the prayers of a righteous man

First of All, Pray

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1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. – 1 Timothy 2:1-7 ESV

This chapter is filled with familiar verses around which some have built entire doctrines regarding the church. In many cases, they have ignored the context while focusing on a single concept or idea. But we have to remember that Paul was giving his young disciple, Timothy, instructions regarding his ministry among the people in Ephesus. The focus of this entire chapter appears to be the gospel and the environment in which it thrives and spreads most effectively.

Certain activities and circumstances can hinder the gospel’s impact and make the good news of Jesus Christ difficult to understand. Well-meaning Christians can also conduct themselves in ways that discredit their role as messengers of the gospel. Paul’s primary emphasis in this chapter is the salvation of others, and that is what he is trying to communicate to Timothy. Everything else he deals with becomes the context in which the spread of the gospel flourishes.

He begins with an admonition to pray. Prayer is not a magic formula or secret weapon believers use to get what they want from God; it is intimate communication with their Heavenly Father. The ability to speak directly with God is a privilege every one of His children enjoys.  As the church, we are the people of God and, as such, we should always have a Godward focus in our thinking. Paul tells Timothy to pray for all people and even suggests what to pray.

Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. – 1 Timothy 2:1 NLT

Paul actually lists four different aspects of prayer: supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. Paul chose each word carefully because, in the Greek language in which he penned this letter, each word has a specific meaning that helps illustrate the rich depth that should mark our communication with God.

“Supplications” is the Greek word deeseis, and it carries the idea of determination and earnestness based on a conviction of the need. As believers, we understand that every human being has one primary and pressing need: to know Jesus. When we pray to God on behalf of others, our primary concern should be their salvation. Whatever their perceived or expressed need may be, only a saving relationship with Jesus Christ will truly transform their life. Those who receive healing from sickness but remain unsaved are still under the condemnation of death and face eternal separation from God. To pray for someone’s financial well-being without having a concern for their spiritual health would be short-sighted and, ultimately, unhelpful.

The word “prayers” is the Greek word proseuchas, a more general term that covers all communication with our Heavenly Father. Its focus is on Him, not the one for whom we are praying. We are to lift up all men to God, placing them in His hands and under His care, trusting that He knows what they need. The content of our prayer is less important than the identity of the one to whom we pray. Our requests are based on His character, focused on His faithfulness, and fully dependent upon His power.

“Intercession” (enteuxeis) seems to cover the specific requests we make on behalf of others. When we become aware of a need or circumstance in another person’s life, we are to take it to the Lord. Interceding on their behalf requires that we converse with God about the matter, sharing our concern for their needs. This is a selfless act of love and compassion done for the benefit of someone other than ourselves. Jesus modeled intercession when He prayed in the garden on the night of His betrayal.

“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you…protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.… I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.… Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.… I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” – John 17:9, 11, 15, 17,  21 NLT

Finally, “thanksgiving” (eucharistias) conveys the idea that our prayers are to be characterized by gratefulness. But in this context, Paul suggests that we thank God for the ones we are praying for, including all men, not just some. Again, Paul’s focus is on God. To thank God for someone we would normally be unthankful for is to express trust in His sovereignty; it reveals that we know He is in charge and has a purpose for that person’s presence in our life. With this call to unbiased thankfulness, Paul reflects Jesus’ words.

“Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” – Matthew 5:44-45 NLT

Prayer is not meant to be formulaic or ritualistic. It is to be marked by a variety and intensity of style and content, with the focus always on God.

Paul goes on to instruct Timothy that the prayers of God’s people are to include kings and all those in authority. These people are sometimes the most difficult to pray for. But Paul emphasizes God using these people to help create an atmosphere in which believers might “live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity” and the Gospel might prosper and spread. Why? Because God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. His desire is that all men hear that “there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone” (1 Timothy 2:5-6 NLT). So pray!

But Paul wants Timothy to know that certain things can hinder our prayers and destroy our witness as believers. He mentions anger and controversy. Jesus Himself warned us that “if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24 NLT). Reconciliation and restoration of the relationship is far more important to God than adherence to a set of religious rituals.

Disunity can derail our prayer lives, but so can our actions. Our behavior among those for whom we are praying can powerfully affect whether they eventually experience the salvation they desperately need. So, Paul encouraged Timothy to make prayer a high priority in his life and ministry and, in doing so, he echoed the words of James.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
– James 5:16 NLT

Father, thank You for the gracious gift of prayer. Through Jesus, You opened a line of communication that not only allows us to talk to You, but to hear from You. Yet, for too much of my life, I have tended to neglect this lifeline to Your throne room. For the most part, my prayer life ebbs and flows based on my circumstances. When things are going well, the frequency and fervency of my prayers diminish. But when things take a turn for the worse, I became a praying machine, casting all my cares on You because I have run out of options and desperately need Your help. But what Paul told Timothy about prayer is what I needed to hear. My prayer life not only needs to become more active, but also more diverse and other-oriented. I can easily turn prayer into a one-sided monologue where I communicate my needs to You and then wait for Your response. But Paul suggests a more well-rounded, selfless form of prayer that focuses on who You and all those for whom Your Son sacrificed His life. Open my eyes to see the true purpose and power of prayer. I don’t want to pray because I need to, but because I want to. I have been given me the privilege of communicating with You and I don’t want to take it for granted. Amen. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Our Indwelling Intercessor

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26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. – Romans 8:26-27 ESV

In the preceding verses, Paul encouraged us to wait eagerly, hopefully, and yet patiently for the final stage of our adoption as sons and daughters of God and for the redemption of our bodies. There is a day coming when we will be freed from these bodies of death, as Paul called them (Romans 7:24). We will be given new bodies and the long-awaited opportunity to live in perfect, unbroken fellowship with God, fully enjoying our position as His children and all the benefits that come with being heirs of His Kingdom.

In the meantime, we must continue to deal with the ongoing presence of our sinful natures and struggle against the persistent attacks of Satan and the temptations of this present world. In verse 17, Paul told us, “we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Our glorification is coming, but in the meantime, we sometimes suffer as a result of our faith in Christ and our restored relationship with God. And as we suffer as God’s children, we naturally call out to Him as our Father. We find ourselves, at times, too weak to handle all that is happening to us and around us in this world. We are constantly experiencing and witnessing the effects of sin. So, in our weakness, we cry out for help.

But there are times when we don’t know what to pray. Our circumstances leave us uncertain as to what we even need from God. And occasionally, when we do pray, the answer to our request never seems to materialize.

In our present condition, our needs are constant, but Paul assures us that the help of the Holy Spirit is constant as well. He helps us in our weakness. As we patiently, eagerly, and hopefully wait for our final adoption and redemption, He comes alongside and assists us during this time of suffering. Paul says we “groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23 ESV). In Greek, the word “groan” means to sigh or pray inaudibly. As we attempt to live holy lives in this increasingly unholy world, we find ourselves struggling with our own sin and the constant emotional bombardment from witnessing sin’s damaging influence all around us.

So we pray; we call out, and when we do, we typically ask God to remove the cause of our struggles. We beg Him to remove sickness from our loved ones. We ask Him to provide us with resources when our bank account is low or our pantry is bare. We plead with Him to remove our pain and restore our strength when we are weak. And when He doesn’t seem to answer those prayers, we can become defeated, confused, and, at times, even bitter and disillusioned.

But Paul reminds us that we have an advocate, a helper who assists us in our times of weakness. When we don’t know what to pray, how to pray, or how to get what we pray for, the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf.

…we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. – Romans 8:26 NLT

The truth is, we don’t know what we need. Paul claims that we don’t know what to pray for. Like little children, we tend to ask for the obvious. Driven by our fallen human natures, we ask for what we want, instead of what we really need. If we have pain, we want it removed. If we experience sickness, we can think of nothing better than having it healed. Paul provided us with a personal testimony regarding this very thing.

…to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NLT

Whatever the “thorn” in Paul’s flesh might have been, he prayed repeatedly for its removal, but God had other plans and a higher purpose. He was protecting Paul from becoming conceited, proud, and arrogant over his position as God’s spokesman. Paul pleaded for the removal of the thorn, but the Holy Spirit interceded and turned those self-centered, comfort-based requests into prayers that matched the will of God.

We are children of God, and, like all children, we rarely know what we truly need. But the Spirit does, because He knows the heart and mind of God. If you ask a small child what he or she wants for dinner, they are likely to respond, “Ice cream!” That is what they want, but that is not what they need. And a loving parent would not give in to their request, no matter how eagerly or enthusiastically they voiced it. Instead, loving parents would provide them with what they truly need, even if the child may feel their “needs” are not being met.

The difference between our prayers and those that the Spirit prays on our behalf is that He “intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:27 ESV). I don’t always know the will of God. I don’t always know what is best for me, but the Spirit does. And He is constantly taking my sighs, moans, and silent prayers, and turning them into requests that align with God’s will for my life as His child. So when His answers come, I may not always recognize them, but I can trust that they are just what I need.

I have a prayer partner who intercedes on my behalf. Yes, He knows the desires of my heart, but he also knows the will of God, and how the two can become one. Like any loving Father, God is not interested in giving us all that we want, but He is determined to provide us with all that we need for life and godliness. And His Spirit helps us pray within His will so that we can always know that we are receiving the right answer at just the right time.

Father, to be honest, I find prayer difficult, But I’m not telling You something You don’t already know. It’s just that prayer can sometimes feel unnecessary because You already know what I need before the need arises. You are sovereign and all-knowing, so there is no reason for me to inform You about anything. Yet, You have commanded us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to make all our requests known to You (Philippians 4:6), and to continue steadfastly in prayer (Colossians 4:2). You state that the prayers of a righteous person have great power and produce wonderful results (James 5:16). So, despite my struggle with prayer, I pray. But it is so encouraging to hear Paul’s reminder that the Holy Spirit intercedes on my behalf when I do pray. He takes my feeble, half-hearted prayers and transforms them into powerful pleas that align with Your will for me. He acts as my intercessory interpreter, making my jumbled and sometimes selfish requests make sense. As Paul told the Corinthians, “No one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:11-12 NLT). Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to serve as my prayer interpreter and intercessor. And thank You for faithfully meeting my needs even when I pray for my wants. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Repentance, Reconciliation, and Restoration

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13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. – James 5:13-20 ESV

Back in the previous chapter, James wrote, “You do not have, because you do not ask” (James 4:2 ESV). He accused his readers of two sins. The first had to do with allowing their unfulfilled passions to turn into covetousness and greed. Unable to get what they believed to be rightfully theirs, they were attempting to get it by force, even expressing a willingness to kill for it. But that raises the second sin of which they were guilty. They never made their request known to God.

These people were fighting amongst themselves because their unmet desires were producing uncontrollable jealousy and envy. Rather than expressing their so-called needs to God, they were taking matters into their own hands. And, on those rare occasions when they did manage to ask God for what they craved, they did so with the wrong motives.

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. – James 4:3 ESV

James accused them of spiritual adultery because they displayed a greater love for the things of this world than they did for God. The things they so greatly desired were of more value to them than their relationship with God.

In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul addressed a conflict between two women in the congregation.

Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. – Philippians 4:2 NLT

These two godly women were experiencing some kind of personal disagreement that had become apparent to the rest of the church members. And Paul called on the church to come to their aid so that their dispute could be resolved and their relationship restored. Then he addressed the entire faith community.

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:4-7 NLT

There was no place for quarreling and fighting within the body of Christ. Jealousy and greed should not exist among believers because we serve a God who is fully capable of meeting all our needs. But we must never forget that God is not obligated to fulfill all our desires. At times, we treat God like a cosmic genie in a bottle by demanding that He give us whatever we wish for. But God does not exist to obey our every command and to fulfill our deepest cravings and desires.

Notice that Paul told the Philippians to make their requests known to God, but he didn’t promise them that all those requests would be fulfilled. Instead, he assured them that God would give them the one thing they needed more than anything else: peace of mind. God would replace their craving with contentment. Oftentimes, the things for which we ask God reveal that our hope is misplaced. We wrongly believe that our answered prayer will bring us joy, fulfillment, and satisfaction. If we’re sick, we become convinced that healing is what we need most. If we are having financial difficulties, a sudden influx of cash will surely make all our problems go away. If we’re experiencing a relational conflict, we convince ourselves that if God would only change the other person, everything would be better.

But prayer is less about getting what we want from God than it is about us learning to trust Him. Prayer is the believer’s primary form of communication with the Father and it is intended to be a conversation, not a monologue. Too often, we craft our list of petitions and methodically communicate them to God, fully expecting Him to fulfill each and every request. And we base our belief in this make-a-wish approach to prayer on the words of Jesus. After all, didn’t He say, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7 NLT)? And wasn’t it Jesus who promised, “If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you” (Matthew 18:19 NLT)? And didn’t He tell His disciples, “whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22 NLT)?

But Jesus was not offering His followers carte blanche when it came to prayer. He wasn’t providing them with a blank check that obligated Him to give them whatever their heart desired. There is a sense in which our requests need to line up with the will of God and demonstrate faith in His greatness and goodness. We are not free to dictate to God what we have determined to be best for our lives. He is sovereign over all things, including our desires. Only He knows what we truly need at any given moment. In making our requests known to God, we are expressing our hearts and desires to Him, but we are also placing our hope in His providential plans for our lives. We are trusting Him to do what He deems best.

And that is the gist of James’ closing words to his audience. He wraps up his letter by calling them to pray. Rather than fighting amongst themselves, they were to take their problems to the Lord. If they were suffering, they were to pray rather than figure out ways to get out of it on their own. On the other hand, if they were experiencing joy and contentment, they were to offer up prayers of praise to God for His goodness and grace. If they were experiencing poor health, they were to call on the elders of the church and seek their wisdom and prayers.

James seems to be suggesting that there are some illnesses that are spiritually related. His instructions to call on the elders would indicate that there are times when there is more to a physical illness than meets the eye. Verse 15 seems to suggest that the one who is suffering may have unconfessed sin in their life?

Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. – James 5:15 NLT

We must be careful to not assume that all sickness is the result of sin. That was a false perception of Jesus’ own disciples. One day, they encountered a man who had been blind since birth, and they asked Jesus, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” (John 9:2 NLT).

They wrongly assumed that this man’s condition had been the direct result of somebody’s sin. He was suffering because someone had offended God. But Jesus corrected their misconception by stating, “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins…This happened so the power of God could be seen in him” (John 9:3 NLT). According to Jesus, this man’s blindness was nothing more than a perfect opportunity to display God’s power through healing, and Jesus went on to restore his sight. 

But James makes it clear that there can be a direct correlation between continued sickness and unconfessed sin.

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. – James 5:16 NLT

James has already accused this congregation of committing spiritual adultery. They were displaying jealousy and greed, fighting and quarreling amongst themselves, and manifesting an inordinate love for the things of this world. They had offended one another. They were guilty of treating one another with contempt and unjust discrimination. Feelings had been hurt. The poor had been mistreated. The name of Christ had been damaged in the community. And repentance, reconciliation, and restitution was required.

And James insists that their less-than-ideal spiritual state could be changed for the better – through the power of prayer. And he used the story of the Old Testament prophet, Elijah, as an example.

Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops. – James 5:17-18 NLT

This story ties into James’ earlier statement: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results” (James 5:16 NLT). Elijah was a righteous man who made his request known to God and his prayer was answered – in a spectacular and supernatural way. This one man, praying in tune with the will of God, had been able to summon a three-and-a-half-year drought. And then, at just the right time and in keeping with God’s will, Elijah brought down much-needed rain.

In order to understand James’ use of Elijah as an example of a righteous and prayerful man, you have to go back to 1 Kings. There we can see the spiritual conditions that led Elijah to pray for a devastating drought, and it all had to do with the ungodly leadership of the king.

Ahab son of Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twenty-two years. But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him. And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal. First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria. Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him. – 1 Kings 16:29-33 NLT

The drought was intended as punishment for the unfaithfulness of Ahab. The king had sinned against God by leading the people of Israel to commit idolatry. By withholding rain, God was punishing His rebellious people and encouraging them to repent and return to Him. And the restoration of the rain was God’s gracious attempt to remind them of His goodness.

And James ends his letter with a similar call to repentance and restoration, so that the church to whom he wrote might experience the grace and goodness of God.

My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. – James 5:19-20 NLT

It’s clear from the rest of the letter, that there were some who had wandered away from the truth of God’s Word. They were living apart from the will of God and damaging the spiritual well-being of the body of Christ. And it was up to the entire congregation to take seriously the sin within their midst and call one another to repentance and reconciliation. Because unconfessed sin can result in spiritual death or separation from God and the community of faith. But repentance can bring forgiveness and restoration.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.