Sermon Text: 1 Timothy 2:1–7
Date: July 27, 2025
Event: Proper 12, Year C
1 Timothy 2:1–7 (EHV)
First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity. 3This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. 7For this testimony, I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I speak the truth; I am not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Let Us Pray for All
It is often a good idea, when having a conversation with someone (especially where there’s some amount of confrontation involved), to avoid sweeping generalizations. Words like “all” or “always” or “every” or “never” can be hyperbolic and completely shut down another person’s ability to listen to what you’re saying. For example, if you’re talking to someone about how they often belittle your ideas and wishes, it is probably not helpful to say, “You never take me seriously,” because that’s probably not true. It might happen often, it might happen even a vast majority of the time, but saying that it’s the only thing that happens can distract from the point. The person you’re talking to may get defensive and be ready with counterexamples, and then you very quickly get away from what you wanted to talk about in the first place.
The one person who generally can be accurate with using those sweeping terms is God, because he has a perspective far above our own. He can actually see all things, knows all things, and is present everywhere all the time. So, for God, “all,” “always,” “every,” and “never” are not generally hyperbole but actually accurate representations of what is going on. And if he uses words like these, we probably do well to perk up and take notice rather than dismissing it as an exaggeration, because what God is saying is probably very, very important.
This morning our focus is on prayer. In our Gospel, Jesus guided our prayer life with that model prayer we’ve come to know as the Lord’s Prayer. He then also encouraged us to be persistent in our prayer life. “Keep asking … Keep seeking … Keep knocking” (Luke 11:9). In our first reading from Genesis 18, Abraham is a model of that kind of bold, persistent prayer—almost to the point of perhaps making us uncomfortable, thinking, “Abraham, you got God to say yes already… stop pushing your luck!”
In our Second Reading, where our focus will be primarily centered this morning, the apostle Paul guides us not only in what and who to pray for, but also underscores the why we do it and why we can be conifident when we do it, which just might take away some of the uncomfortableness we might have felt reading Abraham’s prayer.
Paul’s words repeat a theme. He keeps returning to the idea of universality in our prayer life; the word “all” is repeated many times in these few verses. And we’ll see how these are not hyperbole, papering over the reality with exaggeration. Rather, when God uses this term here in 1 Timothy, it will be good for us to note where and how he’s using it. Ultimately, we’ll see how prayer encompasses all people and even our whole lives.
If you see prayer depicted in movies or TV, it is often shown as a character’s last resort; every other plan has fallen apart, so now God, some other type of higher power, or the universe in general is our last hope. The desperate person then prays, hoping it will make everything okay.
But such an attitude misunderstands the nature of prayer. It’s not just a lifeline or a wishline. God is not a genie in a lamp waiting to grant our heart’s desire, nor is he the first responder from a 911 call. Nor should it be viewed as a last-ditch effort to solve some problem that we’ve encountered continual roadblocks trying to tackle. Prayer is part of a relationship with God and an ongoing conversation between a person and his Creator.
But there’s a problem. In order to have a conversation with someone, you have to be near them or at least connected to them in some way, be it via phone, text message, or even correspondence through the mail. And we have a problem with that in holding a conversation with God: naturally, we are not connected to him. In fact, because of our sin, we are as far removed from him as we can be.
The prophet Isaiah pulls no punches on this division from God and it’s effect on our prayer life. When addressing the Israelites’ unanswered prayers and unsolved problems, Isaiah brings the hammer down: Listen to me! The LORD’s arm is not too short to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. No, it is your guilt that has separated you from your God, and your sins have hidden God’s face from you, so that he does not hear (Isaiah 59:1–2). Sin makes it impossible for us to pray to God, or at least for those prayers to be heard. Our sins are like a soundproof wall dividing us from our Creator.
And this is where the first all we want to focus on in Paul’s words to Timothy comes into play. In the latter part of our Second Reading, Paul describes God this way: For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all people, paying the price for the world’s sins on the cross. We were held captive and his payment—his life—set us free. All sin is gone for all people.
This is why we so often use the phrases “in Jesus’ name we pray” or “for Jesus’ sake” in our prayers. It’s not for God to take notice of our prayers, as if he’ll be more likely to answer if we have this tag attached to them. No, it’s a reminder for us. Why do I have the privilege to pray? Why do I have the utter audacity to bring my paltry requests to the great Creator and King of the Universe? Jesus makes me bold to do that because he opened the communication path for me to speak with God. He did that by removing my sin that separated me from my God. Formally, my sin had prevented him from hearing me. Now? Because of Jesus, that sin is gone, and thus so is the barrier to my prayers. As a believer with faith in Jesus as my Savior, I can approach God, as Luther put it, “as boldly and confidently as dear children ask their dear father” (Explanation to the Address of the Lord’s Prayer, Small Catechism).
The forgiveness of sins frees to love all people because I know what it is for God to love me. In thanksgiving to God, I love my neighbor as I love myself, and God’s Word is clear that my neighbor is not just people I know, or people I like, or who like me, or people that look like me, sound like me, or hold the same views as me. Loving my neighbor means loving the people for whom Jesus died, that is, loving all people, everywhere.
And part of that love for others is praying for them. Obviously, the family member going through a very difficult time will allow me to bring much more specific prayers to God’s throne on their behalf than the person on the other side of the world that I know little to nothing about. Jesus forgiveness is what drives that use of prayer that Paul began our reading with (and note the alls in these verses!): First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all those who are in authority, in order that we might live a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and dignity.
Paul’s list of synonyms for prayer in general or types of prayers—petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings—speaks less of a to-do list, but of a heart attitude. My prayer life should express what is in my heart—love of neighbor—and I do so by bringing their well-being to our Savior with reverence, confidence, and devotion to him.
Oh, but how Paul speaks against the current discourse of the world! Our nation is often harshly divided on political or social viewpoints, to the point that for us it is very often tempting to just sever people in our lives who don’t hold the same views or think the same things that we think! But is that God’s direction here through Paul? Instead of cutting someone off and out of our lives and perhaps even behaving in attitude and action as if they were dead to us, we ought to pray for them. If there is a brokenness in our relationship with another person, rather than letting a grudge calcify our anger, we ought to bring the situation and (more to the point) the person to God’s throne.
And that applies even to (and perhaps especially to) the leaders and others in authority. Note how there are no qualifiers here. You don’t have to agree with, support, or even particularly like whoever might be living in the White House in DC, the governor’s mansion in Sacramento, or the mayor of your town. Like them or not, agree with them or not, voted for them or not, Paul says, “Pray for them!”
What is the biggest thing that we could pray for our leaders about? Their spiritual condition. Certainly, no leader is perfect, and many will end up having very public sins on display. But what is true for the leaders you disagree with or the public figures caught up in scandal? They are people for whom Jesus died as well. So our prayers are well directed if they are aimed at our leaders’ spiritual well-being. That is, that leaders who are Christians and trust their Savior be strengthened in that faith, and that those who don’t yet believe in Jesus as Savior may be brought to that conviction and faith through the Holy Spirit’s work.
Paul reminds us what the true will of God is for leaders and all people. He says that praying for our leaders and all those in authority is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. There’s that universality again! God is not just electing some to eternal life and then forcing the others into hell. There’s a legitimate, passionate desire on God’s part that all people be saved. After all, you probably don’t like to see things go to waste. Since Jesus died for all, why would he want that effort wasted and thrown away by people’s rejection? More than efficiency, though, God’s love for all people means that he sincerely desires that all people be rescued from the hell we deserve and instead spread eternity with him in the perfection of heaven.
All of this precisely pairs with our focus from last weekend. We sat in Mary and Martha’s home, hearing Jesus teach and remind us, as he spoke to Martha, about that one needful thing: time in God’s Word. That is one half of the conversation; prayer is the other; both are important. And in fact, because our prayer lives ultimately should be asking not for what we want but for what God knows is best for us—that his will be done in our lives—time in God’s Word shapes our prayers. The more we hear and see God’s work and will as shown in his Word, the more our prayers will be shaped by that revealed will and the more our prayers will ring in harmony with God’s plans, purposes, and desires.
So, my brothers and sisters, take up that bold blessing, that privilege God has bestowed on you: to pray. Pray for yourselves and those things that are heavy on your hearts. Pray for others—all others—that they may know their Savior and find peace with God through it. Pray in confidence, knowing that you pray to the one who loves you, can do everything for all people, and wants all people to be saved. Pray that the message of Jesus’ forgiveness rings out in the world and many more are brought to faith through it. Amen.
