1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,080
Speaker 1: How to their friends and faithful listeners. Welcome to the

2
00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:06,320
Speaker 1: Bible explained on this absolutely lovely Tuesday morning. Today, we're

3
00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:09,160
Speaker 1: going to be talking about prayer, specifically prayer for people

4
00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,879
Speaker 1: that we do not like, and how this is God's

5
00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,520
Speaker 1: will for us. We'll get into this topic in just

6
00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:23,360
Speaker 1: a moment. Well, I hope you guys have had a

7
00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:25,959
Speaker 1: good start to your week so far. Let's go ahead

8
00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,760
Speaker 1: and turn in our bibles to First Timothy chapter two

9
00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,239
Speaker 1: one through eight, and let's get into this topic of

10
00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:35,120
Speaker 1: prayer together. I'll be reading, as usual from the World

11
00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,600
Speaker 1: English Bible or the Web version, but feel free to

12
00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:40,560
Speaker 1: grab the version of the Bible that you prefer this morning,

13
00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,040
Speaker 1: and also your delicious cup of coffee or your cup

14
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,000
Speaker 1: of tea and share that with me as we read

15
00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:52,600
Speaker 1: this together. I exhort therefore, first of all the petitions, prayers, intercessions,

16
00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,200
Speaker 1: and givings of thanks be made for all men, for kings,

17
00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,600
Speaker 1: and all who are in high places, that we may

18
00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,360
Speaker 1: lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence.

19
00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,640
Speaker 1: For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God,

20
00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,760
Speaker 1: our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and

21
00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,319
Speaker 1: come to full knowledge of the truth. For there is

22
00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,119
Speaker 1: one God and one mediator between God and men, the

23
00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,520
Speaker 1: man Christ, Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for

24
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,679
Speaker 1: all the testimony at the proper time to which I

25
00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:24,800
Speaker 1: was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I am telling

26
00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,720
Speaker 1: the truth in Christ, not lying. A teacher of the

27
00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,679
Speaker 1: gentiles in faith and truth. I desire therefore that the

28
00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:35,120
Speaker 1: men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands, without

29
00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:40,839
Speaker 1: anger and doubting. So Paul is writing this letter to Timothy.

30
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:45,679
Speaker 1: Timothy was in the area of Macedonia, specifically Ephesus, because

31
00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,000
Speaker 1: the Ephesian Church had some problems that Paul was not

32
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:53,800
Speaker 1: able to address at this point, and he knew that Timothy,

33
00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,880
Speaker 1: who had been traveling with him for many years by

34
00:01:56,920 --> 00:01:59,920
Speaker 1: this time and history, was ready to do this man

35
00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,120
Speaker 1: on his own. Even though Timothy, it kind of seems

36
00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:04,800
Speaker 1: like it did not want to be on this mission

37
00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,720
Speaker 1: and sort of wanted to travel with Paul, because Paul

38
00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:11,600
Speaker 1: at this time was on his fourth missionary journey. Paul

39
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,120
Speaker 1: says to Timothy, no, stay where you're at, because it's

40
00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:16,040
Speaker 1: very necessary. Even if you want to be with me,

41
00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,520
Speaker 1: stay where you are at. So in verse one, he says,

42
00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:25,560
Speaker 1: first of all, I exhort you that prayers, petitions, intercessions,

43
00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,280
Speaker 1: and giving of thanks be made for all men. So

44
00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,240
Speaker 1: this verse means that this was Paul's first priority for writing.

45
00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:37,399
Speaker 1: This was the most important thing that he wanted Timothy

46
00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,400
Speaker 1: to teach the Ephesians was that every single person needed

47
00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,080
Speaker 1: to pray for all people. And in verse two he

48
00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:47,200
Speaker 1: actually gives a list of all of these various people

49
00:02:47,200 --> 00:02:50,280
Speaker 1: that should be prayed for, for kings and all who

50
00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,160
Speaker 1: are in high places. So, in other words, politicians, that

51
00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,040
Speaker 1: we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all

52
00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:00,560
Speaker 1: godliness and reverence. So why do you I think Paul

53
00:03:00,720 --> 00:03:04,160
Speaker 1: was commanding Timothy to tell the Ephesians that they need

54
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,880
Speaker 1: to pray for all people, including leaders and politicians. Well,

55
00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:11,519
Speaker 1: because the obvious answer is that the people didn't want

56
00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,720
Speaker 1: to pray for their leaders or politicians because they hated them.

57
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:16,720
Speaker 1: Don't forget who was in charge at this point in time.

58
00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,440
Speaker 1: It was Rome, and Rome had their fingers kind of

59
00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:24,000
Speaker 1: in everybody's business, and so the average person who wasn't

60
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:28,080
Speaker 1: a Roman hated the Roman Empire. This was Jewish people,

61
00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,280
Speaker 1: the average gentile who was not Roman. Pretty much everybody

62
00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,120
Speaker 1: disliked the Roman government and probably didn't want to pray

63
00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,280
Speaker 1: for the Caesar or really any other politician part of

64
00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,240
Speaker 1: the Roman government. But Paul says, no, we should be

65
00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:45,119
Speaker 1: praying for these people. And here's why, that we may

66
00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,560
Speaker 1: lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and reverence,

67
00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,800
Speaker 1: for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God,

68
00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 1: our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and

69
00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 1: to come to full knowledge of the truth. So there's

70
00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,280
Speaker 1: a few reasons why we should be praying for our politicians,

71
00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,960
Speaker 1: and this actually applies to today as well. The first

72
00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,080
Speaker 1: reason is so that we can lead a tranquil and

73
00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,680
Speaker 1: quiet life in godliness and reverence, so in other words,

74
00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:16,400
Speaker 1: that our religious freedom is not taken away from us.

75
00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,760
Speaker 1: We should be praying that our politicians have a kindness

76
00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:26,800
Speaker 1: towards Christianity and a maybe a heart open to Christianity,

77
00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:32,039
Speaker 1: so that they aren't irritated or upset over Christians praying

78
00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:36,039
Speaker 1: and trying to live out biblical truths. So that's the

79
00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,839
Speaker 1: first reason we pray for our politicians and president and

80
00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:42,359
Speaker 1: king and whoever is over us. We should also be

81
00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,000
Speaker 1: praying for them because this is good and acceptable in

82
00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,200
Speaker 1: the sight of God, our savior. So God actually appreciates

83
00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:53,360
Speaker 1: when we pray for our politicians. And here's why, because

84
00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,600
Speaker 1: a lot of times politicians and our leaders are sort

85
00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,840
Speaker 1: of against the people. I mean, just look at the

86
00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,159
Speaker 1: ca kings back in the Old Testament. You know, throughout

87
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:08,000
Speaker 1: all of Israel's history, they didn't have one good king.

88
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,400
Speaker 1: This was after the split, you know, when Israel split

89
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:13,720
Speaker 1: into two. Northern Israel didn't have a single godly or

90
00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:18,960
Speaker 1: good king in its entire existence, and then South Israel

91
00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:23,279
Speaker 1: or Judah only had a handful of good kings decades

92
00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,000
Speaker 1: apart from each other. So there was not very many

93
00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,760
Speaker 1: good kings. Those kings were the enemies of the people

94
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:35,760
Speaker 1: who worshiped Yahweh. The bad kings often set up idols

95
00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:40,400
Speaker 1: and objects of worship that caused the people to go astray.

96
00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,920
Speaker 1: They would persecute the true Yahweh followers, they'd put them

97
00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,720
Speaker 1: to death. Even Judah had several kings that persecuted prophets

98
00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,480
Speaker 1: and Yahweh followers. So the point is these politicians, if

99
00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,240
Speaker 1: they are not on the side of Christianity, they are

100
00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:02,000
Speaker 1: usually the enemy of Christianity. And God wants us to

101
00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,039
Speaker 1: pray for our enemies verse three. It is good and

102
00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,159
Speaker 1: acceptable in the sight of God, our savior, that we

103
00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:11,240
Speaker 1: pray for our enemies. That is what God wants us

104
00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,200
Speaker 1: to do, because when Jesus came to earth, he came

105
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:18,160
Speaker 1: for all people, not just people who he thought were good.

106
00:06:18,920 --> 00:06:21,440
Speaker 1: He came for evil people. It actually says in the

107
00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,120
Speaker 1: Book of Romans. I believe it is that we were

108
00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,200
Speaker 1: Jesus's enemies while he was dying for us, while he

109
00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,680
Speaker 1: was taking our punishment on himself. We were his enemies,

110
00:06:32,680 --> 00:06:36,479
Speaker 1: and yet he demonstrated so much love for us, and

111
00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,479
Speaker 1: he wants us as his followers to live in a

112
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,640
Speaker 1: similar way where we show love to other people who

113
00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,159
Speaker 1: are not kind to us. So that is the second

114
00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:50,360
Speaker 1: reason we pray for our politicians. And the third reason

115
00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:54,120
Speaker 1: is because God desires all people verse four to be

116
00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,320
Speaker 1: saved and to come to full knowledge of the truth.

117
00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,279
Speaker 1: So if we pray for these people, and we pray

118
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,760
Speaker 1: that their hearts are changed and softened toward God, it

119
00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:11,120
Speaker 1: very well could be that these politicians actually do get

120
00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:15,320
Speaker 1: a heart change, do have somebody feeding into them the

121
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,800
Speaker 1: Christian principles that they may have not ever understood or

122
00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:22,160
Speaker 1: heard before, or cared about. Before God may put people

123
00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:27,200
Speaker 1: in these politicians' lives that are constantly pushing them toward

124
00:07:27,480 --> 00:07:30,040
Speaker 1: the truth. And so this is why we pray for

125
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:34,720
Speaker 1: our politicians, not because they are nice people that necessarily

126
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,720
Speaker 1: deserve kindness or deserve prayer, but because we want to

127
00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:43,520
Speaker 1: be able to live out our Christian faith in public

128
00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,280
Speaker 1: without fear. We also want to be kind to people

129
00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:51,440
Speaker 1: who are our enemies, just as Jesus was kind to us.

130
00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:55,880
Speaker 1: And also we want these politicians to actually get saved.

131
00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:58,120
Speaker 1: That would be a really good thing. I mean, think

132
00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,160
Speaker 1: about Paul himself, who's writing this letter. I mean, he

133
00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,320
Speaker 1: wasn't exactly a politician, but he was part of the Sanhedrin.

134
00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:06,480
Speaker 1: You know, he was a Pharisee who had a lot

135
00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,640
Speaker 1: of power back in his day. He was part, I

136
00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,400
Speaker 1: guess of the Israeli government in a sense. And Paul

137
00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,200
Speaker 1: ended up getting saved. You know, I bet there was

138
00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:18,400
Speaker 1: a lot of people who wished for Paul to be

139
00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:20,880
Speaker 1: dead and did not want to pray for him. But

140
00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,239
Speaker 1: yet Paul got saved. And look at the one eighty

141
00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:28,280
Speaker 1: Paul did with his life after meeting Jesus. He fully

142
00:08:29,040 --> 00:08:33,280
Speaker 1: changed his tune. He went from persecuting Christians to standing

143
00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:38,079
Speaker 1: alongside them being persecuted himself. Paul's a prime example as

144
00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:41,679
Speaker 1: to why you pray for your leadership. And this might

145
00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:46,000
Speaker 1: be convicting to some of you guys who can't stand

146
00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:48,719
Speaker 1: who's in office right now. You might have a lot

147
00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,679
Speaker 1: of hatred for your president or your king or your government.

148
00:08:52,240 --> 00:08:57,240
Speaker 1: You might be so hesitant to pray for them. But

149
00:08:57,320 --> 00:09:00,719
Speaker 1: this is actually something that God desires you to do.

150
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,720
Speaker 1: He wants you to pray for these people, and that's

151
00:09:04,720 --> 00:09:07,480
Speaker 1: why we should. And you know, this isn't the only

152
00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:13,880
Speaker 1: command we get in scripture about respect of leadership. You know,

153
00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,959
Speaker 1: in Romans, I think it's Romans chapter twelve, Paul talks

154
00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:22,120
Speaker 1: about respecting government authorities and actually obeying them and listening

155
00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:25,280
Speaker 1: to them, because it's going to go better for you

156
00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:27,280
Speaker 1: in the long run if you actually just do what

157
00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:29,360
Speaker 1: you're told. Now, it's not to say that if your

158
00:09:29,400 --> 00:09:34,480
Speaker 1: government commands you to do something against God that you

159
00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,000
Speaker 1: do that, but Paul's talking about things like taxes and

160
00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,280
Speaker 1: irritating laws and just things that we don't really like

161
00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:45,920
Speaker 1: that our government is doing. Paul says, obey the government

162
00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,920
Speaker 1: because God put them in command. God sets kings up

163
00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,640
Speaker 1: and he takes them down, and so we should be

164
00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:55,920
Speaker 1: obeying the people who are in command and also praying

165
00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,560
Speaker 1: for them as well, as we see here in First

166
00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:01,800
Speaker 1: Timothy chapter two. But the other thing that's kind of

167
00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:05,800
Speaker 1: interesting is that the reason Paul might be saying this

168
00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:09,520
Speaker 1: is not just because you know, the Ephesians hate the Romans,

169
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:13,680
Speaker 1: which is probably the case, but also the Jewish people

170
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:18,760
Speaker 1: hated the Romans too. There was a growing irritation that

171
00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:22,400
Speaker 1: the Jewish people had with the Roman government, especially as

172
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:26,000
Speaker 1: we get closer to the year eighty sixty six, which

173
00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,720
Speaker 1: wouldn't have been very long after Paul wrote this letter. Actually,

174
00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:32,600
Speaker 1: some people say that this letter was written in eighty

175
00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,040
Speaker 1: sixty six. But the reason eighty sixty six is such

176
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,560
Speaker 1: an important year is because the Jewish people actually stopped

177
00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,680
Speaker 1: the daily sacrifices and this was to show Rome that

178
00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:46,160
Speaker 1: they hated them. And a little backstory on that. So

179
00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:51,240
Speaker 1: the Roman government was actually somewhat hands off when it

180
00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,960
Speaker 1: came to what people worshiped. They didn't really care. They

181
00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,920
Speaker 1: were kind of like, yeah, you can worship your you know, deities.

182
00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,680
Speaker 1: We don't really give a crap what you worship, but

183
00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:07,240
Speaker 1: we want you also to worship Caesar and to worship

184
00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:10,760
Speaker 1: the Roman gods as well, and most people did that.

185
00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:13,200
Speaker 1: When Rome went into an area, the majority of people

186
00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:18,080
Speaker 1: started worshiping the Roman gods and the Caesar as well.

187
00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:21,160
Speaker 1: But when Rome went into Israel, it was a very

188
00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:26,360
Speaker 1: different situation because Israel was mostly monotheistic. Right, they worshiped

189
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,520
Speaker 1: Yahweh and that was it. So the Romans did not

190
00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:36,800
Speaker 1: force the Israelites to worship Caesar and the Roman gods,

191
00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,280
Speaker 1: but they did expect the Jewish people to pray to

192
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,560
Speaker 1: God and sacrifice to God on behalf of the Caesar. So,

193
00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:47,160
Speaker 1: in other words, praying to God at the Temple through

194
00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,680
Speaker 1: sacrifice or something along those lines. You didn't have to

195
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,760
Speaker 1: worship Caesar, but you did have to pray to your

196
00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,120
Speaker 1: God for Caesar if you weren't going to worship him.

197
00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,559
Speaker 1: And so there are special sacrifices that were done at

198
00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:04,040
Speaker 1: the temple specifically to pray for the Caesar's well being.

199
00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,240
Speaker 1: And in eighty sixty six the Jewish people stop doing it.

200
00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,079
Speaker 1: They're like nope. And it very well could be that

201
00:12:11,160 --> 00:12:14,360
Speaker 1: Paul was hearing rumors of this, or hearing that this

202
00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,640
Speaker 1: was about to happen, or had just happened, and he's

203
00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:22,520
Speaker 1: telling the Ephesians, no, you guys need to pray for

204
00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:27,120
Speaker 1: the kings. Don't be rebellious. It is actually pleasing to

205
00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,880
Speaker 1: God when you pray on somebody's behalf, even if it's

206
00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,120
Speaker 1: somebody that you hate and you think hates you as well.

207
00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,680
Speaker 1: God wants you to pray for every single person. He

208
00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,560
Speaker 1: desires that all people be saved and come to full

209
00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,160
Speaker 1: knowledge of the truth verse five. For there is one

210
00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:50,200
Speaker 1: God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ, Jesus,

211
00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:54,400
Speaker 1: who gave himself as a ransom for all the testimony

212
00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,160
Speaker 1: at the proper time. So, in other words, because Jesus

213
00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:04,559
Speaker 1: gave himself as a ransom for all, that means that

214
00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:09,120
Speaker 1: Jesus also died for the Caesar, for the President of

215
00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:12,560
Speaker 1: the United States, for the king or Queen of England,

216
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,280
Speaker 1: for the prime minister of various countries. Jesus died for

217
00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,040
Speaker 1: all of these people. And this is why we should

218
00:13:19,040 --> 00:13:22,120
Speaker 1: be praying and having mercy for people that we do

219
00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:24,960
Speaker 1: not like. I don't know if you guys have ever

220
00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:30,520
Speaker 1: heard the song for God So loved by we the Kingdom. Well,

221
00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:34,560
Speaker 1: they have a little music video to go along with it.

222
00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:36,839
Speaker 1: And I do not like the music video. I'm just

223
00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:38,439
Speaker 1: going to say right now, I think it's a terrible

224
00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:44,520
Speaker 1: music video because the only people that it shows that

225
00:13:44,559 --> 00:13:48,040
Speaker 1: God loves were people who were very poor, and that

226
00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,200
Speaker 1: was essentially it. And I'm not saying that Jesus doesn't

227
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:55,760
Speaker 1: love those people, obviously he does. But Jesus loves everybody,

228
00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:59,920
Speaker 1: not just the marginalized or minorities or people who are

229
00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,079
Speaker 1: Jesus loves every single person. And so to me, when

230
00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:07,120
Speaker 1: I was watching that music video, I was thinking about

231
00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:12,200
Speaker 1: how they should have included rich people and politicians and

232
00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:19,280
Speaker 1: everybody essentially, because Jesus loves every single person. So long

233
00:14:19,320 --> 00:14:22,880
Speaker 1: story short, Yes, pray for your politicians, Pray for the

234
00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,120
Speaker 1: people who are over you. Pray that they see the light,

235
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:30,520
Speaker 1: that they come to Jesus, because Jesus died for them.

236
00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:34,360
Speaker 1: And Jesus doesn't want to see a single person perish.

237
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:36,600
Speaker 1: He doesn't want to see it, and so as Jesus followers,

238
00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:40,760
Speaker 1: we shouldn't want to see it either. Verse eight. I

239
00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:45,000
Speaker 1: desire therefore that men in every place pray, lifting up

240
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:51,320
Speaker 1: holy hands, without anger and doubting. So Paul desires that

241
00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:55,400
Speaker 1: the men pray with lifted hands. And we talked a

242
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,760
Speaker 1: few days ago on the Old Testament side of stuff

243
00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,480
Speaker 1: about this prayer that Solomon gave when he was dedicating

244
00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:06,000
Speaker 1: the temple to God. And it says that Solomon got

245
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,600
Speaker 1: down on his knees and actually lifted his hands up

246
00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,560
Speaker 1: to Heaven to pray. And that is the posture of

247
00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:17,520
Speaker 1: prayer that is actually routinely discussed in scripture. In fact,

248
00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,360
Speaker 1: there aren't any verses that tell us to fold our

249
00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:23,800
Speaker 1: hands or put our hands together to pray. Usually when

250
00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:27,480
Speaker 1: we see prayer, it's lifting your hands up to heaven.

251
00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:32,280
Speaker 1: The reason being is because that's a posture of humility,

252
00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:34,720
Speaker 1: and it's very vulnerable as well. You know. That's why

253
00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,480
Speaker 1: we don't see people do it, because it's embarrassing and

254
00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:40,880
Speaker 1: it's vulnerable to lift your hands up to heaven while

255
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,280
Speaker 1: you're praying. You're scared of what people are gonna think

256
00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:49,240
Speaker 1: of you. But that's the reason Paul desires the men

257
00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:53,960
Speaker 1: to pray by lifting up their holy hands without anger

258
00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,040
Speaker 1: or doubting. I went through the Book of Titus recently

259
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,520
Speaker 1: with the youth group student and each of the female

260
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,880
Speaker 1: leaders myself included, led a little small group with like

261
00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:08,560
Speaker 1: two or three girls just talking about the Book of Titus,

262
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,440
Speaker 1: and the Book of Titus has a lot of similarities

263
00:16:11,480 --> 00:16:15,600
Speaker 1: actually to the Book of Timothy, because Paul is also

264
00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:19,160
Speaker 1: talking to Titus about what Titus should be doing at

265
00:16:19,400 --> 00:16:22,560
Speaker 1: the church in Crete. So there's a lot of similarities

266
00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:25,640
Speaker 1: between the two books. But the one thing that keeps

267
00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:30,040
Speaker 1: coming up in the Book of Titus is how Paul

268
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,080
Speaker 1: desires men and women to live. In almost every chapter

269
00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 1: of Titus, which there's only three chapters, it talks about

270
00:16:37,080 --> 00:16:40,360
Speaker 1: how men need to be free from anger. And so

271
00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,240
Speaker 1: the girls and I were talking about it, and you know,

272
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,520
Speaker 1: we pointed out that during the youth group games that

273
00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,520
Speaker 1: we do, the boys get far more aggressive. You know,

274
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:54,040
Speaker 1: like say we're playing Canadian dodgeball, which is like the

275
00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,160
Speaker 1: favorite game of our youth group. When the kids are

276
00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,560
Speaker 1: playing Canadian dodgeball, you know, the girls are kind of

277
00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:01,720
Speaker 1: like hunk down in a corner, like just sort of

278
00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:04,080
Speaker 1: waiting for the ball to get to them so they can,

279
00:17:04,200 --> 00:17:07,080
Speaker 1: you know, throw it. But the boys they're aggressive, they're

280
00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,520
Speaker 1: running towards people. They get angry a lot faster. And

281
00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:15,960
Speaker 1: that's because God designed men and women differently. He designed

282
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:20,160
Speaker 1: women to not be as physically aggressive, but He designed

283
00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:24,080
Speaker 1: men that way, which is why Paul tells these men

284
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:27,919
Speaker 1: you need to lift up your holy hands and pray

285
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:32,639
Speaker 1: without anger or doubting. So don't be angry at God,

286
00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,320
Speaker 1: don't doubt God, but just trust in Him, trust that

287
00:17:37,359 --> 00:17:40,440
Speaker 1: He's taking care of you, and be vulnerable when you're

288
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,399
Speaker 1: praying as well. You know, if it's difficult for me

289
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,520
Speaker 1: to lift up my hands in the middle of prayer

290
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:49,239
Speaker 1: because I feel it's vulnerable and embarrassing to do that,

291
00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,119
Speaker 1: you can imagine how much more embarrassing and vulnerable it

292
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:57,480
Speaker 1: might be for a man who is more prone to

293
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:02,760
Speaker 1: being closed off, maybe more own to aggression or doubting.

294
00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,080
Speaker 1: Doing that kind of posture while praying would probably be

295
00:18:07,400 --> 00:18:09,639
Speaker 1: a lot more embarrassing. And that is why Paul commands

296
00:18:09,680 --> 00:18:12,959
Speaker 1: it is because it's not easy. You know, I often

297
00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:16,560
Speaker 1: say on this podcast, it wouldn't be a command if

298
00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:19,040
Speaker 1: it were easy to do. So to summarize what we

299
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:23,600
Speaker 1: talked about today, we are supposed to pray for our leaders,

300
00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:26,160
Speaker 1: whether we like them or not. We are to pray

301
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,760
Speaker 1: for them to see the light, to protect Christians, to

302
00:18:31,119 --> 00:18:35,000
Speaker 1: come to salvation themselves, because that's what God desires for

303
00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:38,119
Speaker 1: them and if you're a man listening to this podcast,

304
00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,560
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that you have to go to church

305
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,119
Speaker 1: on Sunday and raise your hands up while the pastors praying.

306
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,480
Speaker 1: I am not saying that at all, but you could

307
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,359
Speaker 1: try doing it in your own personal prayer life. And

308
00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,000
Speaker 1: this goes for women as well. Maybe when you're having

309
00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,160
Speaker 1: a private prayer time with God, you lift your hands

310
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 1: up to Heaven and you just pray to Him in

311
00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:02,000
Speaker 1: a much more humble position, and you do it trusting

312
00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:06,160
Speaker 1: in God, completely, praying for your leaders, your politicians, whoever

313
00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:08,879
Speaker 1: comes to mind. And I wonder if you do this

314
00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,600
Speaker 1: on a regular basis, how your prayer life might actually change.

315
00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,480
Speaker 1: I think I've told you guys a million times that

316
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,720
Speaker 1: my prayer life is not as good as i'd like

317
00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:29,320
Speaker 1: it to be. The prayer is always something that I've

318
00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,400
Speaker 1: kind of struggled with. I do pray, you know, a lot,

319
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:35,520
Speaker 1: and I pray for you guys, but I struggle with

320
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:41,320
Speaker 1: sitting down to pray and not getting distracted immediately. So

321
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,680
Speaker 1: I actually do wonder if we took a different posture

322
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,320
Speaker 1: of prayer, you know, maybe not just like sitting down

323
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,560
Speaker 1: or lying down, but if we physically lifted our hands

324
00:19:50,640 --> 00:19:54,040
Speaker 1: up to Heaven. I wonder like if distraction would kind

325
00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:57,520
Speaker 1: of go away because you're in a posture that is

326
00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,440
Speaker 1: ready for prayer. So if you do take a different

327
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,639
Speaker 1: posture to pray, let me know how it goes for you.

328
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:04,800
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear about all of that. And also,

329
00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:07,199
Speaker 1: if you have a prayer request, please send it my way.

330
00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,560
Speaker 1: I read all of my emails and I will write

331
00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,720
Speaker 1: you down in my little prayer journal. Faithful listeners, have

332
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,360
Speaker 1: a fantastic and wonderful rest of your day. As always,

333
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,680
Speaker 1: happy listening and God bless