Daily Devotion — 1 Timothy 2:1 — Pray For All People

ALL

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 1 Timothy 2:1 NLT I am challenged by that word all. All means all, all the time and I must confess that I don’t always pray for all people. I do pray for people, but there are many people who do not make my prayer list. There are people who need prayers that I do not know about or feel led to pray for. There are people who are not close to me that I don’t pray for. There are people who I am not led to pray for at all, but yet, Paul urges us, the Church, to pray for all people. So, how do we reconcile what we do with what we should be doing?

Be Willing to Pray for All People

First of all, we should never exclude anyone from our prayers. No matter who it is, all people need prayer. We should not discriminate against anyone with our prayers. Whether they be people we like or not, we should be willing to pray for them. Whether we personally know them or not, we should be willing to pray for them. Whether they are people we agree with or not, we should be willing to pray for them. Anyone whom the Lord nudges you to pray for, you should pray for them. How then should we pray for them? I like the way Paul prayed for the church. Read his prayers in Philippians…