1 Timothy 2:1-2 (New Living Translation)
I
urge you, first of all, to pray for all people.
As you make your requests, plead for God’s mercy upon them, and give
thanks. Pray this way for Kings and all
others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in
godliness and dignity.
The
objective of this verse appears to be to ‘live in peace and quietness’. Well after the weekend just past, I for one,
would certainly welcome some peace and quietness. On Saturday night, I could best describe the
sounds outside my house as constant small arms fire with frequent mortar
explosions. I could hear music coming
from some house that might’ve been nearby (when I say music, it was really only
the bass and drums I could hear – I couldn’t name the tune!). Of course, when this was going on, the sky
kept lighting up, going dark, lighting up, going dark again. I was trying to watch rugby on the telly,
which can be hard enough to follow at the best of times but with this carnage
going on outside, it made it that wee bit more difficult.
There’s
a big word I like which describes to some extent, some of the guidance from
Jesus as to how we should behave, and that word is counterintuitive which is
sometimes written with a hyphen (counter-intuitive), and it means ‘contrary to
what seems intuitively right or correct’.
When
we look at the politicians that run our country at Westminster and Edinburgh,
our first instincts tend to level criticism at them because they do not appear
to be doing the things we would like them to do and not saying the things we
would like to hear them say. Unlike our
recently departed Queen, our new King has had his fair share of headlines over
the years that could draw criticism.
These
people in authority over us fall well short in behavioural terms in the same
way that we do. Paul is suggesting in
today’s reading that he recognises this and that praying for them would be more
productive than criticising them. If the
Lord intervenes to change the thinking of the leaders in society to make better
decisions, the people they serve should eventually benefit in their day to day
lives.
When
we turn to prayer, many of us pray for the things that are happening in our own
lives where we feel the intervention of the Holy Spirit would be of benefit to
us. Paul reminds us that we should be
praying for ‘all people’.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You
for the gift and privilege of prayer. It is amazing to realise that by faith in
Christ's sacrificial work on the Cross, we have been given access into the very
throne room of Almighty God to intercede on behalf of others and to offer our
prayers and supplications to You. Teach us to pray properly and help us
to develop an ongoing attitude of prayerful thanksgiving and reverential
praise - for You alone are worthy. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment