Pray for all People
August 13, 2020 | by: Stephen Sprague | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
The Touchpoint articles from this week and last week are drawn from some of our devotions at SummerLink this past year. I encourage you to consider reading and discussing these with someone else – whether a spouse, family member, or friend.
Pray for all People
In 1 Timothy 1:16 Paul tells us that he “was shown mercy… (so that) Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” Paul is saying that God uses us, despite our sin, to show how great His mercy is to the world around us so that others could see the beauty of the good news of Jesus and receive eternal life too. This is such a cool thought that God could use us in that way.
Read: Today I want us to focus on passage of scripture that comes a little later in Paul’s letter to Timothy, 1 Timothy 2:1-6. In this passage Paul gives some very practical advice for how we can love others around us. Before you read, pray and ask God to help you to understand what he is saying to you from this passage.
Read 1 Timothy 2:1-6.
Think: In this passage, Paul is urging us to 1) pray and give thanks for all people, with an emphasis on those who are in high positions (think leaders, government officials, principals and teachers, etc.), and 2) to live in a way that is “godly”. What are some of the parts of this passage that stand out to you the most? What reasoning does Paul give for why we should pray for others and live in a way that is dignified (Note: Think of dignified as meaning someone who loves God and loves others more than themselves.)?
There is a two-part challenge here. The first part is to pray for everyone you can think of (that’s a lot of people!). The second part is to live in a way that is Godly for others to see God’s love in you. In both of the parts, God’s desire is the same – that “all people would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Do you desire this for those in your life who do not know Jesus? This passage shows us how important it is to care, not just for the physical needs of those around us, but also and more importantly for their spiritual need of receiving the forgiveness of sins that is found in Jesus. As we pray for the spiritual needs of others and live in a way that shows we care for both their physical and spiritual needs, we are focusing our hearts on the very things that God desires himself.
Pray: Spend some time in prayer asking God to help you think of specific people that you know who do not know Jesus as their savior. As you think of these people, pray for them, that they might “come to the knowledge of the truth” and know the “one God” and “the one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.” Ask God to also help you to live in such a way that shows the goodness of God to the people around you, and for opportunities and boldness to simply talk to others about Jesus.
