Prayer for Obama

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly an dignified in every way."

It is important to Paul that Timothy pray for all types of people. He specifically mentions “kings and all who are in high positions.” Because ancient rulers were so often cruel and disrespectful to God and His people, they were most often targets of bitterness and hostility rather than prayer. Paul urged Timothy to pray for them and be an example to his congregation to do so as well. For us today this means that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” be made for President Obama. This may be a shock to some evangelical Christians but it is a mandate from God. We may not agree with everything or anything that President Obama is doing but that does not mean that we are not to have him in our prayers daily.

I was talking with a friend the other day and the topic of Satan came up and the fact that Satan is a finite being who can be in only one place at a time. I asked him who he thought Satan was most likely harassing today. His answer was either the Pope or President Obama. These are two of the most powerful men on the planet and if Satan can only be in one place at a time either of those two men would be a prime target. Just as in war it is more advantageous to take out the General’s rather than the Private’s so too in spiritual war would it be advantageous for Satan to sway the leader of the free world. Think about that for a moment. Can you imagine the temptation put before you if Satan himself was the one tempting you? I am in no way saying that President Obama is possessed by Satan or anything like that. I am saying that as President I’m sure he is tempted in ways that most of us can’t even begin to understand and he needs our prayers.

Why should we pray for our leaders? Paul tells Timothy so “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Prayer for those in authority will create societal conditions favorable for the church’s missional efforts. As John MacArthur puts it “when believers are committed to praying for all their leaders it removes any thought of rebellion or resistance against them. It makes the people of Christ into peacemakers, not reactionaries. As Paul wrote Titus:

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”

There Paul again calls the believers to tranquility and submissiveness to the pagan or apostate governments over them. He urges us to be subject, eager to do good, never to slander or contend, to be meek and considerate, because we understand that they are sinners like we used to be, incapable of righteousness.”

Although God is concerned with the well-being of His people, the peaceful quiet life spoken of here is not so that we can live comfortable lives. God is more concerned with the spread of his kingdom and the carrying out of His mission than he is with our well-being. As I said earlier the purpose of the peaceful life is for the advancement of the Gospel without any unnecessary hurdles. As always, it’s not about you, it’s about Him and His kingdom.

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:18-20

"This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme."

I see two main points in these verses. First the Christian life is an all out war. When I first became a Christian I expected life to get much easier. I looked around at the “Christians” I knew and they always seemed to have a smile on their face and a jolly demeanor. None of them looked as if they were involved in any type of war. When I gave my life to Christ my experience was nothing like what I thought it was going to be. Life got very very hard. The battle between the flesh and the spirit had begun. When you become a Christian you get a new heart (Ezek 36:26-27) and the desires of your new heart are in direct conflict with your former desires (lust, greed, idolatry etc…) (Gal 5:17). Every day becomes a non-stop battle against the desires of the flesh. As hard as it was (and still is) I had a sense of purpose and fulfillment that I had not felt before. Life was difficult but I was not alone and I was joyful to be engaged in the battle. I knew I was fighting the good fight and that the Holy Spirit was giving me the ability to do so. If you are reading this and you are considering giving your life to Jesus please understand that your life will become much more difficult. You will be enlisting in a war that won’t end until Jesus comes and redeems creation. Life will be hard but you will not be alone and you will experience joy and purpose like you have not known before.

Secondly, we must fight this battle while holding on to faith in Jesus and with a clear conscience. If at any point in battle we begin to get proud and think we can fight on our own we will begin to transfer our faith in Jesus to faith in ourselves. The only way we have a chance in this war is through faith in Jesus living lives empowered by the Holy Spirit. We must also fight with a clear conscience. This means keeping short accounts of our sin and repenting daily to Jesus who died on the cross so that we could be forgiven. This means living the Christian life with one goal in mind: glorifying God. We should never live so that our motivation is the compliments and praise of others. This means that we cannot live as hypocrites, preaching the Gospel and not living by it. What we preach with our mouths must line up with what we preach with our living. If we fail in either of these areas Paul says we will make a “shipwreck of our faith”, living unfruitful lives in an attempt to glorify ourselves.

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:15-17

"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

Paul makes two points in these verses. First that Jesus left heaven to come to earth and save sinners among whom Paul identifies himself as the “foremost” sinner. He says that Jesus had mercy on him and his point is that if he, a persecutor of Christians, can receive mercy, then nobody is beyond God’s mercy. His second point is that the whole reason he received mercy was so that Jesus might glorify himself in displaying is perfect patience as an example for those who were given to him by the Father. Recognizing God’s glory, Paul then moves directly into praise and worship of our Lord giving him “honor and glory forever”.

Because of God’s grace, Paul sees his condition and correctly recognizes that Jesus has saved him from it. I think that is important for all of us. Usually people fall into one of two categories. Either they don’t see themselves as sinners much less foremost among sinners or they believe the lie that they have done so many bad things that they are beyond the love of God and cannot receive His grace and mercy. We should all recognize the fact that we are indeed sinners unable to save ourselves and desperately in need of a savior. We should also understand that nobody is beyond the love and grace of God. That is Paul’s whole point when he says that God used him as an example because he was such a wretched man. If you believe you are beyond the love and mercy of God you are wrong. You have correctly identified yourself as a sinner but underestimated the power of God’s love for you.

If you believe that you are beyond the love of God please read and meditate on Paul’s words in the book of Romans: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:12-14

"I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. "


Paul is thanking Jesus who is the source of Paul’s, and yours any my strength because Jesus judged Paul to be reliable and trustworthy with the Gospel message and set him aside in order to use him for his ministry even though Paul had been slanderous, a persecutor, and one who was constantly insulting and assaulting Christians. Despite all this, Paul received mercy because he didn’t understand what he was doing or who he was doing it against. God’s grace overflowed in Paul with the faith and love that is in Jesus.

None of us like to think of ourselves in the way Paul describes himself here. He is weak, needy, subject to a higher authority, a blasphemer, persecutor, opponent of God, and ignorant. The truth is that we are all those things and more. It is important that we understand this about ourselves. Until we understand and accept that we are sick we will not go looking for help. I love the way John Stott puts it in his book Basic Christianity: “Only when we have had the malady accurately diagnosed, shall we be willing to take the medicine” (Stott). Only when we realize we have a sickness (sin) will we be willing to take the appropriate medicine (Jesus).

So how is Jesus the cure to our condition? In contrast to what we know about ourselves we know that from this verse alone Jesus is the source of strength for us, Lord, a just judge, merciful, faithful, and love. Jesus is everything we are not. It is only in our complete reliance on him that we can ever be made well. We must see ourselves as weak and Jesus as strong. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul models this for us: “But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” This is so contrary to our nature isn’t it? We love to boast about the areas we excel in and hide the areas in which we are weak. But notice that when we do that we receive the glory for how strong and capable we are. If instead we choose to boast about our weaknesses and how Jesus is helping us overcome them, he receives the glory, which is the point of our entire lives.

I want to add something here. I write a lot about how we are "scumbags", sinners, and all around bad people. The point of this is not to make you feel bad about yourself or throw you into a depression. There are two reasons I constantly point this out. This first reason is that it's true. The second and most important is that only when we come to realize just how bad and undeserving we are of God's love, grace, and mercy can we begin to understand just how loving, gracious, and merciful he truly is. If you read these blogs and and go away only thinking about how bad of a person you are then I would say two things. First, I'm sorry that I have not stressed enough how amazing and loving God is. Second, it's not about you, it's about Jesus. Stop being selfish by focusing on yourself and what a bad person you are and start focusing on just how wonderful a God we have that he would die for scumbags like you and me.

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:9-10

When we read this verse we have to understand that we are among the group called “lawless and disobedient, ungodly and sinners, unholy and profane, striking our fathers and mothers, murderers, sexually immoral, homosexual, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and doing whatever else is against sound doctrine.” Do not make the mistake of thinking yourself included with the “just” because there is only one person who has ever lived who can be put into that category. It is precisely because he is in that group that Jesus has the ability to save us. In going to the cross and becoming our substitutionary atonement Jesus swapped places with us by becoming all the sinful things listed above and taking our deserved punishment on the cross. Conversely we get to take the place of Jesus and be seen by the Father as just and righteous and get to spend eternity in heaven with God. (2 Cor 5:21).

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:8

The law is good and is given for a purpose. However, we can and do abuse it. We must always understand that righteousness is not through the law but through faith (Gal 2:21) and we must never use the law to try and attain salvation. If we do that it will only reveal more sin in us (Gal 2:18). We must also never use the law as a measure of righteousness but instead as a tool to show us where sin exists in our lives. If we make the mistake of using the law to measure righteousness we will inevitably fall into the trap of putting ourselves on a scale of goodness in comparison with the rest of mankind. That will cause us to lose sight of our need for a Savior because inevitably we will compare ourselves with those not as “righteous” as we are and pat ourselves on the back because of our goodness. The truth is that we are all sinners, guilty before God, and that none of us, apart from God, does good (Rom 3:10-12).

We are to use the law and not the other way around. We should understand the law’s role in our lives and use it accordingly. When we let the law control us and use us we become legalistic. We find ourselves trying to obey 613 laws daily and have no freedom to worship Christ. We become shut off to the culture around us, which Jesus actually prayed we would not do (John 15:17).

Thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:6-7

"Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions."

Certain people who, because their aim is not love, have turned away from the truth and turned towards pointless babbling. They wish that they were true teachers of the Gospel but they can’t even comprehend the truth of their babbling much less the Gospel message.

As a people we like pointless babbling. We don’t like to talk about the important issues. We don’t like to even think about God, his purpose for our lives, how we can better carry out His mission, or where we are going when we die. We would much rather talk about issues that have little importance like celebrity gossip or reality television. Don’t think that this is only an issue for non-Christians. This is especially true for Christians. Of the top 10 books in the “Religion & Spirituality” category on Amazon.com #’s 1, 3, 4, 5 , 7, and 10 are fiction, and #’s 2, 7, 8, and 9 are completely non-Christian. That means the only non-fiction, Christian book in the top ten is “The Five Love Languages” and it’s not even about Jesus! The same holds true for our beloved podcasts. Three of the top five podcasts in the “Religion & Spirituality” category are held by Joel Osteen, a self-help expert who claims to be a Christian but who denies the exclusivity of the Gospel (watch here), and Oprah who’s lineup of shows this week have nothing to do with religion or spirituality and who has also denied that Jesus is the only way to heaven (watch here). The proof is in front of us. We like pointless babble. We don’t like the truth but instead we only like to listen to that which makes us feel good about ourselves. Paul wrote Timothy about this in his second letter: “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

As Christians we should be focused on completing the mission Jesus gave to us. He sent us on a mission with the specific message of the Gospel. I’ve been watching a lot of the TV show “24” lately. As I’ve been watching I’ve noticed something about Jack Bauer: he is always focused on the mission at hand. He doesn’t allow anything to distract him from the job he has been given to do. I wonder if the Apostle Paul was anything like Jack. In our sermon this morning at Church of the Cross (listen here), Brent talked to us about being on mission with Gospel intentionality. Think about these numbers: There are seven billion people on the earth today. If two people were successful in winning two other people per year with the Gospel message and that number grew exponentially each year, in only thirty-four years every person on earth would be a Christian. We need to keep that in mind as we seek to love people with Jack Bauer like intensity and focus. As Christians we need to stay focused on the mission at hand which is to reach lost people with the Gospel message. We cannot let ourselves be sidetracked by vain discussion and useless arguments. I am as much guilty of this as anyone. We each have a topic we love to debate and even enjoy a good argument with someone about our pet topic or doctrine. But we have to recognize when those discussions start to get us off track and distract us from the mission we have been called to. When we become more concerned about being right than seeing people saved we have wandered too far and would do well to listen to Paul’s exhortation.

I’m afraid that too often my aim is not love. I’m afraid that most of the time my goal is not to see people saved but to show the little knowledge that I posses. Too often I have been distracted by various things and taken my focus off the mission at hand. It is especially important in times like these to focus on the cross. It is because of my sin, which is turning my back on God and turning toward sin, that Jesus came to die. It is because of Jesus’ death on the cross that I can repent of my sin and be forgiven. Repentance means turning my back to sin, in this case allowing myself to let things other than love motivate my actions, and turning again towards God. It means I get my nose in Scripture and allow God’s word to focus my heart and mind on the mission. It means daily prayer asking God to keep me from being distracted from the mission and keep love as the motivating factor behind my actions. And as always it means looking to Jesus and modeling my life and behavior after his.