I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone.”
~ 1 Timothy 2:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Did you pray this morning? Are you going to pray tonight? What do you pray about when you pray? Do you pray for things? Do you pray for yourselves? Do you pray for your dad and ma? Do you pray for your grandmaa and grandpaa? Do you pray for your teachers? Is there a guy, gal or kid who you should not pray for when you pray? Timothy was still a young kid when Paul met him. Timothy for years traveled with Paul. Timothy had a shy, timid demeanor. Timothy was about your dad’s age when Paul sent him a personal letter. Paul had asked Timothy to go as his liaison to a town called Ephesus. Paul had spent a couple of years living in Ephesus. During the time that Paul was in Ephesus, Paul taught Bible classes at the Hall of Tyrannus. Ephesus had Bible educated leaders. When Paul had 1 Timothy 2 scribed, Paul was living in Rome. Paul had been in prison. Paul would be put back in prison after he had this letter scribed to Timothy. The ruler of the Roman empire at this time was Nero. Nero was a very wicked, inhumane guy. What do think that Paul said to Timothy about praying for Nero? Verse 1 has Paul telling Timothy “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone–” Your grandpaa is sure that Paul was praying for Nero. If Paul was praying for Nero – a really bad dude, this should be enough of a reason for a Christ-follower guy, gal and kid to not look for an excuse to not pray for another guy, gal or kid. Paul instructs Timothy and the guys and gals who would have this letter read to them to understand that when they pray that they were to make requests, intercede and give thanks for the guys, gals and kids who God the Spirit had led them to pray for. Paul specifically instructs Timothy and the guys and gals who would have this letter read to them that they were to especially pray for kings and for guys who had authority over him. Are you praying daily for the United States President? You really should be per Paul making requests, interceding, and giving thanks to God for President George Bush. It is not hard to pray for a President like George Bush who wants to do what is right. It is harder to pray for a President like Bill Clinton who at times did not do what was right. It is sometimes easy to forget to make requests, intercede and thank God when things are going okay. It is sometimes a lot easier to make requests, intercede and thank God for what might be happening to you and around you when things are not going okay.
Paul instructs Timothy in this first letter that he sent to Timothy on how to be a leader or administrator over a Christ-follower community of guys, gals and kids. Your grandpaa thinks that Timothy was not a confident young guy. Timothy may have been a nervous young guy who because of the stress that he always felt had stomach related issues. Paul wanted Timothy to pass on a number of things to the Christ-follower leaders that were in Ephesus. Your grandpaa believes that there were a good number of small house churches in Ephesus. Your grandpaa believes that each house church had just one guy as its leader. A guy who was positioned as the leader of an Ephesus house church was called an elder. Paul had asked Timothy to go to Ephesus to be the guy responsible to oversee all these elders in Ephesus. Paul wanted Timothy to instruct these elders about a number of things. Paul asked Timothy to pass on his letter to each Ephesus house church elder to insure that they made requests, interceded and gave thanks to God for the guys, gals and kids who God the Spirit led them to pray for. Paul knew from his own experiences that if Timothy and the Ephesus church elders made requests, interceded and thanked God for the guys, gals and kids who God the Spirit led them to pray for that Timothy and the Ephesus elders would have peace filled lives. Paul also knew from his own experiences that as he made requests, interceded and thanked God for the guys and gals who God the Spirit led him to pray for, that he had a quietness in his life and that his life was godly and holy before God. Why do you think that Paul wanted Timothy to pray? Paul wanted Timothy to do what was good and what pleased God. Your grandpaa wants to do whatever is good and whatever pleases God – just like Paul wanted Timothy to do.
Paul did not just instruct Timothy about making requests, interceding and thanking God for other guys, gals and kids; Paul also instructed Timothy on the role of gals in churches. How would you like to be the one to tell gals in a church what they can and cannot do in church? Your grandpaa sure would not have wanted to do this. There may have been gals in Ephesus who had become church leaders and who were teaching things that they should not have been teaching. There may have been gals in Ephesus who enjoyed dominating guys. Your grandpaa does not know why Paul asked Timothy to tell the gals in Ephesus’ churches to stay quiet. God created guys to take on the responsibility role over gals and kids. Guys though from the very beginning have allowed gals to have an influence role in their lives. The very first gal – Eve, directly influenced the very first guy – Adam, to perform an abject act of disobedience before God by eating something that God had clearly instructed Adam not to eat. Your grandpaa really does not believe that Paul is against gals being very involved in church life; your grandpaa believes that what Paul really wants is that guys be the church leaders – not gals. Your grandpaa believes that it is natural for gals to want to submit themselves to guys – if the guys are ready and prepared to lead. Just as it is not good for gals to dominate guys, it is not good for guys to dominate gals. Your grandpaa is convinced that churches today do not need just a few enabled guys but that churches today need a lot of enabled guys. For guys to teach Christ-follower guys, gals and kids Biblical truths, guys must first learn from Paul like teachers. Who do you have as your Paul like teachers?
1 Timothy 2 (158)