alongside you and I call you that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made."

Point number one on your outline: public prayer should be of significant importance in the church. We know that because Paul says, "First of all, I exhort." In one sense, one of the byproducts of sound doctrine being preached in a church is that this group...

A church is just a gathering of people. It's not a place; it's a gathering of people. One of the byproducts of proper preaching is that this gathering will be a community that makes prayer a priority. Prayer should hold a prime position in our lives. It should be of high value and great importance to us individually as Christians and followers of Jesus. That is what we are today.

As a church, we should also be committed to prayer. In many ways, we at Cross Connection Church do a good job of this. We make it an important part of our service. Every single week, whoever does the announcements—whether it's Garrett, Pastor Mark, or someone else—stands up and discusses the prayer card. Every week, 80 to 100 of you fill this out, providing detailed and specific prayer requests for yourselves, for others, for healing, for salvation, for job provision, or whatever it may be. You give these to us, and we, as a staff, pray for them on Tuesday. There is another group of people who pray for these requests on Wednesday, and throughout the week, others are praying as well. We place a high value on this.

However, when we consider the exhortations of Scripture regarding prayer, we realize that we could always do better. We could improve individually in our prayer lives, and we could also do better corporately. Prayer is one of those things that, although we are called to make it a priority, can easily slide by the wayside. We should be those who place a high value on prayer, putting it at the top of our list of things to do. Sadly, even though we intellectually know it should be a significant part of our lives, it can often become a low-practice issue.

There is a high priority internally, mentally, and intellectually, but it can become a practical side issue in our daily activities. One great Christian author, John Bunyan, who wrote "Pilgrim's Progress," said of prayer, "You can't do more than pray until you have prayed." Yet, so many of us do so much before we pray. Even I, as a pastor, have to be reminded that we should pray. I can't tell you how many times my wife has reminded me that we should pray about a particular issue, and I respond, "Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that," but then never actually do it.

I share this as a confession that prayer should be a higher priority in my life than it currently is. Paul exhorts us that, first of all, prayer should be of the first order; it should be high on our list of things to do.

And notice that point number one says public prayer. Public prayer should be of significant importance to the church. The context of this passage in First Timothy chapter two is not the private life of the Christian; it is the public life of Christians gathered together in what we call church. In the public life of Christians gathered together, public prayer should be a part of our lives.

Timothy is the overseeing elder or pastor of the church in Ephesus. He was left by Paul to set things right because things apparently were not as they should be. They were not in order, and the church was not on course. Paul tells Timothy that he has to get this back in order and back on course. He must ensure that good preaching and sound doctrine are prioritized in the church.

The early church is described in Acts chapter two, verse 42. It says that the church continued steadfastly, earnestly, and continuously in the apostles' doctrine, sound doctrine, preaching, the breaking of bread, fellowship, and prayers. This was the public and private practice of the early church: to gather together for sound doctrine, for fellowship, to break bread together—both in what we call the Eucharist, the partaking of the Lord's Supper, and in hospitality. They continued together in prayer. These were the foremost values of the early church, and they should not change for us in our day.

Paul is seeking to reorder an out-of-order church in Ephesus. He tells Timothy that this is his job: to make sure that they preach sound doctrine and that they are engaged in prayer. If prayer is to be the priority of the church in its public worship, it should also be a priority for the pastor. For Timothy, it should be a significant part of his life. I will be the first to admit that it needs to be of higher priority in my own life. I was convicted by this as I studied through this last week.

The apostolic exhortation states, "I exhort, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made." He goes on to say in verse eight, "I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere." Before we delve into the specifics of the prayer that he exhorts—the kind or nature of the prayer mentioned in this passage—we must address some objections. Sometimes, there is an objection that we have to the concept.

Of prayer. Maybe you have even had this objection. As you think about the concept of prayer, you might say, "Listen, why should I pray? God is so far away. He can't possibly hear or be interested in the things that I'm going through right now."

Or perhaps you think, "Why should I pray? God has much bigger issues to deal with in this world than my piddly problems." You might also wonder, "Why should I pray? God is far more interested in the important people in the church, and so He doesn't have time for me, a little piddly person in the church."

Some people even say, "God doesn't really give me the things I ask for anyway, so why should I ask for any of those things?" I've heard this quite regularly lately, and I've been somewhat shocked by it. I've had people tell me, "Why should I even pray? God's going to do what He wants to do. He's sovereign. What does it matter?"

Well, that doesn't align with the teaching of Scripture and our call to prayer. Maybe you don't express that objection verbally, but one of the identifiable attitudes among many American Christians today is, "I don't need to pray. I have everything I need. What am I going to need? I have it all." This is a danger that we can fall into.

One of the churches mentioned in the book of Revelation fell into that very mindset: "We have everything. We're rich. We have need of nothing." It is indeed a danger to fall into this pattern.

Now, Paul doesn't spend any time addressing these objections. To Paul, God is intimately interested in the issues of our lives on a daily basis. This is not just a teaching from Paul; it is something that Jesus Himself taught His disciples, His earliest followers. He said that we are to pray to God as Father. In this relational context, God knows the things that we have need of, and He desires that we, His children, would come and ask Him for our daily bread, for our provision for the day.

We are taught by Jesus, by Paul, and by the apostles to bring our prayers before God. Paul talks about four different kinds of prayer here: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks. I say there are probably only three kinds of prayer because the word "prayers" serves as a catch-all, an overarching term for these other forms of prayer.

It would be right to say that while all supplications are prayers, not all prayers are supplications. Similarly, while all intercessions are prayers, not all prayers are intercessions, because prayer is the overarching terminology. You can be praying and not offering an intercessory prayer. You can be praying and not offering a supplication. So, prayer is kind of a catch-all.

What is supplication? Well, supplication is generally the kind of prayer where you are personally asking God for provision for your own needs or your own cares. If we are honest, that probably occupies 80% of our prayers—supplication. Sometimes, we can fall into a pattern where our prayers resemble our order with the barista at Starbucks. It becomes a list: "I want this and this and this, hold the whipped cream, and I want it at this temperature." We can get into a pattern where supplication dominates our prayers.

Supplication is not a bad thing. In fact, we are instructed to bring our supplications, our petitions, to God—to bring the requests to God, the things that we have need of. The Bible instructs us to do that. However, there are ways in which supplication can dominate our entire prayer life.

Paul here says, "I exhort, first of all, that with the corporate structure of the church, supplications be made." But not just supplications; intercessions are also important. If supplication is a prayer of petition for your own needs and cares, then intercession is a prayer and petition for the needs of others. We are exhorted as Christians, and as a church, to pray for the needs of others. That is what we do with our prayer cards. We invite you to share with us your needs or the needs of those in your life so that we can be praying with you and interceding on your behalf.

Paul emphasizes that in the church, there should be supplications being prayed—praying for your own personal needs and cares. But there should also be intercessions, praying for the needs and cares of others. This probably dominates the largest scope of our prayer.

However, we must be careful not to neglect the last thing he calls us to: the prayer of giving thanks. What do you do when you have received that which you have prayed for? Do you come before God and give Him honest praise, adoration, and thanksgiving for what He has given to you? It is such an important and valuable aspect of prayer to acknowledge that it was by God's hand that He dealt with this issue or problem in your life or in the life of someone else.

Paul says, "I exhort, as a first order of business, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all." For whom? Look at what he says in verses one and two: "Therefore, I exhort first of all that supplications and prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority."

Point number two on your outline is that the church should pray for all without distinction. Now, let's quickly address what has become a stumbling block for some in very recent times: the gender-specific language of the verse. Paul here says, "I exhort that prayer be made for all men." Some object and say, "See, we've got a problem with this. It's too gender-specific. It says 'all men,' where are the women that are talked about here in this passage?"

Now, listen. If you have a real issue with some of the biblical discussions regarding gender, you will really have a hard time with next week's passage, but this is not an issue. Why? This is speaking about humanity. "I exhort that prayers be made for all humanity" is what he's saying. He is not just saying that one side of the gender is all that's being prayed for; he is calling for prayer for all humanity.

I say that we should be committed to prayer for all without distinction because there are 7.5 billion people that occupy this planet. As of April 2017, we have crossed seven and a half billion people. If we prayed for each individual person without exception, we might have a hard time. However, when he says here that we are to pray for all humanity, we are praying without distinction.

What does that mean? In other words, it means there is no one who is beyond the scope and focus of our prayers. Our prayers are not to be ethnocentric, monocultural, or demographically divided, where we only pray for those who are like us. One commentator said that our prayers should be without distinction of race, nationality, or social position.

In many ways, our prayers for other people are a demonstration of devotion. They are a demonstration of love. When we are praying for someone else, we are demonstrating our devotion to them and our love for them.

Unless we're praying one of the forms of prayer called imprecatory prayers, which are prayers of judgment on people, we should be mindful of how we pray. You may have experienced this when someone cut you off on the freeway, and you thought, "Oh, God, blank them." That's a prayer, even if you didn't really think of it that way.

Here, Paul instructs us to pray for all humanity without distinction at every level. This prayer is a form of devotion. If we only pray the kind of loving, devoted prayers for people who are like us, we miss the point. Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what reward is there? Do not also the sinners do the same?" We are called to be different. We are to pray for all humanity.

Paul specifically mentions that we should pray for kings and all who are in authority. Among the many people we could and should pray for, he emphasizes that those in authority should be high on our list. Whether these civil authorities are perverted or godly, they are to be the subjects of our prayers. One commentator noted that Christian citizens may influence the course of national affairs through their prayers.

How many of you sometimes feel a little helpless regarding the affairs of our nation and its direction? Be honest. I receive your emails and have talked with some of you who are really concerned about these issues. What's the best thing you can do? Many people say to vote, but a lot of you may feel that your vote is not worthwhile, especially if you live in California. You might think that your vote doesn't even matter.

However, we can affect the national affairs of our nation through prayer. Paul emphasizes that we should pray for all those in authority over us. What is the goal of this prayer for those in leadership? Notice what he says in verse two: "For kings and all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." He doesn't say that they may change their actions; rather, our prayer is that it would change us or our experience in the nation in which we live. The aim is that we would lead a peaceable life, a quiet life, in all godliness and reverence.

Point number three on your outline: The prayer warrior should seek to be a peacemaker.

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they are the children of God." The prayer warrior should seek to be a peacemaker. This was written somewhere between the year AD 63 and AD 64, probably in the later part of AD 63 or the early part of AD 64. Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, and it was the hope of the Apostle Paul when he wrote this letter that the church might lead a quiet and peaceable life in the Roman Empire in which they were living. He hoped they would be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life because, as you realize, Rome in the first century was a very pluralistic society. There were all kinds of different groups, subgroups, and temple worship, with many different beliefs and practices.

Paul's hope as an apostle and his hope for the church at Ephesus was that they might lead a quiet and peaceable life. If you know anything about the ministry of Paul, you understand that there was nothing quiet or peaceable in most of the places where he brought the gospel. Nevertheless, his hope was that they would be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life. Therefore, the prayer for the rulers is recommended. One preacher said that in order to obtain for Christians a tranquil life, undisturbed by persecution and molestation, despite their peculiar way of life, their wish was to be allowed to live their faith in obedience to the gospel without being interfered with by the magistrates over them. This was the hope of Paul, but it was a hope that would not be realized.

About ten years before Paul wrote this letter, a new emperor came to power in Rome, a man who was only 17 years old at the time. His name was Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, but he was commonly known as Nero. Nero ruled from about AD 54 until AD 68, when he died. However, not before, in the last four years of his rule as emperor of Rome, he initiated the first wave of mass Christian persecution upon the church. This letter was written around AD 63 or 64. In the summer of AD 64, historians tell us that there was a great fire in the city of Rome. There were 14 districts in the city, and only four of those districts were not affected.

By the fire, it was a massive fire that devastated Rome. Suspicion quickly zeroed in on Nero himself as the one who started or had these fires started. He had ambitions to remake Rome in his image and for his honor. Many people of the day, as well as historians today, believe that he was the one who actually had these fires set.

By the end of the summer of A.D. 64, Nero had a publicity problem. People were not happy with him in Rome. When people were unhappy with the emperors, they didn't live long. In fact, after Nero in A.D. 68, 69, and 70, there were four emperors in two years. People didn't like them, and if you weren't liked, you died. You just disappeared or committed suicide outside the city. Nero had a problem in A.D. 64; people were not happy with his leadership. It hardly ever happens that people are not happy with leadership, so he had to create a diversion.

Nero focused his attention as a scapegoat for the fires of Rome on two groups: the Jews and the Christians. Why? Because they were outsiders. They were a minority that didn't live like the rest of the people. They didn't go to the temples of Rome, the theaters, or see the gladiators. They lived separate lives, making them an easy target. He directed the attention of the Roman people upon the Christians in Rome.

From A.D. 64 to 68, there was massive persecution. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in A.D. 115, tells us that during that period, the Christians were mocked, and the mockery was added to their death. They were covered with the skins of beasts, torn to pieces by dogs, and perished being nailed to crosses. They were doomed to the flames and given to the gladiators. They were burned and served as nightly illumination when daylight expired.

It was the practice of Nero to take Christians still alive, dip them in pitch, and put them on stakes, lighting them on fire for the night and the city. That changes the words "let your light so shine" and takes on a whole new meaning. The Roman persecution under Nero was devastating. It was the first wave of government-sanctioned persecution, but not the last.

And so, Paul's hope would not be realized for the church. Just months before this would begin to take place, he calls the church to wage war and fight the good fight of faith. But how does the Christian wage war? He says we wage war with God in prayer.

Why? Because Paul, in Second Corinthians chapter 10, verse three, states that we do not war according to the flesh, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. They are not earthly, but they are mighty in God for the tearing down of strongholds. Do you realize that prayer is a weapon? It's hard for us to grasp that, but the Scriptures speak of prayer as a weapon.

In the armor and arsenal of the Christian, as written in Ephesians chapter six, maybe you remember the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel, the belt of truth, the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Then he says, "praying always with all prayer and supplications with the saints." Prayer is a weapon. The weapons of our warfare are not earthly, but they are mighty, and they tear down strongholds.

Now, the Christian soldier is called upon to fight the good fight, but they are to wage this fight with the mighty weapons of prayer. We have a hard time with that because there is a resident inclination within every single one of us, more so in men generally than in women, to fight and take up actual weapons.

Virtually every time I have given a message like this on passages in the Bible, I have people who come up to me afterward and ask, "What should we do when the government turns? Should we rise up and fight?" Jesus spoke to this when He was being arrested by the Roman military of the day to be condemned to die by Pontius Pilate. One of His disciples, named Peter, decided to take up a weapon. He pulled out a sword and cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest.

Notice that he didn't go for the trained Roman soldiers that were there, an entire garrison. He was a little bit more wise than that, this fisherman from Galilee. But he cut off the ear of the servant of the high priest, and Jesus stopped him, telling him to put away the sword. The very next morning, Jesus stood before the Roman governor, Pilate, who asked, "Are you really a king?" Jesus affirmed that He is, but He added, "My kingdom is not of this world."

And if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? The implication is that we are not called to rise up like that. This idea grates against me because, in my nature, I am somewhat militant. I see it in my sons, especially Elliot. That kid is militant, and it's a good thing. He's got 40 pounds behind him, which makes him potentially dangerous, and he has an incredibly solid right hook. However, he's at the wrong height for that right hook, let me tell you.

The Christian soldier is to wage war in the spirit by prayer. Notice what Paul says about this in 1 Timothy, chapter two, verse three: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God." This warfare is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Point number four on your outline: Acceptable prayer aligns my desires with God's desire for the salvation of all. I will confess, and I think that many of you will agree, that many times we come to God in prayer with the desire to swing His will toward our will. Sometimes, we approach God trying to explain all the reasons why it would be a really good plan to grant us what we are praying for. We attempt to influence Him, as if we were talking with a senator, trying to sway their vote toward our camp.

We might think, "How can I lobby God?" If it doesn't seem to be working, we might say, "Fine, I'm just going to fast. I'm going to go on a hunger strike until You do what I want You to do." But that's not what prayer is about. Prayer is meant to bring my will into alignment with God's will. This is why we are instructed to pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Sometimes, we need to pray, "Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven."

We struggle with this, but I want to encourage you because Jesus struggled with this in His humanity. Jesus was fully God and fully man.

He had humanity like you and I have humanity. We see that humanity come through in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He would be killed. He is praying to the Father three times, and He says to the Father, "If there's any other way, let this cup, this crucifixion, pass from me, but not my will; Your will be done."

What is He doing in His humanity? He is expressing that He does not desire the suffering of the cross, but He submits His will to the will of the Father. Prayer brings my desire, my will, into alignment with God's desire. Here we find that acceptable prayer aligns my desires with God's desire for the salvation of all.

What do you pray for when your governing authorities are anti-Christ, like Nero? My desire in the natural is to pray for their damnation, to pray for their destruction, to offer a little imprecatory prayer: "Break their teeth in their mouth." That would be my prayers in the natural. However, we are directed here to pray not for their damnation, but for their salvation.

Therefore, if I am going to pray a prayer that is in alignment with, in accordance with, the nature of God, what do we learn about the nature of God in these verses? Look at it carefully with me at the end of verse three. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. His very nature is that of a Savior.

Not only does this reveal His nature, but it also reveals His will. Verse four states that He desires all men to be saved. If I am going to pray in line with God's nature, which is that He is a Savior, and His will, which is that He desires salvation for all people, then I must pray for the salvation of all people.

And "all" here means all. It includes those who are in opposition to Christ, those whom we might consider anti-Christ. We are to pray for their salvation. Since we are exhorted to pray for the salvation of any and everyone, we can assume and understand that God's desire is for the salvation of any and everyone. This leads me to one of my strong convictions about God's nature, His will, and the Scriptures: any teaching that limits the salvific power, the saving...

The idea that the power of God is limited to one chosen group is against the Scriptures and the nature of God. Therefore, not only should we pray for the salvation of all men, but we should also work for the salvation of all men. How do we see this in the text? Notice what it says in verses three and four: "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved." That is His desire, and He wants all to come to the knowledge of the truth. God's desire is for the salvation of all; therefore, He has sent us to bring the knowledge of the truth to the people of this world.

If they are going to know the truth, how will they know it? They will know the truth because you and I share that truth with them. This is why Paul states in verse seven, "For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth." He emphasizes that God appointed him to the task of being an apostle—one sent with a message, a preacher, and a teacher telling people the truth.

What truth do we tell them? Look at verses five and six: "For there is one God, one mediator between God and men, the man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." The truth that you and I are to bring to those in need of salvation is this: there is one God, and there is one way to that God. Jesus died for you so that you could come to God. Does that sound like the gospel? He gave Himself as a ransom to be testified. We have to go and tell people this truth, and He did this for all, not for some, but for all.

In verse seven, Paul reiterates, "For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ, not lying, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith." Why does Paul feel the need to emphasize that he is telling the truth? Because there was severe division between people groups, classifications, and ethnicities in his day. Some Jewish Christians did not accept Gentiles and felt that they could not receive the grace of Jesus. Paul asserts that he was appointed to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Pretty much all of us here today are Gentiles, and we are very thankful that God appointed him to do that.

And so God has appointed me a preacher and an apostle, a teacher of the truth of faith. I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting.

Point number five on your outline: God's desire for salvation compels our desire for prayer. You see it there. God desires all men to be saved. Paul says, "I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere." What's the first step of evangelism? Prayer.

At the beginning of September, we handed out cards here on a Sunday morning in your bulletin, a little orange card. It said "You Connect" on it. On the backside, there were three blanks where you wrote the names of three individuals. Many of you did. We collected about 800 names that you wrote down. We wrote them all down and have been praying for those people. Hopefully, you've been praying too. Why? Because the first step of the evangelist is to pray that God would tear down strongholds of every vain thing that exalts itself against the truth of who God is and what He has done for us.

We pray that God would begin to move in the hearts of individuals who have been hardened by sin, suffering, anger, and all kinds of things they have gone through. They become hardened because of the brokenness and the fullness of this world, and they don't want to come to the knowledge of the truth because men love darkness rather than light. So how do we move in the heavenlies? By prayer.

We have been praying, and hopefully, God has given you opportunities to invite and share with the people we have been praying for. If not, there are still opportunities to share with them. I am still looking for the right opportunity to share with one of the individuals' names that I wrote down. I am still praying for that opportunity, which hasn't happened yet. But God, would You move in power to give me that opportunity to share the good news of who You are with this person?

God's desire for salvation should compel my desire for prayer. Paul says, "I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere," not just quietly at home or just gathered in a room like this, but everywhere that we be beacons of prayer for the salvation of all people.

And so that's what we're going to do. We're going to stand together. Stand with me, and we're going to do what Paul says here: I desire that men and women pray everywhere with lifted hands, holy hands lifted high. You may ask, "What's that?"

God said to do it, so we're going to lift our heads. You may feel uncomfortable. Close your eyes; you won't see anyone, and you will feel fine. This is also a good way to keep prayer short because your arms get tired. If you have a person who prays long all the time, just say, "Let's lift up our hands while we're praying." They'll stop because their arms will get tired.

So, we're going to pray. What does it mean to have holy hands? It means hands that have been sanctified by the washing and regeneration of the blood of Jesus Christ. If you're a Christian today, you've been made holy before God. He says, "I want you to lift up hands and pray for what?" For the salvation of all people, even those in your life who might have been, up to this point, anti-Christ, like Nero.

Let's lift our hands and close our eyes. Father, we stand in Your presence. What an awesome reality! The Scriptures say wherever two or more are gathered in Your name, there You are in their midst. We trust, based on the promise of Your Word, that You are here in this place. What an amazing and awesome opportunity it is to stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who is holy, holy, holy, separate from sinners, and to be able to lift our hands. They are holy hands because of the work that You did. Our sin has been dealt with; it has been purged and cleansed. Thank You, Jesus, for Your salvation.

God, every single one of us standing here today knows people—friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors—who don't know You. They don't have the knowledge of the truth. They might even know something about Jesus; they may have even gone to church as a kid, but they don't know You, and their lives are broken. They are broken because of the sin they have committed and the sin that has been done to them. There are hurts, pains, angers, unforgiveness, frustration, adultery, fornication, and all kinds of things that hold us back from You and keep them back from You.

But You are the Savior; that's Your nature, and You desire their salvation. Jesus, You put it all on the line for their salvation. How will He, Father, who spared not His only Son, not freely give all things? God, You gave it all for us. We pray for those individuals, those names that we wrote down, or maybe some other names that have come to mind now. We ask, God, that You would move in power mightily in their lives.

Do whatever you need to do to bring them to the place where they recognize their need for your saving grace. God, help us to be there with boldness to share the truth of who you are at that moment, with the right word, at the right time, and in the right way. Let us not be fearful. Jesus, give your church boldness. Pour out your Spirit upon us as our hands are lifted high in surrender, accepting and asking that you would give to us your grace and your boldness.

Lord, help us to pour it out. You have placed every single person in this room in a specific mission field that I will never have the opportunity to reach apart from your grace. They are on school campuses, in office buildings, on construction sites, in police cars—wherever they are. You have placed them there to be ambassadors of your kingdom. Use them as lights to a world that is in such chaos, brokenness, and need.

We pray for our leaders, those who know you and those who are opposed to you. We pray for salvation because we know that righteousness exalts a nation, and sin is a reproach to any people. If we want to see our nation transformed, the only thing that will transform it is your saving grace and power. Not a new tax plan, not a new health care bill, not a new president, but your grace. God, help us to remember that.

We pray these things in the mighty and precious name of Jesus, and all those who agree say Amen.