The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 27, 2025
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Undivided Attention— On the Privilege & Purpose of Prayer!
1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
When something wonderful happens in your life— who do you call? Who do you want to share that glorious news with because you know that they will rejoice along with you?
When something tragic happens in your life— who do you call? Who do you share that tragic news with because you know that they will do their very best to help you bear that burden?
The fact that most— if not all— of us have someone in our life to whom we can turn both when something wonderful and when something tragic takes place in our life, serves as a springboard to the truth we want to emphasize in our sermon this morning. As we continue our sermon series entitled Undivided Attention let’s see how the Holy Spirit has the apostle Paul encourage us to give our Undivided Attention to the Privilege and the Purpose of Prayer!
Out of all the various aspects of living our life as a child of God, we might be inclined to think that prayer is the one that comes most naturally to us. It’s easy to think of prayer as the outcome of our internal impulses. For example, we want so we ask. We hurt so we cry out. We are confused or frustrated so we vent. We are blessed so we give thanks.
In a certain sense, prayer does indeed come naturally to us. That is why we often define prayer as “a heart-to-heart talk” with our heavenly Father. We know that we can pray anywhere, anytime, using any words.
That does not mean, however, that we do not need the focus and the insight for our life of prayer that only Jesus can give to us. We need His focus and His insight (Pointing to the cross) when it comes to the basis of our prayers. We need His focus and His insight to realize that the basis of our prayers is the unique and unearned relationship we have with God purely because of what Jesus has done for us! In other words, our ability to pray to the one true God anywhere, anytime and using any words is a privilege— a privilege that that only Jesus can give to us!
Here in our sermon text for today God the Holy Spirit helps us to focus on the privilege of praying in a way that is pleasing to our God. He does this by highlighting the purpose of our prayers. Look at how the Holy Spirit brings out both the focus and the purpose of our prayers in the opening verses of our text. Paul writes, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
At first glance the four types of prayers that Paul mentions here— “requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving”— appear to be all but synonymous. In reality, each one encompasses a specific facet of prayer. The word that is translated as “request” refers to a prayer for a particular benefit for a particular person. The word that is translated as “prayer” is a word that refers to prayer in general, but it is restricted to sacred use. “Intercession” refers to boldly drawing near to God on behalf of someone else. Think of our Old Testament lesson for today where we heard Abraham boldly standing before the Lord and interceding for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 18:20-33) And the final type of prayer is self-explanatory— a prayer of “thanksgiving.”
Understanding these four different types of prayers enable us to both understand and appreciate why the Holy Spirit has the apostle Paul encourage us to pray “for everyone.” Run through the names of people that you know. While they may not all need the same type of prayer, they all need your prayers! Who do you know that would benefit from a specific “request” that you bring before the throne of God? What are the names of the people that you could include in a general “prayer” to God asking Him to help them and protect them and bless them according to their individual needs? Do you know anyone who is going through some sort of difficulty or hardship in their life? Offer up a prayer of “intercession” to the God of heaven! Do you know anyone who has received a blessing from God— whether it’s a “big” blessing or a “small” blessing? As you approach God’s eternal throne of grace in prayer include your “thanksgiving” to God for what He has done for them.
Now think of all the people you may not know by name, but you come into contact with them in your daily life. This could include: the cashier at the store, the teller at the bank, the server at the restaurant, the neighbor who waves to you. If they have a smile on their face, if your interaction with them was pleasant, if they went out of their way to help you— include them in your daily prayers to God! If they look tired or worried, if they sound stressed or depressed say a prayer for them! All of that is included in the Holy Spirit’s encouragement that we pray for “everyone.”
The next group of people for whom we are to pray can be conflicting for some people— even some Christians! The Holy Spirit says to all the children of God— no matter where or when we live— He says that as Christians we are to pray “for kings and all those in authority.” That encouragement is very easy for us to follow if the people who are “in authority” over us— the president, the governor, the mayor, etc.— are people for whom we voted. But what if we did not vote for them? What if they are promoting things that do not line up with the Truth of Scripture? Do we still pray for them? Absolutely! If our elected officials are doing something or supporting something or promoting something that is against God’s will as He has revealed it to us in His holy Word, then we need to pray that God would open their hearts and open their eyes to the Truth so that they can govern in a way that is pleasing and acceptable to Him! (Pointing to the cross)
The ultimate goal in praying for “kings and all those in authority” over us is found in Paul’s words, “that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.” God has given to the government the role of maintaining peace and order in society. God has given to us, His Church, the role of letting our faith shine brightly in our lives (Matthew 5:13-16) and “making disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). We are to pray that those who are “in authority” over us will carry out their God-given role so that we are better able to carry out our God-given roles!
The Holy Spirit has Paul emphasize this purpose behind our prayers when He says in our text, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men— the testimony given in its proper time.”
Prayer changes the way that we look at each other. As we pray to the one true God we are reminded that we do not want to remain at odds with someone we just prayed for. We want the best for them! We want to either bring them into contact with Jesus, or bring them closer to Jesus. Prayer also changes the way that we view the world around us. As we are praying “for everyone” we see “everyone” as someone whom Jesus loves so much that He was willing to pay for their sins by dying for them on the cross! (Pointing to the cross)
As we are praying for “everyone” we do so with the conviction that there is “one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” As we are praying for “everyone” we do so with the conviction that the God who wants all people to be saved has freely provided the only way for everyone to be saved— through faith in the “ransom” that Jesus has paid for us. In His mercy the heavenly Father has sent us the “mediator” who tells us the Truth— the Truth about God and the Truth about us. In His mercy our “mediator” reaches out to us and through us He reaches out to others with the powerful message of the Gospel. The Gospel is God’s “testimony” to the world that at the “proper time,” when everything was in precisely the proper place, God sent His Son to “redeem” us so that we might receive the “full rights” of the children of God. (See Galatians 4:4-7) The Gospel is God’s “testimony” to the world that through faith in Jesus all is well between us and God.
Now look at the closing verse of our text. Paul says, “And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle— I am telling the truth, I am not lying— and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.”
Since God wants “all people to be saved and to come to acknowledge of the truth,” God “appointed” the apostle Paul to proclaim the “testimony” of God’s truth to “all people”— even to the Gentiles! How does God accomplish this goal today? He accomplishes that very same goal through you and through me! When we were baptized in the Name of the Triune God, God the Holy Spirit not only created the gift of saving faith in our hearts, but He also called us to be His witnesses! (Pointing to the cross) Like Paul we have been called to be a “herald” of the Truth! We proclaim the Truth concerning Who Jesus is— the only “mediator” between God and sinners. We proclaim the Truth concerning what Jesus has done— He “gave himself as a ransom for all men.” We proclaim the Truth concerning God’s will for the entire world— He wants “all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.” Yes, my friends, with the words that we speak, with the actions of our life and with the prayers we offer up to the God of Heaven our goal is to be a “herald” of His Truth! (Pointing to the cross)
Out of all the various aspects of our life as a child of God speaking to our heavenly Father in prayer comes as naturally to us as breathing. While that is indeed true, our old sinful nature all too often taints our prayers by having us focus on our own wants and our own needs. My prayer this morning is that as we strive to give our undivided attention to the privilege and the purpose of prayer we will follow the encouragement that the Holy Spirit gives to us today: “I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.”
To God be the glory!
Amen