Easter 6 – Rogate
1 Timothy 2:1-6
v.1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people...
Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Dear friends, on this sixth Sunday of Easter – Rogate – or “ask” Sunday – we have the opportunity to talk about prayer. There is a lot of talk among people today—indeed it seems as though everyone is praying for their favourite hockey team to advance in the playoffs. But Christians, in particular, often speak about the “power” of prayer. There are prayer chains that stretch around the globe and can be activated by a single phone call or email when the need arises. Of course, there are also those Facebook prayers that promise great blessings if "liked" and "shared" but call into question the faith of those who ignore them. But what exactly is prayer? And what exactly makes prayer so powerful?
Beloved, St. Paul had something to say to the young pastor, Timothy, about prayer. While describing certain forms for public worship, Paul exhorts Timothy to pray for all people. He uses four different words for prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. Supplications are things that are asked of urgently—picture someone pleading with another—begging them to listen. The next word is the general word for prayer, which is all about speaking our requests to God. Then there are the intercessions—where one speaks to God on behalf of another—much like Moses did in our OT reading today—speaking to God on behalf of the people of Israel. Lastly, there are thanksgivings—words of thankfulness and praise that are offered up to God for His manifold blessings.
Paul urges Timothy, and us, to pray diligently—in every way—and as often as possible. But why? Why is prayer so important? What’s the big deal? Doesn’t God already know what we need or want before we even ask Him? So what’s the point, anyway? Well, we have to remember that God gave us the gift of prayer—not for His benefit—but ours. As we are led by the Holy Spirit to call upon God in prayer—we confess our inadequacy—our inability—to control events around us—and to offer thanksgiving for the wondrous blessings that God has bestowed upon us. But the power of prayer is never to be based upon us or anyone else—but God.
This is hard for us because by our sinful nature we desire to be in the centre of everything. “It’s all about me,” we often like to say to ourselves—“I’m the one who is gonna get what I want because I’ll say the right words, do the right things, and then God HAS to give me what I desire.” This is a subtle twisting of the devil—when we actually think that it is because of us and our prayers that God does what He does.
And this is where the “power of prayer” mentality can sometimes lead us astray. For we begin to think that if we pray long enough, hard enough, get enough people to pray with us—then God will give us whatever we ask for. After all, didn’t Jesus say in our Gospel reading, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.”? But when we think this way we end up turning God into some sort of divine vending machine—thinking that if we press the right buttons—say the right words in the right order—or insert enough prayer “coins” then God has to give us whatever we ask—and oh how wrong we would be.
God is the Almighty One. He is the one in control—not you—not me—not anyone. And while Jesus does give us many promises concerning prayer, they cannot be separated from the rest of Scripture. For Scripture teaches us that in His wisdom He gives as He sees fit—that our prayers are always offered up to God through Christ, understanding that “Thy will be done.” We simply trust in Him as our gracious Father. You see, we come before God in prayer knowing that we can’t manipulate Him into doing whatever we want—that is how the unbelieving pagans behaved—thinking that by their actions they could force the gods of Mount Olympus to do what they wanted. But this is NOT how the one true God operates.
Our God mandates prayer for our benefit—not for His own. He wants us to pray so that we recognize He is the source of all blessing and peace. In our prayers we speak back to God what He has already said to us—telling of His great love for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is our One Mediator between us and God. For you see, all of our prayers, come before the Father, not by merit of our worthiness or steadfastness or repetition—but solely by the blood of Jesus. His redeeming blood covers over all that is ours—even our prayers—and makes them acceptable. By His blood shed on the cross Jesus has restored the relationship that had been broken between us and God on account of our sin. He is the One who makes us new. He is the One who brings our unworthy prayers before the Father so that we may be heard. Indeed, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we are moved to pray to God in the first place—to truly trust in Him who did not even spare His own Son (so great is His love)—to give us every good thing we need.
St. Paul says that prayers are to be offered up for all people—particularly “for kings and all who are in high positions...” Why? So “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And there you have it. The reason why we pray for those in authority over us—the reason why we pray at all—is because God desires everyone to be saved and to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
We pray for our leaders so that they may govern us justly, providing peace in the land so that the holy Christian church may flourish and proclaim the Gospel. For it is through the Gospel Word that people are brought to repentance and faith by the Holy Spirit. And this same Gospel Word comes to you this day to open your hearts and minds to the saving truth of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again for you. This is the basis and foundation for all of your prayers. This is why we pray in Jesus’ name. Because it is in Him and through Him that we have our life and our salvation.
Now what about when it seems as though God is totally ignoring us and our prayers, our pleas, our intercessions? What about when it seems as though God is deaf to our cries? When the world continues its rampage of evil? When Satan succeeds in his deceptions and lies? When our sinful flesh gets the better of us and we fall into sin, despite heartfelt prayers? When our loved ones persist in unbelief? Are we to imagine that God doesn’t care? Is too busy to take our call?
No, beloved! Jesus died so that you and I and all people could be saved from the deadly consequences of our sin. We pray to Him and through Him knowing that He loves us and takes our pleas, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings to the Father—covered in His blood—they are pleasing in His sight. This is the ultimate power of prayer, dear friends—not in us and our prayers per se—but in the One to whom we pray—the Lord Jesus—the Object of our prayers. He is God Almighty in the flesh—and He will grant our prayers according to His good and gracious will.
Remember that when we pray we leave all things in God's hands who knows best. Now, that’s hard. But our God is not some cold, dispassionate, uncaring God, but our true Father who knows us better than we know ourselves—our wants/desires—and our true needs. He has provided for our greatest need in terms of a Saviour from our sin and death by sending us His own beloved Son Jesus as a ransom for us all.
And this God who loves us so very much—will continue to love us by giving us what we need to proclaim His love to the nations. In Jesus we are washed clean of all our sin—fed and nourished by His body and blood—comforted in knowing our sin has been paid for by Christ on the cross who rose again to give us the victory over sin, death, and hell.
So, let us pray—let us pray with all confidence and joy—knowing that in Christ Jesus we already have all that we need and more—and trusting that He desires not only us—but all people to be saved through Him. Now THAT is some seriously powerful prayer! For Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 Timothy 2:1-6
v.1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people...
Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Dear friends, on this sixth Sunday of Easter – Rogate – or “ask” Sunday – we have the opportunity to talk about prayer. There is a lot of talk among people today—indeed it seems as though everyone is praying for their favourite hockey team to advance in the playoffs. But Christians, in particular, often speak about the “power” of prayer. There are prayer chains that stretch around the globe and can be activated by a single phone call or email when the need arises. Of course, there are also those Facebook prayers that promise great blessings if "liked" and "shared" but call into question the faith of those who ignore them. But what exactly is prayer? And what exactly makes prayer so powerful?
Beloved, St. Paul had something to say to the young pastor, Timothy, about prayer. While describing certain forms for public worship, Paul exhorts Timothy to pray for all people. He uses four different words for prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. Supplications are things that are asked of urgently—picture someone pleading with another—begging them to listen. The next word is the general word for prayer, which is all about speaking our requests to God. Then there are the intercessions—where one speaks to God on behalf of another—much like Moses did in our OT reading today—speaking to God on behalf of the people of Israel. Lastly, there are thanksgivings—words of thankfulness and praise that are offered up to God for His manifold blessings.
Paul urges Timothy, and us, to pray diligently—in every way—and as often as possible. But why? Why is prayer so important? What’s the big deal? Doesn’t God already know what we need or want before we even ask Him? So what’s the point, anyway? Well, we have to remember that God gave us the gift of prayer—not for His benefit—but ours. As we are led by the Holy Spirit to call upon God in prayer—we confess our inadequacy—our inability—to control events around us—and to offer thanksgiving for the wondrous blessings that God has bestowed upon us. But the power of prayer is never to be based upon us or anyone else—but God.
This is hard for us because by our sinful nature we desire to be in the centre of everything. “It’s all about me,” we often like to say to ourselves—“I’m the one who is gonna get what I want because I’ll say the right words, do the right things, and then God HAS to give me what I desire.” This is a subtle twisting of the devil—when we actually think that it is because of us and our prayers that God does what He does.
And this is where the “power of prayer” mentality can sometimes lead us astray. For we begin to think that if we pray long enough, hard enough, get enough people to pray with us—then God will give us whatever we ask for. After all, didn’t Jesus say in our Gospel reading, “whatever you ask of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.”? But when we think this way we end up turning God into some sort of divine vending machine—thinking that if we press the right buttons—say the right words in the right order—or insert enough prayer “coins” then God has to give us whatever we ask—and oh how wrong we would be.
God is the Almighty One. He is the one in control—not you—not me—not anyone. And while Jesus does give us many promises concerning prayer, they cannot be separated from the rest of Scripture. For Scripture teaches us that in His wisdom He gives as He sees fit—that our prayers are always offered up to God through Christ, understanding that “Thy will be done.” We simply trust in Him as our gracious Father. You see, we come before God in prayer knowing that we can’t manipulate Him into doing whatever we want—that is how the unbelieving pagans behaved—thinking that by their actions they could force the gods of Mount Olympus to do what they wanted. But this is NOT how the one true God operates.
Our God mandates prayer for our benefit—not for His own. He wants us to pray so that we recognize He is the source of all blessing and peace. In our prayers we speak back to God what He has already said to us—telling of His great love for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ who is our One Mediator between us and God. For you see, all of our prayers, come before the Father, not by merit of our worthiness or steadfastness or repetition—but solely by the blood of Jesus. His redeeming blood covers over all that is ours—even our prayers—and makes them acceptable. By His blood shed on the cross Jesus has restored the relationship that had been broken between us and God on account of our sin. He is the One who makes us new. He is the One who brings our unworthy prayers before the Father so that we may be heard. Indeed, by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross we are moved to pray to God in the first place—to truly trust in Him who did not even spare His own Son (so great is His love)—to give us every good thing we need.
St. Paul says that prayers are to be offered up for all people—particularly “for kings and all who are in high positions...” Why? So “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And there you have it. The reason why we pray for those in authority over us—the reason why we pray at all—is because God desires everyone to be saved and to come to faith in Jesus Christ.
We pray for our leaders so that they may govern us justly, providing peace in the land so that the holy Christian church may flourish and proclaim the Gospel. For it is through the Gospel Word that people are brought to repentance and faith by the Holy Spirit. And this same Gospel Word comes to you this day to open your hearts and minds to the saving truth of Jesus Christ crucified and risen again for you. This is the basis and foundation for all of your prayers. This is why we pray in Jesus’ name. Because it is in Him and through Him that we have our life and our salvation.
Now what about when it seems as though God is totally ignoring us and our prayers, our pleas, our intercessions? What about when it seems as though God is deaf to our cries? When the world continues its rampage of evil? When Satan succeeds in his deceptions and lies? When our sinful flesh gets the better of us and we fall into sin, despite heartfelt prayers? When our loved ones persist in unbelief? Are we to imagine that God doesn’t care? Is too busy to take our call?
No, beloved! Jesus died so that you and I and all people could be saved from the deadly consequences of our sin. We pray to Him and through Him knowing that He loves us and takes our pleas, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings to the Father—covered in His blood—they are pleasing in His sight. This is the ultimate power of prayer, dear friends—not in us and our prayers per se—but in the One to whom we pray—the Lord Jesus—the Object of our prayers. He is God Almighty in the flesh—and He will grant our prayers according to His good and gracious will.
Remember that when we pray we leave all things in God's hands who knows best. Now, that’s hard. But our God is not some cold, dispassionate, uncaring God, but our true Father who knows us better than we know ourselves—our wants/desires—and our true needs. He has provided for our greatest need in terms of a Saviour from our sin and death by sending us His own beloved Son Jesus as a ransom for us all.
And this God who loves us so very much—will continue to love us by giving us what we need to proclaim His love to the nations. In Jesus we are washed clean of all our sin—fed and nourished by His body and blood—comforted in knowing our sin has been paid for by Christ on the cross who rose again to give us the victory over sin, death, and hell.
So, let us pray—let us pray with all confidence and joy—knowing that in Christ Jesus we already have all that we need and more—and trusting that He desires not only us—but all people to be saved through Him. Now THAT is some seriously powerful prayer! For Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.