February 18, 2025

We are called to pray in 1 Timothy 2.  This is not just praying for ourselves or praying for our friends and family that have needs.  This prayer also is to extent to praying for those in leadership.  This was not a time where the church had a lot of friends in power.  The king of Israel, who was a puppet king of sorts for Rome, did not like the Christians.  The Sanhedrin was seeking ways to get rid of the Christians.  The Romans, including their emperor, were assisting in the execution of Christians.  These are not people that we would have a natural desire to pray for, yet Paul tells them to pray for these leaders anyway.  

Why does Paul say to pray for the leaders- because it is God's desire that they come to faith in Jesus Christ, just like that is God's desire for all people.  Paul himself knew of the powerful transition God can make in someone's life when they go from opposing God to being in line with God's will because he formerly persecuted the church harshly.  What would it look like if there was a move of God through the halls of congress where people no matter what their party designation put their faith in Jesus Christ and truly sought Him in the decisions they made?  Have you prayed for this to happen? It may seem impossible, but as Paul wrote this there seemed to be a very low possibility that a Roman emperor would ever become a Christian, yet there was a day when Constantine came to faith in Jesus. Don't be afraid to pray for God to do big things despite how unlikely it may seem.

Paul also reminds us that Jesus was our mediator to bring us into a proper relationship with God.  This is why the belief that Jesus was truly God and truly man (fully God/fully man) is important because only he could represent both parties in the act of restoration.  As a man he represented humanity.  As God he had access to the throne room and was without sin.  When Jesus died on the cross the temple curtain was ripped in two from top to bottom showing us we now can have restored relationship with God and access to Him.