I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men

1 Timothy 2:1-8 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ² for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. ³ This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

We live in a time when people are divided over nearly everything. Possibly nothing divides us more than political ideologies. The hatred and vitriol that people hold towards those who believe differently is extremely disheartening. The flames of the fire of discontent, dissension and division are stoked by the media and by those who hold to those political ideologies.   In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus says:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?  Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  In today’s text Paul says:  I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,  for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.  This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  That we are to love and pray for those who we are opposed to; even those who we view as enemies, is not just because it is the noble and right thing to do. We are to be perfect, as the heavenly Father is perfect. Our prayers for our enemies and our entreaties and thanksgivings for those in authority are for the purpose of fulfilling God’s perfect will; that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.  In truth, there is a selfish motive behind the fact that we pray blessing on and forgiveness for those who we are opposed to. It is so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. It is one thing to speak against the policies of politicians and people who we disagree with, but rather than condemning them, we should continue to pray that they be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This goes beyond even those in our own country. How much better, how much more peaceful and tranquil would our lives be if the leaders of nations everywhere would be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth?

In the text Paul continues saying:  For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.  Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension. Rather than lifting our hands in protest, in wrath and dissension against others, we should lift our hands in prayer to the one God. Rather than raising our arguments against them, we should lift up the name of Christ. In John 12:32 Jesus says:  “I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”  That we love and pray for our enemies does not mean that we embrace or tolerate the evil that they do. It is that we love them as we ourselves have been loves by God. Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We love them by pointing them to the cross, where the love of God for all the world was demonstrated. We lift up Jesus so that they too can hear Him say: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit in this time of division and dissension, may You be lifted up. May Your perfect will be accomplished, that all would be saved and come to know the truth. Lord bless those in authority everywhere, that they would come to know You. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” May Your kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.