September 23, 2010

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone" (I Timothy 2:1)

How many people do you encounter everyday? I suppose it depends on the day, but being a part of the society we all live in, you will likely encounter hundreds of people everyday. You probably won't say anything to most of them, and you may not even know most of their names, but living in this corner of the world means living in and amongst people. Even when you don't leave your home, people and their stories come to your doorstep in the form of a newspaper, people are beamed into your living rooms through your television sets, people are put in front of you on your desktop when you surf the internet or check your email. Now, another question: How many people do you pray for everyday?

The NIV heading over the second chapter of Paul's first inspired letter of encouragement to his friend Timothy states: "Instructions on Worship." Certainly we can apply this passage to our worship practices - and our synod does. Christian Worship contains "Prayers of the Church" that include prayers not only for our church, but also for everyone else in our nation and the world. But, we can also take a look at this passage on a personal level and consider just who everyone is that we are urged to personally pray for. If you're anything like me, then if you pray for yourself, your close-family, and maybe for someone who has asked you to pray for them - if you get all these prayers in before you doze off or before you are interrupted by something else - then (sadly) you might consider it to be a good prayer day. But you would have a hard time categorizing this kind of prayer day as a day you prayed for "everyone." Everyone is kind of an overwhelming term. Only God knows the exact number, but there are nearly 7 billion people living in the world today - so there are 7 billion individuals included in everyone! To make it more manageable, maybe we should start with the "everyones" who we come in contact with on our daily paths.

We are encouraged in Thessalonians to "pray continually" (I Thessalonians 5:17) Consider praying continually by praying your way through your day - by praying for those you encounter. If you turn on the radio in the morning - pray for the radio personalities. If you read about someone in the morning newspaper - pray for them - pray for the writer of the article too! If you see your next door neighbor on your way to work - pray for them. If you see a jogger or a dog-walker - pray for them. If you see a crossing guard escorting kids across the street - pray for them. If you are in line with someone at the grocery store - pray for them - pray for the checker or the bagger too! Pray for your co-workers. Pray for the people you talk with on the telephone - even if they are telemarketers! If you are stopped at a red stoplight and there is a family in a vehicle in front of you - pray for them. If you are in a waiting room - pray for the others who are waiting. If you are watching a television program - pray for the actors or the reality show host. These people that you encounter everyday can be your personal "everyones" who we are urged to pray for. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone" (I Timothy 2:1)

Now that we have identified and targeted who our "everyones" will be, our next question might be - what should we say in our prayers for them? There are a countless worthwhile things to pray for on behalf of others, but if we want to prioritize, then our prayers will be focused on their greatest dilemma (whether they know it or not) - the fact that they are a part of all the nations who will be gathered on the Last Day and they will either be put on Jesus' right or Jesus' left - and without faith in Jesus they will be in trouble. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. (Matthew 25:32-33) When we encounter one of our "everyones," we are not able to tell if they are on a path that will lead to Jesus' right or Jesus' left - we are not able to know if their heart is a heart that trusts God, or not. Only God can look at and judge their hearts - we are only able to look at their outward appearance. "Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (I Samuel 16:7) So as we construct our prayer for those we encounter, we have to take into account the only 2 kinds of people there are in the world - those whose hearts trust in the LORD and those whose hearts do not trust in the LORD. Maybe we can use a variation of the following prayer as we encounter and pray for our "everyones." This prayer suggestion comes with the following caveat - I am in no way a prayer expert, so this is in no way an expert prayer suggestion. Not to worry, God the Holy Spirit will take our imperfect prayers and step in to help. "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." (Romans 8:26).

A prayer suggestion for the "everyones" that we encounter:

Dear God, you want all men to be saved. If this is a person who is being saved, then strengthen and preserve their faith. If this is a person who is still lost, then please put them in a situation where they will run into your Word, that the Holy Spirit might plant saving faith in their hearts. Amen.

Could all the effort put into praying for the "everyones" we encounter really be worth it, or are we just wasting our time? In James we learn that "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." (James 5:16) There is a little plaque (I think it's a plaque - it might just be a little card) that sits by the entrance to the office at my church that always catches my eye on the way in - it reads, "prayer changes things." Wouldn't it be awesome when we are in heaven one day to meet one of the "everyones" in our life, and to realize that our prayer for them changed things for them - that one of our prayers put a detour in their path - a detour that ran them right into the Word and to the Holy Spirit and the saving faith that he creates? Let's take the time and make the effort to follow Paul's urging and begin praying for everyone by starting with the "everyones" we encounter on our daily paths.