When I hear a siren, I usually say, “Lord, please help
whoever’s in trouble.” Sometimes I even
add, “and please help those who are trying to help them.” It’s not just a habit, it’s a prayer. God
hears His people when we pray and He will answer. He expects us to communicate
with Him. Jesus said “that men
ought always to pray, and not to faint.”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to “be
unceasing and persistent in prayer.”
Paul wrote
to Timothy: “First of all, then, I urge that petitions
(specific requests), prayers, intercessions (prayers for others) and thanksgivings
be offered on behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in [positions of] high authority, so that we
may live a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1
Timothy 2:1-2 - Amplified Bible)
We are to pray for all people – those who are brothers and sisters
in Christ and those who are not. Then Paul zeros in on kings and those who are
in places of authority. We need to be
praying for our national leaders, world leaders and all those who have
positions of authority, whether great or small.
The reason they
need our prayers can be found in verses 3-4. “For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come
unto the knowledge of the truth.” God
desires that every person be saved. He
also desires that everyone will come to a knowledge of the Truth. People we may
never see face to face can be influenced by the prayers we pray for them. No
matter how much authority they have, God’s authority is over them.
It’s interesting to note here that Nero ruled
as emperor during the time of Paul’s writing. Nero brutally persecuted the
church with unthinkable acts against them.
But it is God’s will that ALL come to salvation through Jesus and to a
knowledge of the truth. That even included Nero and every other leader.
Jesus taught in Matthew 5:44 to “Love your enemies, bless
them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which
despitefully use you.” Here again, we
are to pray for everyone…even those who do evil to us. That’s difficult to do sometimes, but we find
strength and release when we do. It
keeps our spirits pure and opens a door for the offender to be saved.
James
encourages us to pray for one another in the household of faith. “Therefore,
confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray
for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The
heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can
accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God - it is dynamic
and can have tremendous power].” (James 5:16 - Amplified Bible)
We live in “perilous times”, and we need one another to
help navigate through all the traps of the enemy. It’s time we rise up as a spiritual army of
believers in Christ and hold one another up through prayer. We also need
insight from the Holy Spirit to know how to pray for one another.
We pray
when we need a job, a house, healing for our bodies, for circumstances to be
changed, or marriages restored. And I believe God wants to give us those
things. But there is something deeper and more lasting God wants for all of us.
Here is part of a prayer Paul
prayed for the people of Ephesus: “[I always pray] that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit
of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate
insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the
Son].”
Paul knew something about
revelation. He had a dramatic revelation of Jesus Christ on the Damascus
Road. Before that time, he knew only
facts he had been told about Jesus and his preconceived ideas of who Jesus was. But when he had a face to face revelation of
Jesus – when Jesus pulled back the curtain and let Paul see Him as He is (His
glory, majesty, power and Lordship) – he was never the same again. Jesus IS Lord, and suddenly Paul saw
that. He said “Who are you Lord?” Jesus
answered, “I’m Jesus, Who you are persecuting.” That revelation changed the
whole direction of Paul’s life. He never
forgot it. And here he prayed for this to happen to others!
Paul also prayed that the
eyes of their understanding would be enlightened. He knew something about that, too. After he saw Jesus on the Damascus Road, he
was temporarily blind physically. Ananias,
a servant of God, was sent to pray for him.
When he prayed, it was like scales fell from Paul’s eyes and he could
see again. It happened spiritually, too. Paul had a clear understanding of Who Jesus
is and his eyes were opened to see Jesus in the Scriptures. He gained spiritual
enlightenment instead of just a head knowledge of the facts.
We need a revelation of
Jesus Christ. It’s not enough just to
know some facts about Him. We can have
an ongoing revelation of Jesus as we follow Him through the various
circumstances in our lives. We can come to know Him personally and
experientially as our Savior, Healer, Deliverer, Provider and Lord. But we need
to begin to pray this prayer for ourselves and one another.
Here’s
another prayer from Paul. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you
through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make
you pure and whole and undamaged - consecrated to Him - set apart for His
purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found]
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23 - Amplified
Bible)
Paul prayed that they would be set apart. This same
Spirit of power, wisdom and revelation will draw us away from the things of
this world (of the flesh) to the things of God’s Spirit. (See Galatians 5:16-21.)
Jesus prayed this same prayer of separation for all His
followers in John 17. “I
do not ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them and protect them from
the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the
truth [set
them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth.”
(Amplified Bible) If we want to know
Truth, we will read God’s Word and ask His Spirit to show us what it means to
us. He will enlighten the eyes of our
understanding when we do, and we can begin to work it out in our lives.
In Acts 4, we read another type of
prayer. Peter and John healed a lame man
at the Temple gate. They healed Him in the name and authority of Jesus. So, when a crowd gathered, Peter and John
preached Jesus to them. The chief priests and religious rulers came and arrested
them. It frustrated and infuriated them to hear anyone preaching and healing in
Jesus’ name. They had just recently had
Jesus crucified and thought it was all over.
The religious rulers interrogated the apostles and commanded them not
to preach in Jesus’ name anymore. Then
they threatened them and let them go, because the whole crowd had seen the man
healed at the gate and they couldn’t deny it.
Peter and John went to where the
believers were gathered together and told them everything that had
happened. They told them how they had
been commanded not to preach anymore in Jesus’ name. But they all knew Jesus had commanded them to
preach in His name. So they prayed like
this: “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and
grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By
stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by
the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was
shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:29-31
They didn’t pray that the
persecution would stop. Jesus had already told them to expect it. They
understood they were in the world. They also understood they were not of the
world. They were set apart. They understood the power at work against them in
the world, and they understood the power at work in and through them by the
Spirit. They prayed for power to stand and continue to boldly do the work of
the Lord. And God gave it to them.
Think about most of the prayers we
pray. Most are defensive. Our backs are against the wall and we need
God’s help. And He is more than willing
to help us, but God also wants us on the offensive. He wants to do much more than just help us get by.
He wants to:
·
Enlighten
the eyes of our understanding – make the Scripture alive in our hearts
·
Give us
a fresh revelation of Jesus and a spirit of wisdom
·
Give us
boldness to speak
If we begin to pray these prayers for
ourselves and one another, I believe we will see dramatic changes in ourselves,
others, our churches, our communities, our nation, and the world.
“The effectual,
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
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