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1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV
Prayer is a very vital aspect of our Christian lives for it is how we communicate with our Lord, and it is during these times that we also hear from him and receive his instructions to us and his words of encouragement and hope. Since the Scriptures teach that we are to pray without ceasing, we need to be in a continual state of communication with the Lord to where we can hear from him any time and we can talk with him any time.
In order for us to do that, we need to be abiding in him and his word abiding in us. We must be walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Daily we must be dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, in the power of God. And we have to be walking in holiness and in obedience to his commands if we are going to have that kind of open fellowship with him to where we hear his voice any time of day or night.
For, prayer is not something we do only at select times of day and under some kind of regimented and disciplined approach to prayer. If we are following the Lord, and if we are being sensitive to the Spirit’s voice, the Lord can put it on our hearts any time of day or night to pray for someone, perhaps us not even knowing at all what is going on, only that he or she needs prayer. And he can give us the words to say (to pray).
We need to have the Lord direct us in what to pray for people in high up positions in the government and in the church, and not presume upon the Lord a particular kind of prayer for them that might not be suitable to who they are, or to the circumstances of our day and time in which we live. For we have a lot of evil people in positions of power who are bringing in the rule of the antichrist beast. So, pray for wisdom in how to pray there.
We need to pray for other people so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Now, this is not suggesting that we blend in with our culture and that we never speak out about wrongdoing. For we are taught in Scripture to not participate in the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather to expose them. So, quiet doesn’t mean silent about sin, corruption, and sexual immorality, which is rampant in the church, etc.
But if we are praying for people in the Spirit, we are going to have the mind of God about those people and how to pray, and we will also have the mind of God regarding where we are in history, and with regard to all the deception that is going on in the world, too. So, we are going to see the goings on in our world from a different lens than what the world is seeing or is being led to see. And that will fill us with peace.
We will understand that Scripture is being fulfilled, and although it is tragic what is going on in our world right now, it was inevitable that this time would come, for it so much fulfills the prophecies of Scripture about these last days. So, we can be at peace even in the midst of great storms because we understand that some of these things must take place for prophecy to be fulfilled and also to turn hearts back to Jesus Christ.
So, we don’t turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world just because we are praying what the Lord would have us pray for people. And we don’t submit to everything our rulers tell us to do, either, if what they are telling us conflicts with the Lord’s instructions to us. For, there are biblical exceptions to submission to human authority, such as the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as well as those of the apostles and of Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV
One of the main things I believe we need to be praying for people is for their salvation. And this should not be limited to only praying for those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, for there are mobs of people professing the name of Jesus but it is lip service only. They are not dying with Christ to sin nor are they living to him and to his righteousness because they have been convinced that is not required of them for eternal life with God.
So, pray for all people for their salvation even if they give the appearance that they are saved, for they may not be. Pray for hearts to be turned to the Lord to follow him in surrender to his will. Pray that God will break through stubborn and rebellious hearts and that they will repent of their sins and now walk with the Lord in obedience to his commands. Pray that Jesus will truly be their Lord (owner-master).
For, Jesus did not come to this earth merely to forgive us our sins so we can go to heaven when we die. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we will now honor God with our bodies (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20).
Jesus didn’t die just to forgive us our sins. He died to set us free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. By his grace and through God-given faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).
Jesus died to set us free from the control of sin and Satan over our lives so that we would no longer live under its control but so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. His grace set us free so that in God’s Spirit we can now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. So, there are no excuses for anyone who professes the name of Jesus to still be addicted to any sin.
For, if we walk (in practice) according to the flesh (in sin), we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what prayer we prayed to receive Christ, and no matter what we confessed with our lips or think we are believing in our hearts. If sin is what we practice, it ends in death. But if righteousness is what we practice, it ends in eternal life.
[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Mary, Did You Know?
Songwriters: Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're
Holding is the great, I Am
Mary, did you know?
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“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”
Prayer is a very vital aspect of our Christian lives for it is how we communicate with our Lord, and it is during these times that we also hear from him and receive his instructions to us and his words of encouragement and hope. Since the Scriptures teach that we are to pray without ceasing, we need to be in a continual state of communication with the Lord to where we can hear from him any time and we can talk with him any time.
In order for us to do that, we need to be abiding in him and his word abiding in us. We must be walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh. Daily we must be dying with him to sin and living to him and to his righteousness, in the power of God. And we have to be walking in holiness and in obedience to his commands if we are going to have that kind of open fellowship with him to where we hear his voice any time of day or night.
For, prayer is not something we do only at select times of day and under some kind of regimented and disciplined approach to prayer. If we are following the Lord, and if we are being sensitive to the Spirit’s voice, the Lord can put it on our hearts any time of day or night to pray for someone, perhaps us not even knowing at all what is going on, only that he or she needs prayer. And he can give us the words to say (to pray).
We need to have the Lord direct us in what to pray for people in high up positions in the government and in the church, and not presume upon the Lord a particular kind of prayer for them that might not be suitable to who they are, or to the circumstances of our day and time in which we live. For we have a lot of evil people in positions of power who are bringing in the rule of the antichrist beast. So, pray for wisdom in how to pray there.
We need to pray for other people so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Now, this is not suggesting that we blend in with our culture and that we never speak out about wrongdoing. For we are taught in Scripture to not participate in the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather to expose them. So, quiet doesn’t mean silent about sin, corruption, and sexual immorality, which is rampant in the church, etc.
But if we are praying for people in the Spirit, we are going to have the mind of God about those people and how to pray, and we will also have the mind of God regarding where we are in history, and with regard to all the deception that is going on in the world, too. So, we are going to see the goings on in our world from a different lens than what the world is seeing or is being led to see. And that will fill us with peace.
We will understand that Scripture is being fulfilled, and although it is tragic what is going on in our world right now, it was inevitable that this time would come, for it so much fulfills the prophecies of Scripture about these last days. So, we can be at peace even in the midst of great storms because we understand that some of these things must take place for prophecy to be fulfilled and also to turn hearts back to Jesus Christ.
So, we don’t turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world just because we are praying what the Lord would have us pray for people. And we don’t submit to everything our rulers tell us to do, either, if what they are telling us conflicts with the Lord’s instructions to us. For, there are biblical exceptions to submission to human authority, such as the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as well as those of the apostles and of Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.”
One of the main things I believe we need to be praying for people is for their salvation. And this should not be limited to only praying for those who make no profession of faith in Jesus Christ, for there are mobs of people professing the name of Jesus but it is lip service only. They are not dying with Christ to sin nor are they living to him and to his righteousness because they have been convinced that is not required of them for eternal life with God.
So, pray for all people for their salvation even if they give the appearance that they are saved, for they may not be. Pray for hearts to be turned to the Lord to follow him in surrender to his will. Pray that God will break through stubborn and rebellious hearts and that they will repent of their sins and now walk with the Lord in obedience to his commands. Pray that Jesus will truly be their Lord (owner-master).
For, Jesus did not come to this earth merely to forgive us our sins so we can go to heaven when we die. He died that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness. He died that we might no longer live for ourselves but for him who gave his life up for us. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) so we will now honor God with our bodies (1 Pet 2:24; 2 Co 5:15; 1 Co 6:19-20).
Jesus didn’t die just to forgive us our sins. He died to set us free from our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin. By his grace and through God-given faith in him we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and we are raised with Christ to newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Rom 6:1-23; Eph 4:17-24).
Jesus died to set us free from the control of sin and Satan over our lives so that we would no longer live under its control but so we would now be slaves of God and of his righteousness. His grace set us free so that in God’s Spirit we can now walk (in conduct) according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. So, there are no excuses for anyone who professes the name of Jesus to still be addicted to any sin.
For, if we walk (in practice) according to the flesh (in sin), we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God no matter what prayer we prayed to receive Christ, and no matter what we confessed with our lips or think we are believing in our hearts. If sin is what we practice, it ends in death. But if righteousness is what we practice, it ends in eternal life.
[Lu 9:23-26; Rom 8:1-17; 1 Co 6:9-10; 2 Co 5:10; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10]
Mary, Did You Know?
Songwriters: Greene Lee Rufus / Lowry Mark Alan
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This child that you delivered, will soon deliver you
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy
Is heaven's perfect Lamb?
That sleeping child you're
Holding is the great, I Am
Mary, did you know?
