The Importance of Prayer

The Importance of Prayer.

I started this monthly devotional series by talking about how we can be aware of God and how active He is in the world, even if we can’t see Him. I then shifted to a call for selfless sacrifice and how work is good, even when it’s hard. A key element in all these concepts is the importance of prayer. Praying helps us be more aware of God, willing to sacrifice, and persevere when our jobs are hard.  

A lot has gone on in the world since our last devotional was posted and the passage below, which focuses on prayer, has been on my mind a lot. Let’s take this month to look into it together.   

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

1 Timothy 2:1-4 

Prayer is simply talking with God. There are countless ways we can talk with Him, just like there are different kinds of conversations we can have with other people. Paul mentions three of them in his letter to Timothy. Here are some quick definitions: 

Supplications – to make an earnest and humble entreaty or petition to an authority or deity 

Intercessions – intervening/praying on behalf of another person 

Thanksgivings – giving thanks (this one’s obvious, of course) 

So Paul urges that supplications, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made into two groups: 

1. Generally “all people” – this includes you personally.
2. Specifically “kings and all who are in high positions” – I take this to mean people leading in their families, communities, organizations/companies, national leaders, and world leaders. 

That’s pretty comprehensive! Basically, pray for everyone, and get specific sometimes. He then goes on to mention some particular ways we can pray for these groups, which still seem profoundly relevant to today. 

That we may lead a peaceful and quiet life – If there’s one thing we can all agree we’re missing in life, it’s peace and quiet. Life is often chaotic and loud. We’re even pressured to make it so. I think the call here is to start with being peaceful and quiet people. We can still lead out of this space. How different and refreshing would life look if we led toward peace instead of conflict? Toward quiet instead of being “on” all the time? Let’s pray with supplications for ourselves in this area, intercessions on behalf of others, and thanksgivings for the times we’re actually able to lead a peaceful and quiet life.  

Godly – There’s a difference between being godly and god-like. The reason why the world we live in wrestles with the ability to be peaceful and quiet dates back to the Garden of Eden. Here, Satan tempted Adam and Eve with the lie that it would be better for us if we were like God (or god-like) knowing good and evil; The implication being that we would determine for ourselves what good and evil is instead of God.

Being godly is to trust God – living life in a way that acknowledges He knows best, is for me and for my ultimate good. Let’s pray for ourselves with supplications, and each other and leaders with intercessions acknowledging that living in a godly way isn’t natural for us. It can be uncomfortable and difficult to choose and takes a great deal of faith that God is who He says He is and will do what He says He’ll do. Then let’s give thanks for the victory we have in Christ who is our only hope and empowers us to live godly lives.  

Dignified in every way – since God created us in His image, all people have inherent dignity and therefore are under a divine mandate to be treated as such. If we desire to be godly, we must recognize, honor, and respect the dignity of all God’s image bearers no matter how different we are from each other.

Let’s pray with supplications that God would empower us both to view ourselves as worthy of dignity, and to live like we bear the very image of God. Then let’s pray with intercessions that others would be able to do the same, including leaders and those in high positions. Lastly, let’s thank God for examples we’ve seen of people being treated with dignity that’s reflective of the image of God that they bear.  

How comforting and encouraging to read at the end of this passage that “God our Savior desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” God is for you. He sees you. He is our Savior who wants, even desires, to save you. Even more, He longs for all people to come to the knowledge of the truth in a world that seems so unsteady, and confusing, and is perpetually searching for truth and how to define it.

Think back to the Garden of Eden account. Trying to be god-like and searching for truth on our own isn’t working out for us. We lack peace. Life is too loud. People all around us are constantly robbed of their dignity…

God isn’t holding out on us. He is trustworthy. He freely offers salvation. He desires to give us knowledge of the truth. The One who knows all our needs is also the only One who is able to supply all our needs. Will we come to Him? Let’s give thanks to God for His desires for us and His posture toward us, and then respond with intercessions and supplications.  

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