Pray For All People

ByJim Stephens

Reading: 1 Timothy 2; Psalm 126

1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4 NLT)

Paul’s fatherly instructions to young Pastor Timothy include important insights about Timothy’s personal life and his pastoral ministry to the churches. This first part of Chapter 2 has application both to private devotional life and to public worship in the church: First of all, pray for all people. Pray for nice people and not-so-nice people. Pray for important people and ordinary people like you and me. Pray for people you’ll interact with today and for people who are far away. Pray for everyone who comes to mind.

Pray for all people. When we pray for “all people”, which includes, but is not limited to, kings and all who are in authority, this is how we can pray for them:

  • Ask God to help them.
  • Intercede on their behalf.
  • Give thanks for them.

Pray for all people. That means to pray for neighbors who are inconsiderate in how and where they park, and whose kids make too much noise and leave skate jumps and rubbish on the sidewalk. It means to pray for business people who don’t care about the homeless and for the homeless people who aggravate the business people. It means to pray for politicians in the upcoming election year, and for the officials we elected last time; the ones who are in, the ones who are in and on their way out, and the ones who are out and on their way in.

Pray for all people: So we can live peaceful and quiet lives, marked by godliness and dignity. And because God wants them to be saved and to understand the truth.

Prayer:

Father, I have so much growing up to do!  You’re saying to “pray for”  all people. I’m still working on learning not to “pray against” people I think are doing wrong. (I guess it’s good you don’t answer all my prayers the way I pray them!) Please help me do better at this. Today I’m going to try to pray for everyone who comes to mind. Amen.