Read 1 Timothy 2:1-7
I urge that supplications, prayers, intercession,
and thanksgivings be made for everyone
Who we pray for is an important question. What we pray, and who we pray for will tell us a great deal about who we are as a faith community. Of course, God is always with us, but what we self-consciously share with our Lord reveals a great deal about our relationship with the Trinity. It is only with God’s help that we can pray, and Charles Wesley powerfully describes how much of a gift that is:
Jesu, full of grace for me,
Help my soul’s infirmity;
Grant the supplicating grace,
Give the power to seek thy face:
Hear a feeble sinner groan,
Burdened with an heart of stone;
Take the heart of stone away,
Give me will, and power to pray.
Understandably, many of us tend to pray for people close to us. If someone we know personally is sick or in need, it is a beautiful thing to remember them in our prayers. Hopefully, we also give thanks to God for our own blessings, and remember to thank God for people close to us even when they aren’t in trouble.
Yet there is such a broader scope involved in praying for “everyone.” How often do we pray for people we do not know? Harder yet, how often do we pray for people we do know, but don’t like. How often do we pray for ourselves? The possibilities are endless and (literally) infinite. When it is inspired by God through Christ in the Holy Spirit, prayer can become a chance to be creative and think of how many different groups and situations we can pray for! There is always room to grow in love of God and neighbor, and expanding the scope of our prayer may be a good place to begin. In this way, prayer is really a gift that continues to give.
Help a poor and needy soul,
Make the wilderness a pool,
Pour thy Spirit from above,
Bless me with a flood of love;
For thy mercy sake alone
Let the miracle be done;
Take my heart of stone away,
Give me will, and power to pray.
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