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.

When an anti-Christ Nero sits on the throne, the church's first and mightiest weapon is prayer—for his salvation, not his destruction.

A World That Says "Pray For"

Many of you had the same experience I did this past Monday morning. One of the first things I was greeted with was a long list of text messages: Did you see what happened in Las Vegas? I went online to see, and I have to confess I wasn't entirely shocked. These things are absolutely horrific and terrible—but it's almost more horrific that they've become so normative we're no longer surprised by them. For nearly all of my adult life I've anticipated waking up to some dreadful thing that happened the night before. It weighs upon us, this brokenness of our world, and there are people in our church and community personally affected by it.

One interesting response has become standard in our society over the last five or six years. In solidarity with those affected, people go on social media and change their cover picture, almost always attached to a hashtag: pray for Nice, pray for Paris, pray for London, pray for Manchester, pray for Orlando, now pray for Vegas. Even people who wouldn't identify as religious post these. Newscasters say, "Our hearts and prayers are with the people of Vegas." Politicians stand up and ask us to pray.

It's striking, because the passage before us today is an apostolic exhortation to do that very thing—to pray. Paul, writing to Timothy, the pastor of the church in Ephesus, urges those under his care as a shepherd to pray. This passage tells us that the apostle's desire—and therefore God's desire—is that we be a people who pray. It tells us what kind of prayer to pray, that our prayers should be for others and not only ourselves, that they should be public and not only private, and that we should pray certain things for those people.

The Context: From Proper Preaching to Proper Prayer

The context here is important. Back in chapter one, verse three, Paul says, "As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine." That word urged is the same Greek word translated exhort in chapter two, verse one—parakaleo, "to come alongside" and call you to something. In chapter one, Paul calls Timothy to make sure the church stands strong in sound doctrine. That was the whole exhortation we spent four weeks studying: be a church that preaches and practices proper doctrine.

But now in chapter two he shifts from proper preaching to proper prayer. The church should be a place where prayers are offered. "I want you, Timothy, to establish right practices in the church—right practices of preaching, but now right practices of prayer."

Public Prayer Should Be of Significant Importance in the Church

We know this because Paul says, "I exhort first of all." One byproduct of sound doctrine being preached is that the gathering of people we call a church—a church is a gathering of people, not a place—will be a people who make prayer a priority. Prayer should hold a prime position in our lives, individually as followers of Jesus and corporately as a church.

In many ways we do this well at Cross Connection. Every week someone stands up and talks about this prayer card, and 80 to 100 of you fill it out with detailed, specific requests—for healing, salvation, provision, a job. We collect these, and our staff prays over them on Tuesday, and another group prays over them on Wednesday. We place a high value on this. But when you consider Scripture's exhortations toward prayer, we could always do better, individually and corporately.

Prayer is one of those things that, though it ought to be a priority, can slide by the wayside. There can be a high priority internally and intellectually, but a very low place practically. 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. I can't tell you how many times my wife has said, "We should pray about this," and I've said, "Yeah, yeah, we'll get to that"—and never got to it. I say this as confession. This should be a higher priority in my life than it is.

The early church was described in Acts 2:42: "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." Sound doctrine, fellowship, the Lord's Supper and hospitality, and prayer—these were the foremost values of the early church, and they should not change for us. Paul is reordering an out-of-order church at Ephesus: "Timothy, make sure they preach sound doctrine, and make sure they are engaged in prayer."

Answering the Objections to Prayer

Before we get into the specifics, we have to answer some objections. Maybe you've had them. Why should I pray? God is so far away; He can't possibly be interested in what I'm going through. Or, God has bigger issues than my piddly problems. Or, God is more interested in the important people in the church. Or, God doesn't give me what I ask for anyway. I've heard another one lately that has shocked me: Why even pray? God is sovereign; He'll do what He wants. That doesn't align with Scripture and our call to prayer.

Maybe you don't say these things with your lips, but there's an attitude identifiable in many American Christians today: I don't need to pray. I have everything I need. One of the churches in Revelation fell into that very thing—"We are rich and have need of nothing." It's a dangerous pattern.

Paul doesn't even spend time on these objections. To Paul, God was intimately interested in the issues of our daily lives. And this wasn't original to Paul—Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God as Father. We are in a relational context with God as our Father, who knows what we need and desires that we, His children, come and ask Him for our daily bread.

Four Kinds of Prayer

Paul lists supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks—really three kinds, because "prayers" is the overarching, catch-all term. All supplications are prayers, but not all prayers are supplications; all intercessions are prayers, but not all prayers are intercessions.

Supplication is the prayer where you personally ask God to provide for your own needs and cares. If we're honest, this probably occupies about 80% of our prayers. Sometimes it becomes like ordering at Starbucks: "I want this and this, hold the whipped cream, and at this temperature." Supplication isn't bad—we're instructed to bring our petitions to God—but it can dominate our entire prayer life.

Intercession is petition for the needs of others. We're exhorted as Christians and as a church to pray for others' needs. That's what we do with our prayer cards.

And we must not neglect the giving of thanks. What do you do when you receive what you prayed for? Do you come before God and give honest praise, adoration, and thanksgiving, acknowledging that it was His hand that dealt with the issue? It's a vital part of prayer.

The Church Should Pray for All Without Distinction

Paul says these prayers should be made "for all men, for kings and all who are in authority." Let's quickly handle the gender-specific language some stumble over. Paul says "all men." This is speaking about humanity—pray for all humanity. He's not saying only one gender is prayed for.

There are 7.5 billion people on this planet. If we prayed for each one individually, we'd have a hard time. So when Paul says pray for all, he means without distinction. There is no one beyond the scope of our prayers. Our prayers are not to be ethnocentric, monocultural, or demographically divided. One commentator said our prayers should be without distinction of race, nationality, or social position.

Praying for others is a demonstration of devotion and love—unless we're praying imprecatory prayers, prayers of judgment. You've all done that. That person who cut you off on the freeway and you said, "Oh, God, blank them"—that's a prayer. If we only pray loving, devoted prayers for people like us, then, as Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the sinners do the same?" We're called to be different.

Pray for Kings and Those in Authority

Among the many we should pray for, Paul puts those in authority high on the list—whether they are godly or perverted. One commentator said, "Christian citizens may in this way influence the course of national affairs." How many of you sometimes feel helpless about where our nation is going? People say, "Vote." But many of you don't feel your vote is worthwhile, especially in California. Yet we can affect the affairs of our nation by prayer.

What's the goal? Verse two: that "we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." Notice Paul doesn't say we pray that they change their actions, but that we—our experience in the nation where we live—would be changed, so that we lead a peaceable, quiet, and godly life.

The Prayer Warrior Should Seek to Be a Peacemaker

Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." This letter was written around AD 63–64. Paul's hope was that the church might lead a quiet and peaceable life in a very pluralistic Roman Empire full of subgroups and temple worship. If you know anything about Paul's ministry, there was nothing quiet or peaceable in most places he brought the gospel—but his hope was that they could live their faith in obedience without being interfered with by the magistrates over them.

That hope would not be realized. About ten years before this letter, a new emperor came to Rome at age seventeen: Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus—Nero. He ruled from AD 54 to 68, and in his last four years he brought the first wave of mass Christian persecution. In the summer of AD 64 a great fire devastated Rome; ten of its fourteen districts were affected. Suspicion quickly fell on Nero himself, who had ambitions to remake Rome in his own image. Many historians still believe he set the fires.

By the end of that summer Nero had a publicity problem—and when people were unhappy with emperors, those emperors didn't live long. After Nero, Rome had four emperors in two years. So Nero created a diversion, making scapegoats of the Jews and the Christians because they were outsiders—a minority who didn't live like everyone else, didn't go to the temples, theaters, or gladiator games. From AD 64 to 68 there was massive persecution. The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in AD 115, tells us Christians were covered with the skins of beasts and torn to pieces by dogs, nailed to crosses, doomed to flames, and burned to serve as nightly illumination when daylight expired. It was Nero's practice to dip living Christians in pitch, fix them to stakes, and light them on fire to illuminate the city. That gives the words "Let your light so shine" a whole new meaning.

Waging War with the Weapon of Prayer

So Paul, just months before this would begin, calls the church to wage war and fight the good fight of faith. But how does a Christian wage war? With God, in prayer. In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul says, "We do not war according to the flesh, and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds." Prayer is a weapon. In the armor of Ephesians 6—the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit—Paul adds, "praying always with all prayer and supplication." The weapons of our warfare are not earthly, but mighty, and they tear down strongholds.

Resident in every one of us—more so generally in men than women—is an inclination to fight and take up actual weapons. Almost every time I preach a message like this, someone comes up afterward and asks, "What should we do when the government turns? Should we rise up and fight?" Jesus spoke to this. When He was arrested, Peter took up a weapon and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant—notice he didn't go for the trained Roman garrison; this Galilean fisherman was wise enough for that. Jesus stopped him and told him to put away the sword. The next morning Jesus told Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." The implication is that we're not called to rise up that way. That grates against my nature—I'm somewhat militant by nature, and I see it in my sons, especially Elliot. The Christian soldier is to wage war in the Spirit by prayer.

Acceptable Prayer Aligns My Desires with God's Desire

Paul says, "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." Acceptable prayer aligns my desires with God's desire for the salvation of all.

I confess—and many of you will agree—that often we come to God trying to swing His will toward ours. We explain all the reasons our plan is good, trying to lobby Him like a senator we want to sway. And if it doesn't work, we say, "Fine, I'll fast—I'll go on hunger strike until You do what I want." But prayer isn't about that. Prayer brings my will into alignment with God's will. That's why we pray, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"—and sometimes we need to pray, "Your will be done in my life as it is in heaven."

We struggle with this, but be encouraged—Jesus struggled with it in His humanity. In Gethsemane He prayed three times, "If there is any other way, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not My will but Your will be done." In His humanity He didn't desire the suffering of the cross, but He submitted His will to the Father's.

So what do you pray when your governing authority is an anti-Christ Nero? My natural desire is to pray for their damnation and destruction—break their teeth in their mouth. But we're directed here to pray for their salvation. Look carefully at the end of verse three: "God our Savior." His very nature is Savior. And His will, verse four: "who desires all men to be saved." If I pray in line with God's nature and will, I must pray for the salvation of all people—and all means all, including those in opposition to Christ.

This leads to one of my strong convictions: any teaching that limits the saving power of God to one chosen group is against the Scriptures and the nature of God.

God's Desire for Salvation Compels Our Desire for Prayer

We should not only pray for the salvation of all, but work for it. "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." If they're going to know the truth, it's because you and I share it with them. That's why Paul says in verse seven, "For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth."

And what truth do we tell them? Verses five and six: "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all." There is one God, one way to Him, and Jesus died for you so you could come to God. That's the gospel. And He did this for all, not for some. Paul adds parenthetically, "I am speaking the truth in Christ, not lying," because there was severe division in his day—Jewish Christians who didn't believe Gentiles could receive the grace of Jesus. Paul insists God appointed him to take the gospel to Gentiles—and nearly all of us here are Gentiles, very thankful He did.

God's desire for salvation compels our desire for prayer. "God desires all men to be saved. I desire, therefore, that men pray everywhere." What's the first step of evangelism? Prayer. At the beginning of September we handed out little orange cards, and many of you wrote down three names—about 800 names in all. We've been praying for them. 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 He is, that He would move in hearts hardened by sin, suffering, anger, and the brokenness of this world. Men love darkness rather than light, so we move in the heavenlies by prayer.

I'm still looking for the right opportunity to share with one of the names I wrote down. I'm still praying. "God, move in power to give me that opportunity." Paul says, "I desire therefore that men pray everywhere"—not just quietly at home, not just gathered in a room like this, but everywhere, that we be beacons of prayer for the salvation of all people.

Lifting Holy Hands

So let's do what Paul says: "I desire that men and women pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath or doubting." You may feel uncomfortable—close your eyes, you'll see no one, you'll be fine. This is also a good way to keep prayer short, because your arms get tired. What does "holy hands" mean? Hands 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. So lift up your hands and pray for the salvation of all people, even those who to this point have been anti-Christ like Nero.

Closing Prayer

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, so we trust You are here. What an amazing opportunity to stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the One who is holy, holy, holy, separate from sinners, and to lift our hands—holy hands, because of the work You did. Our sin has been dealt with, purged, cleansed. Thank You, Jesus, for Your salvation.

God, every one of us standing here knows people—friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors—who don't know You. They may know something about Jesus, may even have gone to church as a kid, but they don't know You, and their lives are broken—broken by sin they've done and sin done to them. There are hurts, pains, angers, unforgiveness, frustration, all kinds of things that hold them back from You. But You are the Savior; that is Your nature, and You desire their salvation. Jesus, You put it all on the line. He who spared not His own Son, how will He not freely give all things?

We pray for those names we wrote down, and any others now coming to mind. Move in power mightily in their lives. Do whatever You need to bring them to recognize their need for Your saving grace. Help us be there with boldness to share the truth of who You are—the right word at the right time in the right way—not fearful. Give Your church boldness. Pour out Your Spirit upon us as our hands are lifted high in surrender, accepting and asking for Your grace.

You have placed every person in this room in a specific mission field I could never reach apart from Your grace—on school campuses, in office buildings, on construction sites, in police cars. You've placed them there to be ambassadors of Your kingdom. Use them as lights to a world in chaos and brokenness and need. And we pray for our leaders, those who know You and those opposed to You, for their salvation—because righteousness exalts a nation, and sin is a reproach to any people. If we want our nation transformed, the only thing that will transform it is Your saving grace and power—not a new tax plan, not a new healthcare bill, not a new president, but Your grace. Help us remember that. We pray these things in the mighty and precious name of Jesus, and all those who agree said, Amen.