Do I Have All
Kinds of Prayer?
I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers,
intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people. 1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)
D. L Moody, when he was asked at the end
of his life if there was anything he would have done differently, responded, “I
would have prayed more!” Oswald Chambers is quoted by Mary Ann Bridgwater in
her book Prayers for the Faithful:
Fervent Daily Prayer and Meditations for Christians Serving Around the World,
“The battle of prayer is against two things: ... wandering thoughts and lack of
intimacy with God’s character as revealed in His word. Neither can be cured at
once, but they can be cured by discipline.”
Prayer is a discipline that must be
practiced in order to grow deeper in our relationship with God. While prayer is
simply having a conversation with God, one thing is certain: everyone can pray
more, pray more specifically, and pray more for others.
One thing that we must guard against is
spending the majority of our time always praying for our needs while neglecting
the needs of others. How many times have you said to someone, “I will pray for
you,” only to forget? We must be disciplined to pray for others, because one of
the greatest things we can do for another person is to pray for them.
Paul uses four different words for prayer.
The words are not altogether distinct in meaning, but there are nuances of
difference that reveal different needs that require prayer:
Petitions: means to
converse freely; it pictures someone who can go into the presence of the king
and talk freely with him on your behalf. It is used of the intercessory work of
the Holy Spirit and of Christ on our behalf (Rom. 8:27, 34; Heb. 7:25). It
points to the fact that we can go freely before God at any time or in any place
to talk with Him on behalf of others.
Prayers: a general term
for prayer to God. One commentator suggests that the word here refers to
requests for needs that are always present, in contrast to specific and special
needs. This would include prayer for more wisdom, godliness, repentance,
revival, etc.
Intercessions: prayer stemming
from a sense of need. Sensing our lack and God’s sufficiency, our impotence and
God’s omnipotence, should move us to pray.
Thanksgivings: this points to
the fact that we must express not only our petitions, but our gratitude to God
for His gracious answers.
The point of all these words is that we
have different needs at different times. But at all times we need God and,
therefore, we need to pray. Not only do we need all kinds of prayer, but also
we need to pray for all kinds of people. We have already noted Paul’s emphasis
on “all men”.
Paul knew the power of prayer and knew
that prayer really had an impact and could change lives, so he purposed to pray
for others. This is why Paul reminds us in today’s verse that a healthy prayer
life must include praying for others. Since we are called to “love our neighbor
as ourselves” (Mark 12:31), then we should at least pray for others as much as
we pray for ourselves. Just imagine what we might see in the world today if we spent
as much time praying for the needs of others as we did praying for our own
needs.
Prayer is an act of communing with God. It
is about communication, and developing intimacy with God by engaging in
conversations with God. Be specific. Be consistent. Be committed. Be
purposeful. Be blessed. And be a blessing to others with your prayer life.
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