Jump Start # 3630
1 Timothy 2:1-2 “First of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.”
As I was driving into the office the other day, I was listening to the morning news. There was a stabbing in the UK that injured many young people. A bombing in Israel killed several children. The President wants to make changes to the court system. I know of brethren in many places that are going through cancer treatments and are in hospitals. A couple of preachers I know are moving to work with brethren in different states. I know of several congregations that are looking for a preacher. In my area, storms raced across the night skies. Schools are starting up and parents are hoping for a safe and successful school year.
So much going on. But as all of this was spinning around in my head, I thought of those early Christians. How limited their news was. How little they knew what was going on in the world. Even in the small European villages in the 12th century, information came slowly. How limited their prayers must have been. The head of the empire or the nation could change and these simple people may not have known about it for months. Yet, they prayed.
Because of quick and accessible news and information, we can pray globally. A post on Facebook tells of someone having emergency surgery. Prayers are requested. That person lives miles and miles from us, but we do that. And, those early prayers of those first Christians must have been limited to the people around them. That’s all they knew.
Here are some thoughts:
First, I wonder if our prayers ought to be longer and in more depth because we know so much more. We know about brethren across the seas. We know about troubles globally. God has always been there, but now we know what’s going on the other side of the planet.
Second, it is easy to get overwhelmed with so many things to pray about. Troubles in Africa. Wars in Ukraine and Israel. Folk in our home congregation needing prayers. Folks in neighboring congregations also need prayers. Statewide, this is true. Nationally, this is true. Globally, this is true. We can feel guilty if we forget to pray for someone. We left someone off our prayer list. Prodigals that need to come home. The gospel that needs to be spread. “Will you pray for me,” is the call.
Sometimes it seems our hearts can only hold so much. We feel that we will burst, like that little balloon that one continues to blow air into.
Here are some thoughts that I hope will help:
1. It is impossible to pray for everything. The world is big and there are so, so many things. The Lord knows this. The Lord is bigger than our prayers. And, even if all we ever did was pray, we’d still not get everything. And, there are things beyond prayer, such as raising our families, spreading the Gospel, letting our light shine.
2. Prayer is more than running through a check list. I wonder if this is what we do much too often. A list of bullet points and we simply mention a name or a situation and run through dozens and dozens of those things. Would it be better to pick out one or two names and pour some thought, love and heart beyond just stating their name? Don’t feel that it’s all up to you. Don’t feel guilty if you didn’t pray for something. You did pray, but maybe not for that one person.
3. Without you realizing it, others are also praying. Wihile you may not pray for someone, there is a good chance that others have. Our prayers ought to be comfort and a blessing and not a guilt trip and a burden. Talking to the Lord ought to help us, not make us feel worse.
Local prayers…global prayers—thank the Lord, praise the Lord and beseech the Lord. Prayer is not so much asking for what you want but for the Lord’s will to be your will. Be a person of prayer. If you don’t know what to pray about, open your eyes and look around. Turn on the news—pray for those you do not know. Pray for those who hurt. Pray for those who need to find the Lord.
In everything, the Thessalonians were told, give thanks.
Roger