Pray for All People
In our Christian lives, prayer is essential to spiritual vitality. For it keeps us connected to the Lord, acknowledges our dependence upon Him, and is essential for leading a fruitful life as a follower of Christ. Like the GEICO ad says, “If you want to save 15% or more on car insurance, you switch to GEICO. It’s what you do!” In the spiritual, If you want to maintain a vibrant relationship with God, you pray. It’s what you do!
Specifically, in the evangelistic endeavor, prayer is integral to the process. In 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul highlights an important evangelistic prayer component that may be easily overlooked or dismissed by the Christian today:
“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Paul, writing from a Roman prison, is writing Timothy, who at the time was pastoring the church in Ephesus. The Ephesian church had evidently stopped praying for the lost, so Paul is urging Timothy to again make it a priority.
Some false teachers who had perverted the gospel (1 Timothy 1:18-20) negatively affected the evangelistic prayers of those in the church. So Paul urges that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). The reference to all men would have been challenging to them, as it is for us today. Because some people are hostile to God and oppose the faith. Yet, Jesus calls us to pray for even those who “spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).
The evangelistic nature of praying for all men comes into light in 1 Timothy 2:4, where Paul notes the heart of our Savior God:
“who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
God’s desire should be our desire, His heart our heart. And yet, how difficult is it for us to regularly pray for the salvation of even those in our sphere of influence. For in the midst of the spiritual war in which we find ourselves, the present enemies of entertainment, busyness and our own issues and problems can crowd out evangelistic prayer. Lord, help us to pray.
In the course of my journey with Jesus, I had a good friend from college (I’ll call Chris) who I’d lost contact with after graduation in the mid-1980’s. Upon coming to faith in 1987, I would occasionally remember him in prayer, for he wasn’t a believer. A few years ago, we reconnected on Facebook. Chris called me on the phone one day and as we caught up, he shared that he’d become a Christian 10 years earlier! I was thrilled!
I have other lost people in my life I’ve been praying for many years, even some I’ve lost contact with. Yet, I continue to pray in faith. And I would encourage you to keep praying for those in your sphere of influence, our leaders and all men (kingdompraying.com is a great resource for evangelistic prayer). And if you’d like, email us the names of people we can join you in praying for, as we regularly pray for the salvation of the lost. So, pray in faith and persevere in prayer, knowing that in some cases, only heaven will reveal the fruit of our prayerful labors.
Lord Jesus, give us not only hearts that break for the lost – gives us hearts that pray for the lost…even all people! Amen.