A Prayer List Wide Enough

Paul widens the church's prayer beyond familiar people and comfortable loyalties. Timothy is to encourage prayer for everyone, explicitly including rulers and people with public authority. The reason reaches deeper than a desire for personal comfort: peaceful conditions make room for lives marked by devotion and reverence. Paul then connects this broad intercession with God's desire for people to receive salvation and know the truth. Christian prayer must not become narrower than that concern. Yet this wide invitation has a definite center: Jesus Christ, the sole mediator, who gave himself for humanity. We do not pray because every belief offers an equally sufficient way to God. We pray because people everywhere need the Savior Paul proclaims. Today, even leaders we distrust and neighbors we find difficult belong within the reach of our intercession.

Put the Word into practice

Today, pray by name for one public official you find difficult to support, asking for wise governance, conditions that support godly living, and that person's salvation through Jesus.

Search the Scripture

How do God's concern for people's salvation and Jesus' role as mediator shape the command to pray for rulers in verses 1–6?

A prayerful response

God our Savior, enlarge my concern beyond the people I naturally remember. Help me pray for those in authority without bitterness. Grant wisdom for their responsibilities, and bring them to the knowledge of your truth through Jesus.