READING:
One-year plan: Jeremiah 5-7, 1 Timothy 1-2
Two-year plan: 2 Kings 2:13-3:27, John 8:48-59
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Prayer is, in my judgment, the most difficult spiritual discipline to develop. Whatever the reason for our struggle, though, we can’t ignore the Bible’s recurrent call to pray.
First Timothy 2, in fact, pushes us in that direction. Indeed, Paul’s words could perhaps be no clearer: “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone” (1 Tim 2:1) and “I want the men in every place to pray” (1 Tim 2:8). Paul was particularly concerned that believers pray for those in authority, perhaps indicating that the first-century believers often struggled praying for those who stood against them. The end goal of the praying was that God be pleased as people are saved.
Especially in this election season, we need to pray for those in authority. Even if we do not always agree with them, still we must pray. As one writer put it, “Whether the civil authorities are perverted or not they must be made the subjects for prayer, for Christian citizens may in this way influence the course of national affairs, a fact often forgotten except in times of special crisis.”*
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you regularly praying for those in authority?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, I pray that those in authority would turn to You for salvation and wisdom.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Jeremiah 8-10, 1 Timothy 3:1-4:10
Two-year plan: 2 Kings 4, John 9:1-12
*Guthrie, D. (1990). Pastoral Epistles: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 14, p. 84). InterVarsity Press.
** portions first published in 2020
