Praying for everyone especially for those in authority

I Timothy 2:1-4 (NIV)

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.

Some basic questions about prayer:  How often do you pray?  If you do pray, for whom do you pray?  How much of your prayer time is focused on others compared to your own needs (and yes, admit it, often times your wants)?  If you do focus on others what and how do you pray for them?   Do you pray for people you don’t know?  Do you pray for those in authority over you?

You are to pray for all people, asking God to help them, intercede on their behalf, give thanks for them.  Now, this does not mean all people that you know, you could never do anything else.  The word “all” more likely means that you pray for all kinds of people--men, women, children, family, neighbors, friends, those who persecute you, co-workers, superiors, subordinates, peers--anyone brought to your attention who you know need your prayers.  Do Christian people do enough of this?  I don’t know, but likely not.  Most of our praying is for ourselves and, secondly, for our loved ones, but how much time and effort do you spend praying for others, especially for those in authority?  Kings and figures of authority include not only the President, but also his staff, cabinet, members of Congress, state and local leaders, church leaders, teachers, and parents. 

Paul urged Timothy as his number one priority to pray for everyone although everyone mostly means those in authority.  Paul list four nouns that we interpret all as part of prayer

1.   Requests (deēsis)--need, want, a seeking, asking, entreaty to God or to man.  Prayer involves requests of and from each of us.  However, this type of prayer can be answered/addressed either by God or by other people.  Prayers for help with basic human needs (food, money, shelter, encouragement, etc) can be met by other people. 

2.    Prayers (proseuchē)-- prayer addressed to God; a place set apart or suited for the offering of prayer.  This type of prayer that only God alone can meet.  Prayers for healing, wisdom to make right decisions, salvation, etc can only be met by God.    

3.    Intercession (enteuxis)—a coming together, petition, meeting with.  These are corporate prayers, e.g. praying in the church where a need is prayed about before the entire congregation. 

4.    Thanksgiving (eucharistia)—giving of thanks.  Prayers of thanksgiving involve not only words but also songs.  The singing of hymns in the church or even by yourself are expressions of thanksgiving. 

When Paul wrote to Timothy, was the Roman Emperor at the time?  Well, there is conjecture exactly when the letter was written, but most scholars think that it was written during Paul’s final years on earth, circa 62-67 AD.  The emperor during those years?  Nero!  Perhaps the greatest persecutor of Christians of all the Roman emperors.  Yet Paul urged Timothy to pray for kings and those in authority.

Why pray for kings and those in authority even if they are evil?  Praying for them may lead to a “quiet and peaceable life…..”.  Is it possible that a main reason why there seems to be so much violence in America and throughout the world is because so few people are praying for their leaders, for those in authority over them?  Praying for those in authority enables you to become “………godly and holy in every way”.  The word “godly” in the Greek “eusebeia” that means to be intimately related to God.  When you pray for others you become closer to God and better see realities from His point of view.  The word “holy” in the Greek “semnotes” can be translated as respectful or courteous. 

Another promise when you pray for others is that this pleases God our Savior.  Our Savior God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Your prayers for others helps to activate the work of the Holy Spirit in others’ lives.  While God desires that all people are saved, the word “all” really refers to people of all social classes, nationalities, races, and backgrounds, not all people regardless of what they do with their lives.

As a result of study, meditation, and reflection, may your prayer life be magnified by taking more time and making more effort to do what Paul urged Timothy to do with his prayer life.   

“If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer.”--Richard Foster, Prayer, p. 191

Don't rejoice when your enemies fall

Proverbs 24:17-18 (NLT)

Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall;
 don’t be happy when they stumble.  For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn His anger away from them.

This is one of those several passages in the Bible where I cringe when I read/mediate on them because I know that they are so difficult to follow.  Other examples, at least for me, and this is only a partial list:

Luke 6:27-28: “But to you who are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.”

Luke 14:33: “So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.”

Matthew 12:36: “And I tell you that on the Judgment Day people will be responsible for every careless thing they have said.”

Philippians 2:14: “Do everything without complaining or arguing”

Matthew 5:29-30: “If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.”

I don’t have many “enemies” in my life, but the few I do, I would have a very hard time being sad and unhappy for them when they might stumble.  Yet these verses remind me that my natural attitude against my enemies is not the attitude of a believer in God and His Son, Jesus Christ.  I remember how good I felt one day when I heard that a former boss who I thought really mistreated me, wouldn’t give me good assignments, showed partiality to others, and did everything he could to discourage me was demoted.  Oh, indeed, I felt so good about this news about this former tormentor.  Then I read these verses not too long after this demotion.  I was convicted of my sin.  All I could do was confess my sin and pray that the Lord no longer be displeased with me.  This is one of those verses, I believe, that many believers are not aware of so when they violate it, they are not judged as transgressors.  However, once they are aware of what these verses teach, then to violate them now becomes a sin.  This is an illustration of what James 4:17 teaches. 

It is very interesting what the last part of these verses says----that if you rejoice when your enemies stumble, the Lord will turn away His anger from them.  When the Lord’s child is hurt by another, the Lord gets angry (Deut 32:35-36, Rom 12:19).  You must give way to the Lord and let Him deal with whoever has hurt you.  You are never to seek revenge.  Instead you are to overcome evil against you with good (Rom 12:21).  Oh, how difficult this is for us humans.  Our instinctive nature is to fight back when insulted, hurt, taken advantage of, any kind of evil perpetrated against us.  But that is not to be part of our spiritual nature as obedient followers of the Lord.  It takes all of the Lord’s strength within us not to rejoice when our enemies fail and not to seek retribution and revenge against them. 

Think about it……did Jesus rejoice when his enemies stumbled and failed?  Did he laugh or smirk or show any kind of pleasure when those who confronted him constantly during His ministry were made foolish by His words?  Did He ask God to hurt or destroy those who were torturing and crucifying Him?  Quite the opposite, He asked God to forgive His enemies.  Such is the attitude we Christians must have even though it perhaps is the hardest thing we ever have to do in our lives.

Do you need to confess, as I had to do, the times when you know that you rejoiced when an enemy failed and were happy when he/she stumbled?  Oh, yes, it may very well be the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do, but it is the right thing, it shows your obedience to the Lord, and He will bless you for your humility including the sense of true freedom (example of Joseph in Gen 45, Luke 6:36-37, Matt 18:21-35).   

“Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.”  Proverbs 19:11

You are no longer a slave, but a son

Galatians 4:6-9 (NIV)

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

We all have friends in our lives, but at different levels of friendship, from casual to intimate. At the lowest level of friendship, maybe a better word is “relationship” are acquaintances where all you say to each other is “hello”. Then there are those where you might say more than “hello”, but the conversation is very superficial and you really don’t know one another (although, sadly, for some relationships, you do wish you could get to know another person better). Then you have friends who are people who you know a lot about, their jobs, their family, their likes and dislikes, people that you likely have lunch or dinner with once in a while. Then there are the really close friends, people with whom you trust and can share your true emotions. These are people who you would call at 3 in the morning, knowing that they would help you if you needed it. The final level of friendship is the intimate kind of relationship found between a loving husband and wife and, perhaps, between very close siblings.

Jesus desires the intimate kind of relationship between you and Him, yet does that describe your current relationship with Him? He wants to be closer to you than your spouse, father, mother, brother, sister, whoever (Prov 18:24, Matt 10:34-37)…..but is that the case with your life? Likely not, at least not yet. Most Christians relate to Jesus like you relate to one of the first four levels of friendship just described, but not yet the intimate level where you relate to Him stronger and more personally than anyone else.

Paul is describing an intimate relationship between God and His children (Christians). Christians are sons of God through Christ. Believing in Jesus, deciding give over your life to Him (being reborn) qualifies you as a son (or daughter) of God. Your sincere desire to live your life under His control brings His Holy Spirit into the center of your life (heart). The Spirit refers to God at “Abba”, an Aramaic word literally meaning “Daddy”. That is what Jesus called God in Mark 14:36. Your acceptance of Jesus as your Savior and Lord and the entrance of His Spirit into your heart transforms you from being a slave to sin to being a son of God. As a son of God, you also are an heir to everything He has, everything. You become an heir to His kingdom, power and glory that you can experience to some degree here on earth and to a fuller degree in eternity. You inherit eternal life that only faith in Jesus provides.

What a question Paul asks.......why in the world would you ever want to return to the gods of your former life? Those gods were whatever were controlling your life before you decided to let Christ control it. Those gods----greed, sexual immorality, selfishness, lying and cheating, worshipping the wrong people, position and power and so forth---were weak and miserable (they made you weak and miserable as a person). Why would you ever want to return to them?

What, in your life, reveals that you are a son and heir of God? What weak and miserable god might still be remaining from your former life as a slave to your sinful nature?

What the Bible claims to do for you

Psalm 19:7-11 (NIV)

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.  The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.  The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.  They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;  they are sweeter than honey,  than honey from the comb.   By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 

There’s absolutely no question that the Bible is a totally unique book.  It was written over a period of 1600 years, written by more than 40 authors of every sort - kings, poor people, fishermen, poets, government officials, teachers, prophets, written in three languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic), written on three continents - Asia, Africa, and Europe.

 

The Bible is the only published book in the history of mankind that has sold over one billion copies; in fact, the editors of Publications International listed the 21 best selling books of all time as of the end of 2007 with the Bible at the top of their list with 5-6 billion copies sold.  The second highest sold book?---Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong---at 900 million.  For you modern readers, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has sold 100 million copies (#6 of all time with five other Harry Potter books at #9 ,#11, #13, #14, and #15).  Benjamin Spock’s book on baby and childcare has sold 50 million copies.

Why is the Bible overwhelmingly the best-selling book of all time?  Well, granted, it’s the oldest book, with the first English version published by John Wycliff in the 1380s.  The first book published by Gutenberg’s printing press was the Bible in the 1450s. Yet the Bible today sells over 100 million copies every year (168,000 per day in the USA—International Bible Society data).  Why? 

These verses in Psalm 19 give some answers.  They describe what the Bible is and what the Bible does.  Note that the word Bible is never mentioned, but rather is entitled as “law” (torah), “statutes”, “precepts”, “commands”, commanding “fear”, and “ordinances”.  Psalm 19 claims the Bible to be

§ Perfect—the Bible contains all the answers you’ll ever need and they all are true.

§ Trustworthy—there are no lies in the Bible.

§ Right—the Bible holds nothing back and it is all true.

§ Radiant—the Bible will open your eyes and heart and you’ll never be the same again.

§ Pure—the Bible is morally and ethically the purest writing you’ll ever find.

§ Sure—you can stake your life and your beliefs on the truths of the Bible.

§ Righteous—the Bible can positively change your conduct and character.

§ More precious than gold—the value you gain from the Bible is worth more than gold.

§ Sweeter than honey—the Bible will give you sweet satisfaction more than anything else.

What the Bible does (its ministry to those who study and follow its commands)

§ Revives the soul—your life will be converted and you’ll have all the assurances of God.

§ Makes wise the simple—you’ll possess the wisdom of God.

§ Gives joy to the heart—you will have a happiness that only comes from knowing God.

§ Gives light to the eyes—there is no greater source of enlightenment in the whole world.

§ Endures forever—the Bible will never disappear, never be irrelevant.

§ Gives great reward to those who keep (obeys) God’s commands—the great reward is true fulfillment in your life on earth and eternal life in heaven. 

What the Bible is and what the Bible does still speak to millions of people today, despite how long ago it was written.  It is a book that brings salvation to millions of people.  It is a book that is the source of truth, happiness, victory over sin, growth, power, guidance, and love.

Are you giving the study of the Bible quality time in your life so that you can claim everything that the Bible says about itself, what it is and what it does?