The Christian’s Prayer Life

GOLDEN TEXT: “I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.” —I Timothy 2:1,2

I TIMOTHY 2:1-8; ROMANS 8:26-28

IN THE “upper room” on the night before Jesus was crucified, he prayed to his Heavenly Father on behalf of his disciples, saying, “I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me.” His prayer was “that they all may be one, … that the world may believe that thou has sent me.” (John 17:9,21) While this was not a prayer directly on behalf of the world, it did, nevertheless, take the world of mankind into consideration.

This was in keeping with the divine purpose in sending Jesus to be the Redeemer and Savior of mankind, that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) Thus Jesus’ prayer was quite in keeping with the outline for prayer which he gave to his disciples, the first request of which is, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”—Matt. 6:10

When we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are asking God to fulfill his promise to bless “all the families of the earth.” Thus our prayer is in harmony with the divine will, and is sure to be answered in God’s own due time. Besides, when we offer this prayer we are petitioning God to bless all the means which he is using in preparation for his kingdom, and not merely for the blessings which that kingdom will bring to the people in that kingdom.

Paul presents this same sequence of thought in our lesson. He admonishes us to pray “for all men,” and then specifically names “kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may lead quiet and peaceable lives,” “in all godliness and honesty.” It should be noted that Paul instructs us as to the nature of our prayers for “kings,” that the intent of these prayers is that we, as the consecrated people of God, may have favorable conditions under which to grow spiritually.

However, Paul gives us a further thought. Using that meaningful word “for,” he says, “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” In other words, Paul is explaining that it is God’s will that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, which proves God’s great love for the fallen and dying race. Because this is true it is proper, in principle, that we should remember in our prayers those whom God loves, even as we do when we pray, “Thy kingdom come.”

Paul reminds us, however, that it will not be until God’s “due time” that the great truth concerning the ransom will be testified to the people. First, he reminds us, the vast majority will have to be “saved,” that is, awakened from the sleep of death during the thousand years of the kingdom, in order to have an opportunity to come to a knowledge of the truth. This knowledge will be testified to them through the church, the “able ministers of the new covenant.” So, when we pray that conditions might be favorable for the development of the church, it is indirectly a petition on behalf of all men, because it is looking to their blessing in the kingdom.

Romans 8:26-28 deals more particularly with the Christian’s individual problems which he takes to the throne of heavenly grace. Through an improper use of capital letters an erroneous thought is given us in this text by the King James translation of the Bible. The word “spirit” is improperly capitalized in the expression, “The spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” In this way the reader is given the improper thought that the Holy Spirit of God makes intercession for us.

On the contrary, our own spirits are referred to. The apostle is simply reminding us that often we “know not what we should pray for as we ought,” and that under these circumstances, our hearts, or “spirits,” speak to God, and he understands our needs and answers our yearnings according to the good pleasure of his will. “He that searcheth the hearts and knoweth what is the mind of the spirit”—that is, our own spirits. He knows, in other words, exactly what is best for us as new creatures in Christ Jesus, even though we fail at times to present our petitions to him as we should.

The 28th verse sums up the thought beautifully by assuring us that “all things,” even those things which, because of our imperfections, we fail properly to express to God, or for which we know not how to ask, “work together for our good.”

In his letter to Timothy, Paul enumerates the various aspects of communications with God, speaking of them as “supplications,” “prayers,” “intercessions,” and “giving of thanks.” In view of the abundance of God’s grace it is eminently proper that a large portion of our praying be the “giving of thanks.”

QUESTIONS

Harmonize Jesus’ statement, “I pray not for the world,” with Paul’s admonition to pray for “all men.”

What “spirit” is it that petitions God with “groanings which cannot be uttered”?

What is one of the important aspects of prayer?

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