Prayer is a Gift with a Purpose
Paul Urges Us Because God has Given
Us the
Privilege & Because People Need Our Prayers and God Listens
Martin Luther once said, “If I were to say the Lord’s Prayer and really concentrate on each word without my mind wandering, I would consider myself a truly pious man. In fact, if anyone can pray the Lord’s Prayer just once without any distraction, I will give him a horse! Although I suppose the moment he gets to 'Our Father,' he’ll already be thinking about how to get the saddle and bridle too.”
Luther’s point was that keeping our attention on what we are praying can be difficult. It can also be difficult to even know what prayer really is and what it’s for because we haven’t paid close attention to what God says about it. But we are going to do that this morning. We’re going to give our undivided attention to the gift of prayer that God has given to us.
Prayer can be a tricky thing. On one hand, it’s as simple as talking to God. But there’s also more to it than you might think! Maybe these examples of things I’ve heard will give you an idea.
• Someone once shared with me that they felt selfish praying for themselves, so they only prayed for others.
• More than one person has admitted that they don’t know how to pray.
• Any number of people have been under the false impression that God speaks to us when we pray.
• Another was curious about “ganging up on God” when we say prayers together in church. I was never quite certain if he needed to hear the answer again or he just thought it was funny. Because putting it that way kinda’ is!
Maybe you’re even wondering about some of these kinds of things right now. They’re actually related to what’s in front of us today. Let’s get our bearings though before we start talking about prayer.
The Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor, Timothy, to give him direction as he ministered to God’s people. In this portion of his letter, Paul is giving instructions about the public worship of his people. So, this is not about our personal, individual prayers; this is about prayers in church.
However, what God says here and from what he says elsewhere in his Word, these are exactly the kind of prayer things he wants his people to be doing in their personal lives of faith. He wants us all to know that we have the invitation, the expectation, the gift to go to God in prayer, and that he has a purpose for it.
Petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings…it might sound like Paul is just piling up names for prayer to make an impression, but each one reveals a different type of prayer.
Petitions are requests we make to God for things we want or need. If we are asking God for something, we obviously trust that he is the one who can provide what it is we are asking for. He knows what we need already, but when we ask him, it’s like we’re saying, “Lord, I know and trust that you can do this for me.” So, when we gather here in his house, we all pray together with that kind of faith.
The word Prayer is the most general one here, but it points us to devotion and reverence before God as we come to talk with him. We talk about Jesus as our friend and our brother. We watch movies and shows maybe you like The Chosen series and we see a very approachable Jesus. Certainly, he was as he walked the world, and he is still now. But he is also still the almighty, holy, eternal Son of God. There is a respect and reverence we have when we talk to him and as we come together on a Sunday morning and do that.
Intercessions are prayers we say for other people We do this generally and specifically in worship, don’t we? We pray for groups of people, people challenged with certain things, and even some people by name, like we’ll do this morning.
Thanksgivings are just what they sound like—anything that we are thankful for. We might need the reminder to not only ask for things we want or need or for a friend or someone else who needs help, but to think of all that we have to thank God for. It’s good to be reminded to come back and say thank you when God gives us something.
We can be like a kid running off after receiving a gift, so happy with it that they forget to stop and say thank you to the one who gave it. Parents get all concerned about that as they’re trying to teach manners, and they can get embarrassed if their child forgets. See, we know this is the right thing to do, but we sometimes forget. Paul reminds us of the importance of that when it comes to God’s gifts. So, we do that in church together.
Paul talks about an overall purpose for which God has given us this gift of prayer: for other people. Certainly, we can and do pray for ourselves, and when we’re together we pray for our own congregation, but here we’re pointed to praying for all people. All people.
How important are all people to God? He sent his only Son who gave himself as the ransom for all people’s sins. People are important to God who creates them and saves them. They should also be important to us, God’s people.
Praying for everyone means all kinds of people. Go ahead and turn to page 9 in your worship folder. Let your eyes scan the Prayer of the Church and what do you see? It’s people, right? Pastors and teachers, Vicar Nordlie and Maddie, husbands and wives, parents, single people, those serving in the government, family and friends, the sick and dying. You know, I didn’t prepare this sermon and then decide to put that prayer in our service. We use prayers like this all the time, because we do what Paul taught Timothy to do when God’s people joined for worship.
Why the special mention of kings and authorities? When you look at them, you might say, “Because they need them!” To be sure, they do! You would too if you had their jobs. But there’s a better reason—actually two: We are to pray for them in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. AND because it is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.
The purpose of these prayers for those who govern is that there is peace and tranquility. We do want that, don’t we? I think we especially want that so that we can live our faith, live to the glory of God, without fear of persecution and so that we can freely share Christ with people who don’t know the forgiveness and salvation that comes through faith in him.
God’s people were to pray for government leaders not because Paul said so…not because Timothy said so...but because it pleases God. God wants this. He wants our minds to be formed and shaped to think like this: that people serving in government need our prayers all of them. We need to get Romans 13:1 etched in our brains: Everyone must submit to the governing authorities. For no authority exists except by God, and the authorities that do exist have been established by God. If we, by faith, accept this fact and bow before God’s will in establishing the authorities, we will pray for them especially because God is happy when we do.
So, I’ve got to emphasize this point today, just as Pastor Kassulke and I have done in different ways for at least the last year running up to the presidential election. These words give me good reason to stress these things again today. So, does that the fact that we still hear people letting their politics get in the way of their religion.
You can be upset and angry and disagreeable with people of other political viewpoints and mad at people who have been elected to authoritative positions OR you can remember to pray even for those you disagree with and those who are in authority. You should be including the ones you didn’t vote for, don’t agree with, and don’t care for character-wise either.
If you need something further to convince you to spend more time in prayer than complaining about the government God established and the politicians he put in place, consider two examples.
The apostle Paul, who teaches us about our relationship to the government and our need to pray for them. And if you don’t like our president or other leaders, don’t use that as your excuse to not do what pleases God because I’m pretty certain that Paul didn’t love the Roman Emperor Nero, one of the most brutal, disgusting, and depraved leaders ever. And yet, he writes to pray for him and others.
Your other example is Jesus. While the kind of man and leader Nero was may be news to you, Pontius Pilate and merciless Roman soldiers are not. Do I have to say what you already know? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34).” Jesus prayed for those in authority at the height of pain and suffering at their hands.
God’s law makes us feel small, doesn’t it? If you have even the slightest struggle when it comes to these prayers, you feel the hammer when you see Jesus making up for your sins. But you also see the forgiveness he earned in that moment. You’re forgiven. You can start over and use this gift of prayer for the blessing of others, including those in authority.
Actually, there’s a third example: the prayers we use in worship. You can see the example the church gives you. You can take a worship folder home and pray the prayers during the week. Or you can use the Prayer of the Church as a model for you to follow for your own. Those prayers include exactly the things Paul instructed Timothy to include in the prayers of the churches then.
The other big reason we are to pray for all people is that God wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. We want this too, don’t we? It is good and pleasing to God every time we pray for others so that they might come to know him. We want them to know Jesus, the Son of God who came into the world to save them from their sins.
Jesus came as the mediator, the go-between, to bring together sinful human beings and the Holy God. Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. On the cross, he paid the ransom price so that we would be hostages of sin no more. We have this new relationship with God now, one of love and forgiveness. And with that comes this special gift. We can talk to God. He wants us to. And he tells us why—because people need our prayers and God listens to them.
This is why we can and do pray like this when we join in worship. Your pastors do what Paul and Timothy and the other pastors they encouraged did we lead the kind of prayers and all the people God talks about here This is good and pleasing to God, just as it is when you do this on your own. Amen.
Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.