Proclaimer Blog
The preacher’s praying agenda
What’s on your prayer list? Who’s on your prayer list? And – just as importantly – how do you pray for them? I’ve been thinking about this all this week as I prepare a sermon on 1 Timothy 2.1-7. I’ve been using Angus MacLeay’s excellent volume in our Teaching series, Teaching 1 Timothy. It’s been a real help. However, along the way, I’ve found lots to challenge me about my own prayer agenda.
Paul – fighting against a legalistic and Judaistic false teaching – urges the church back to gospel order (not to be despised, by the way). In order to do that he encourages the church away from its inward looking attitude (which, incidentally, false teaching nearly always promotes) to a more gospel focused outwardness.
This manifests itself in prayer: deep, rich, varied, consistent and continued prayer. Prayer, in fact, for all people – including those in authority and for the church (by implication in v2). His agenda is challenging. This is what our prayer agenda tends to look like:
Praying for rulers: we tend to be focused on particular laws or issues: abortion, marriage and so on. These are important, but not the burden of Paul’s focus.
Praying for believers: we tend to be focused on people’s needs: work, health, education, that kind of thing.
Praying for unbelievers: I hope we do this, but pastors can get caught up with people in the church to the expense of those outside we are calling to come in.
Our prayer, to put it bluntly, scores at best 1 out of 3. 33%. Possibly less. Fail.
Paul’s agenda is more gospel focused.
Pray for rulers: for regimes that will allow the church to flourish. This may mean that we are more exercised about the free speech regulations than we are about a number of key moral issues.
Pray for believers: for godly living that will not shame the gospel (a key theme throughout 1 Timothy).
Pray for unbelievers: to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
That’s the preacher at prayer. And it is also the church at prayer. Is this you?