Timothy has a tough job. “Stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth. Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.” Sounds like fun. Sounds like today.
Timothy is young, maybe even timid and sickly, but Paul has a great deal of confidence in his protégé and tells him to say in Ephesus and deal with these difficult problems. Timothy is his true son in the faith. He has a spiritual gift which he received through prophecy and the laying on of hands by the Elders. He is called by God to do this work. So Paul writes Timothy a letter which is part instruction manual for leading and organizing a church, part personal encouragement for Timothy to be the right kind of leader, and part wisdom literature that Paul is passing down to his friend and the church in Ephesus. Paul writes: “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – and I am the worst of them all.”
I am struck that the very first thing Paul urges Timothy to do in this letter is to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf. On one hand, that seems simple and obvious. Christians are supposed to be prayer warriors. However, I know from my personal experience that this often isn’t the case. I’m more likely to rely on my personal strengths, experience and convictions to try and solve problems. Or maybe I’ll just “bury my head in the sand” and hope the problem goes away. Or if I’m honest with myself, maybe I just don’t want to pray about something or someone I should. Sometimes I feel like God is in control, and he will do whatever he will do with or without my prayers. Paul, however, urges Timothy to pray first and become a mediator like Christ because this is good and pleases God.
Prayer requires faith and trust that God will act. It requires humility on our part to recognize that we are often powerless to solve problems on our own. Maybe the most important aspect of prayer is that it changes us and how we think about the world. It really is hard to be bitter toward someone if you are praying for them regularly. And when we are changed in this way, to become more like Christ our mediator, then the power of God can work through us to help others. I’m sure this is why Paul urged Timothy to pray first.
We live in a time of great division in the Christian church and in our country. Red state blue state. Conservative or liberal. Mask or no mask. Vax or anti-vax. The list can go on and on. How would things look differently if we actually prayed for those who think differently than we do every day? If we interceded for each other, instead of trying to correct each other?
I’m going to take Paul’s challenge personally – first, pray for all people. Ask God to help them. Intercede for them, and give thanks for them. This is good and pleases God. I think this will change me and my attitude toward others and the issues of our time. Will you join me in taking this challenge?