1 Timothy 2:1-15

1 Timothy 2:1-15

Why is it so hard to pray? Not the perfunctory or routine prayers that are half memorized and half gibberish, but real prayers. Reading a prayer or mindlessly rehashing the things we have heard is easy, but real prayer is perhaps the most difficult of all Christian disciplines. The disciples who would have learned the prayers of the synagogue came to Jesus asking Him, “Teach us to pray.” In this chapter we often rushed to the end to take up the role of women in the church and to speculate on the confusing “… women shall be preserved through childbearing…” passage. But Paul begins with prayer.

For our purposes, let us look at verses 1-2 and 8 and then return to the question, “Why is it so hard to pray?” Paul began by directing four types or aspects of prayer to be offered for all men, beginning with the king. The four aspects are, first, entreaties; these are supplications to avert evil of every kind. Second, we are to offer prayers or requests for good things, both spiritual and temporal. Third, we make intercession or prayers on behalf of others. Christ intercedes for us, and we, by His grace and mercy, intercede for others. Fourth, we give thanks or praise to God as the parent or giver of all good things. Note that Paul puts these in couplets so that we have a prayer something like, “God protect them from harm, but instead bring good into their life. Bless them, and here are the specific needs that they have, and thank you for the good you have done for them and through them.” Paul begins by directing these prayers to be offered for Nero. This letter was written in the early sixties and, as such, would have predated the aggressive persecution by Rome. Nevertheless, Nero was by no means a Christian.

In verse eight Paul gives us additional instructions about prayer, and here we may also see why prayer is so difficult. For there to be a life of prayer, there must be the presence of one thing but the absence of two others. Paul insists on the presence of holy living on the part of those who would pray. The practice of “lifting hands” is less important than that those hands be holy. Without holiness, the act of lifting hands by itself accomplishes nothing. If our lives are marked and identified by sin, prayer will be difficult. Or, to put it another way, we will pray less as we sin more. Our prayer life is a reasonably good indicator of our personal holiness. It is a sort of compass that points the direction of our life. Next, Paul points out the first thing that must be absent: wrath or anger. This is more than momentary frustration or irritation but a settled, resolute feud, or a constitutional opposition. We might say a hot, active grudge. Have you ever noticed that churches in serious conflict don't pray very much? The other mandated absence is ‘dissensions.’ This may be surprising as we look at the Greek text. The Greek word is a compound word; the first part is “through,” and the second part is “to reckon, count, or calculate.” Put it together, you get “the doubt or unbelief that results from our own thinking of things.” Often, but not strictly, associated with our plotting to resolve our personal conflicts. More generally, it means that if we can't figure out a solution, it must not happen. This is the opposite of faith. It is a sort of thinking that results in our own solution and not God’s. The word can also be translated as “evil thoughts.” Prayer will not develop and be active in our lives when we are in unholy conflict, engaged in trying to find our own solutions. 

Prayer is the hardest discipline. It must overcome so much of our own nature. But it is what God wants, and it is what we want. Thankfully, He is more than able to overcome our obstacles.

“Lord, You are willing to help those who desire to pray.  Lord, help me to pray. AMEN