In the fifth and final part of our study on prayer, we are continuing to look at I Timothy 2:1-2.
[In Part 1, in an article titled “God Wants Us to Pray,” we noticed that God wants us to pray and that there are different facets of prayer. In Part 2, in an article titled “God Wants Us to Pray for All,” we studied how God wants us to pray for everyone. In Part 3, in an article titled “God Wants Us to Pray for Our Civil Leaders,” we looked at how God wants us to pray for our civil leaders. In Part 4, in an article titled “Praying for a Quiet and Peaceable Life,” we saw that leading a quiet and peaceable life is desirable.]
Let us continue our study by looking at I Timothy 2:1-2 again. These verses say:
“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.”
Our Lives Should Be in All Godliness
My friends, we ought to pray for leaders to make decisions that will allow us, as the people of God, to lead quiet and peaceable lives unto the Lord. We serve the God of peace (Romans 15:33). In the church, we serve our Prince of Peace, Christ (Isaiah 9:6). We live by the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15) and therefore, we must seek peace (1 Peter 3:11).
One way we do this is by praying for our leaders to make decisions that are most needful to ensure we have no hindrances in living quiet and peaceable lives unto the Lord. Likewise, in living this kind of life, we ought to do so in all godliness. In other words, we ought to live in ways that are respectable.
Later, the Holy Spirit inspires Paul to write in I Timothy 4:8 that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” As faithful children of God, our lives are filled with the abundance of God’s physical and spiritual blessings, including the forgiveness of sins, the ability to pray unto God and have our prayers answered, fellowship with Him and our brothers and sisters, the peace that passes all understanding, and the promise of Heaven in the time to come (John 10:10, Acts 2:38, I Peter 3:12, I John 1:7, Philippians 4:4-7, Revelation 2:10).
Our Lives Should Be in All Honesty
We ought to live honorable, dignified, pure, and sanctified lives unto the Lord. The only way we can do this is by having the Truth of God—His Word—ingrained within us, meditating on it each day and night, and obeying it (John 17:17, Psalm 1, II Timothy 2:15, Hebrews 5:9). We must also speak this Truth to others (Matthew 28:18-20).
We ought never to lie in our day-to-day conversations (Colossians 3:9-11). By being people characterized by Truth and honesty, we bring glory to Christ (II Peter 3:18, Matthew 5:16).
I want to encourage each of us to make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men, for the rulers of this country and other countries, so that we, as Christians, may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty.
Our rulers face many challenges. Let us pray for them each day, along with all men, that we may all be pleasing unto our Creator!
-Jason Gann, TBC Registrar
