Now is the time... To Pray

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Saviour wants us to live. 1 Timothy 2:1-3 (The Message)

This is the first day of the New Year and decade, 2010, and this is the verse the Holy Spirit led me to this morning as I tried to wake my tired body from a very late night. I hadn’t expected to see the new year in (except in my bed), but a spontaneous invitation to people we’d been barbequing with in our community for ‘coffee and Christmas cake’ at 10 pm turned into a 1 am bedtime. Most enjoyable, and I was glad I hadn’t gone to bed earlier because I would have been awakened at midnight anyway by a long and loud local fireworks display.

the apostle Paul says to his spiritual son, Timothy, “The first thing I want you to do is pray.” He doesn’t just leave it there but goes on to encourage Timothy to “pray in everyway you know how and for everyone you know”. As I thought about this I was challenged about a family that I had inadvertently neglected to pray for regularly, and I am sure the Lord will remind me of others as I become more diligent about my prayer life this year.

I was also challenged about being more prayerful about our government and leaders, both State and Federal. I think that often Christians don’t realise just how much power we can wield in prayer. If we did, we would be more committed to prayer. Our world becomes more and more violent, confused, needy and tragic. Courts don’t seem to have the will (or maybe the power) to deal justly with criminals. People are angry, frustrated and messed up; broken people surround us. These are the ones that Jesus came to minister comfort and healing to and we are the ones he will use. Prayer will lead us to them and open doors for his grace to show up for them to be changed.

That word at the end of these verses about ‘humble contemplation’ reminded me about a long-time friend who is very contemplative in her lifestyle. I haven’t seen her for years but we correspond a couple of times a year. When I think about her, her life still makes an impact upon me. She is such a deeply thoughtful and contemplative person which in turn makes her a deeply prayerful person. I want to become more like her because I feel that so often my life rushes past at a fast and sometimes furious pace with many distractions, some of which I could probably avoid if I really wanted to.

Contemplation will cause us to think deeply upon the needs of people around us and about the ability of our wonderful God to make a difference in our society; prayer will open the doors. My prayer this new year is that I follow Paul’s command to make prayer the first and constant thing in my life. How about you?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to pray in everyway I know how, and for everyone I know, especially for rulers and governments, as well as our pastors and leaders. In Jesus’ name, Amen.