1 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,
2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior,
4 since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
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Vs. 1: - “First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people,”
"First of all, then..." - Now Paul gets down to business, having earlier reminded Timothy why he is in Ephesus. Timothy is to be the preacher, teacher, exhorter for Christian living. The problem: Some people in the church have their information all wrong. Paul begins to lay out the teaching that needs to be done.
"requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks" - Pray for all people. Paul is urging the believers to pray for all people, and gives a list of prayers:
- requests - essentially asking for stuff
- prayers - lifting these people up to God, or for God to move on their behalf
- intercessions - asking for God's mercy or help on their behalf
- thanks - always be ready to thank God for what He has done, or for Who He is.
"behalf of all people" - Leave no one out. This does not mean launching up prayer balloons, "Dear God, please bless everybody." We are to pray for those we know, or know of - people you work with, people in your church, people with whom you golf, or play pinochle.
Vs. 2: - “even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.“
"even for kings..." - Put this in your thinking cap "Pray for all people - even for kings..." Not only are we to pray for people we know; pray also for the leaders of your country ("all who are in authority"). Suppose for a moment the governor of your state is not a believer, or is dishonest or immoral (that would never happen, right?!). Are we to pray for him or her? What about a mayor that is anti-Christian - pray for him as well? What if the President of the United States is making decisions that may bring harm to the church, or other believers - pray for him?
Yes. We are to pray for them. When I say, "Pray for him" I mean pray for his peace, his safety, that he might have wisdom. Never, ever pray for bad things to happen to your leaders - especially if they are bad leaders. Instead, pray that the leader may respond to God’s leading. A country, a state, a county, or a city all become unstable when a leader falls.
Remember when John F. Kennedy was assassinated? Our country was in shock and mourning for months, even years. Remember the kerfuffle when Ronald Reagan was shot in an assassination attempt and Alexander Haig was 'In charge'? More recently think back to 9/11 - our country staggered for a months with the grief and anger. The President led us through and out of that.
Instability in a country's leadership can lead to anarchy. Anarchy is never good! Loss of authority, police and government, means that gangs and criminals take over. There is no peace.
"lead a peaceful and quiet life" - this is why you pray for all who are in authority - so you can lead a quiet life. It is so much easier living your life when you don't have to fear that gangs will invade and destroy your family. Life is good when you don’t worry about the government bashing in your door. A peaceful and quiet life includes taking your kids or grandkids to soccer games, going to movies, to church. What a great opportunity to share your faith when you are living in peace. We forget that here in the United States. We take living in peace for granted. We haven't had war in our land since 1865. The wars we've fought have been 'over there'. We've been attacked - Pearl Harbor, also 9/11 - but haven't had the ravages of war on our homeland. I think we are complacent, floating along happily.
"in all godliness and dignity." - This is the goal for the peaceful life - that you may exhibit godliness and dignity as you go. How do you understand 'godliness' and 'dignity'? What do these mean to you? What are the qualities of godliness? Of dignity?
To start off, you should be the polar opposite of the qualities Paul lists in chapter 1 verses 9-10. Looking at the list of lying, killing, immorality, and irreverence, etc., it doesn't look too hard to pull off!
'dignity' - This does not mean ‘straight-laced, sober and sad’. It does not mean acting superior, or stiff-necked. It also indicates we are not to be flippant, or sarcastic, in braggadocio, or de-mean people, but to live in quiet confidence.
Vs. 3: - “Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior,”
"good and welcomed" - Do you ask yourself why are these prayers labeled good and welcomed by God? I mean, aren't all prayers welcomed? (Okay, I know you can think of prayers that might not be good. That is not the point.) The answer is in the next verse. I think we may be unwilling to pray for someone with whom we are not happy - politicians, mayors, governors, presidents. God wants you place the needs and concerns of others above your own. The pop culture saying, "You must take care of yourself first..." is not the Christian way. When we can begin to pray in earnest for our leaders and people in authority it shows we are willing to obey and put the needs of others first.
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Vs. 4: - “since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
"since He wants all people to be saved..." - Here's the pay off for our prayers. We are to pray for our leaders, so there will be peace in the land, so we may share our faith in Christ, giving opportunity for people to hear and believe. See Rom. 10:14 - they can't believe if they haven't heard. They can't hear the gospel if we don't preach it. We can't preach it in turmoil and anarchy. (Again - I know that people are saved in turmoil and anarchy. I don't think this is saying that people will only come to Christ if the land is at peace.)
More people can be reached with the gospel if we are free and living in peace in our communities. It is much more difficult to get the gospel out there if we are in jails, or compounds, or refugee camps, or fleeing for our lives. The martyr's witness is definitely a powerful one. The witness of a believer to his neighbors, by action and word is also powerful. And we can reach more people. Hence, pray for peace and stable government so you can be out there sharing the Good News.
The other side of this coin is that when people are 'fat and happy' they may be 'inoculated' to the gospel, seeing no need for salvation. These really need to hear the gospel message, because they live in the delusion that all is well. We rationalize 'they just think they are happy; they really are not that happy." People are content with their lives, and don’t see a need for a fulfilled life. We can help them see Christ will give them peace for a fulfilled and abundant life. The Four Spiritual Laws said it well - "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life." We tend to grade ourselves on a curve, and think we are much better than we really are. Leading people to see there is a vast, unbridgeable gulf between us and the perfect and holy God will bring them from indifference to repentance.
"knowledge of the truth" - There are so many “truths” out there - so many false truths. A quote from one of my favorite comic strips, "Get Fuzzy", is by Bucky the Cat, "Facts are for those who can't make up their own truth." Recently a celebrity spoke of “telling your truth.” Several pundits noted there is no such thing as “your truth”, there are only facts and opinions. If you tell the facts you are speaking the truth. If you do not like the facts and try to explain them away, you are not telling the truth, but offering you opinion.
The beauty of Christianity is that we need neither make up facts or our truths. These are the facts: Jesus Christ came to earth, lived a sinless life, was crucified (died for our sins), was resurrected, appeared to us, and ascended to glory in heaven. Paul spells this out in 1 Cor. 15:3-4 - "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures." The phrase 'according to the scriptures’ is not referring to scripture record, or history, but to scriptural prophecy.
We are told that the Savior was coming. We are told He would suffer for our offenses. We are told He will return for us. He Himself told us He came to save us, and there is no one else who can or was willing to do it. See John 14:6 - "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'" This the truth: He came. He died. He is risen. (He is risen indeed.) He is in heaven preparing a place for us. No other person can make that claim. See Acts 4:12 - "For salvation is found in no one else. There is no name under heaven, given to men, by which they must be saved."
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