Lent #16 – Discipline 3 of 7–Prayer

I urge that prayers be made for everyone.

(First Timothy 2:1-4)

The Apostle urges us to pray for everyone because “God our Savior desires everyone to be saved” (1Tm 2:4). A Christian writer recently raised the question, “Does God get his wish?” It doesn’t seem like it. However, the point of God our Savior’s desires has to do with how we pray. We pray for everyone because “God our Savior desires everyone to be saved.” Or, to put it in a more familiar verse, we pray for everyone because “God so loved the world” (Jn 3:16).

During this coronavirus pandemic, prayers require the “pan” in “pandemic”. It’s a N.T. word meaning “every” or “all” or “all of public life” as in “I teach Christ Jesus everywhere (pantachē, 1Cor 4:17). Isn’t that something? Those of us who believe in “God our Savior” serve as a “royal priesthood” (1Pt 2) praying to God our Savior for the hurts of all people.