PRAY FOR ALL PEOPLE
I Tim. 2:1 I urge you,
first of all, to pray for all people. As
you make your requests, plead for God's mercy upon them, and give thanks. NLT
I am challenged by that word all.
All means all, all the time and I must confess that I don't always pray
for all people. I do pray for people,
but there are many people who do not make my prayer list. There are people who need prayers that I do
not know about or feel led to pray for.
There are people who are not close to me that I don't pray for. There are people who I am not led to pray for
at all, but yet, Paul urges us, the Church, to pray for all people. So, how do we reconcile what we do with what
we should be doing?
First of all, we
should never exclude anyone from our willingness to pray for. No matter who it is, all people need
prayer. We should not discriminate
against anyone with our prayers. Whether
they be people we like or not, we should be willing to pray for them. Whether we personally know them or not, we
should be willing to pray for them.
Whether they are people we agree with or not, we should be willing to
pray for them. Anyone whom the Lord
nudges you to pray for, you should pray for them. How then should we pray for them?
I like the way Paul
prayed for the church. Read his prayers
in Philippians, Colossians, and Ephesians.
It would be a wonderful way to pray for one another. Paul tells Timothy to plead for God's mercy
on them. We should always want others to
know the Lord and grow in Him. It takes
a lot of mercy on God's part to help people.
Pray that the Lord will be merciful and withhold the judgment that they
deserve and reach out to them in grace and love. Pray that others will respond positively to
God's love and mercy.
And, as you plead with
God on the behalf of others, do it with a thankful heart. Be thankful for your own salvation and the
work of the Spirit within you. Be
thankful for the opportunities God gives you to play a part in the soul development
of others.
Thank the Lord for
those who respond to God and let Him have control of their lives. Thank the Lord always for His goodness and
favor on man. Thank Him for His mercy
and love for all. Thank Him for the
opportunities He gives to us to partner with Him in the salvation of
souls.
Your prayer for
someone today may be the key that unlocks the door to their heart for Jesus to
come in. Will you pray?
No comments:
Post a Comment