Many churches have given up on praying for others. As a minister of a large charismatic church once said to me: “Praying for others is something we do in our small groups, Sundays are for worship and preaching”. I vividly remember visiting a vibrant church not far from Edinburgh: the service lasted two hours, but it contained no prayers of intercession. The more contemporary the worship, the more likely it seems that prayers of intercession will be missing.
By contrast the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy:
First of all, then I urge supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, the kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 1.1-4)
In the first instance, notice that for Paul praying for others is a primary feature of Christian worship. As the context makes clear, Paul was writing not about personal prayer in the privacy of our homes, but about corporate prayer when the church comes together. Praying for others is to be a regular part of Sunday worship.
Secondly, Paul expected Christian worship to include all sorts of prayers. In addition to prayers of thanksgiving there are to be “supplications, prayers, intercessions” – or as the GNB puts it “Petitions, prayers, requests”. Attempts have been made to distinguish between the various kinds of prayers here, but it is generally agreed that Paul was piling up synonyms for praying for others, and not least for people outside the church. We should pray for “everyone”. Why? Because God’s love encompasses everybody. As Paul says, “God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. “Christ Jesus… gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2.5,6a). God doesn’t simply love his church – he loves his world, and so should we!
Yet strangely some wish to limit the scope of our prayers. Paul, it is suggested, was not encouraging prayer for people’s general well-being, rather his sole concern was to see people saved. To quote Philip Towner:
The church’s prayer for all people is an essential aspect of its participation in the Great Commission. It is prayer that seeks the gospel’s penetration into all parts of the world and every aspect of life. The closely related prayer for those whom God has placed in charge of governments finds its ultimate purpose too in the accomplishment of God’s plan for salvation.
I do not believe that Paul would have wanted his words to have been interpreted in such a narrow way. Of course, he wanted everyone to be saved, but this was not his initial focus. Paul belonged to the Jewish diaspora, which for centuries had taken seriously God’s instruction to Jeremiah for the exiles of his day to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and to pray for the Lord on its behalf” (Jeremiah 29.7).
Thirdly, Paul urged specific prayer “for kings and all who are in high positions”. Amazingly when Paul was writing these words to Timothy, Nero was on the throne. Far from being a Christian, Nero ended up persecuting and torturing Christians for their faith. Yet Paul enjoined prayer for Nero and for all others in positions of responsibility. In today’s terms that means we need to pray for the leaders of our nation and of the world; for the CEOs of global corporations and for UN officials; for leaders of industry, NHS managers and decision-makers in education; for local government councils and officials. For all who in one way or another have power to influence our lives.
Fourthly, Paul urged Timothy to pray that “we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity”. I like Robert Yarborough’s suggestion that Paul wanted “prayers at Ephesus to aim for social, political, and economic stability conducive to everyone’s well-being, that of Christians included”.
Prayers of intercession should not be an optional extra. In praying for others, we are not simply obeying the command of Scripture, we are also reflecting the love of Christ.
Agree with you, Paul. However, your article raises questions in my mind; some general thoughts.
From the Lord’s Prayer I note there is no emphasis on specific intercessions – rather we are invited to pray for the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth.
God who is ever present and who is ever active amongst all peoples, doesn’t need to be reminded of situations that are not in accord with Kingdom values (cf. Galatians 5:22ff). Perhaps the focus of our intercessory prayers should be to thank God for the work of his Spirit in the lives of all those who are fulfilling his will. He has inspired, motivated and encouraged these people. We can thank God for the part we can play in seeing his Kingdom being fulfilled. We can’t expect God to try any harder to influence us.