Prayer

And read verse 9 with me. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill. For holy is the Lord our God. And Father, we do praise you for who you are, for the might of your name, and Lord, the strength of your power. And I just ask that as we spend time in your word this morning, that you would minister to our hearts in the way that only your Holy Spirit can.

Lord, draw us near to you, and give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand what you have to speak to us this morning. In Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. If you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy, chapter 2. 1 Timothy, chapter 2. We continue on. In the pastoral epistles with what he's been teaching us about being faithful.

In chapter 1, he told us to be faithful to the word. He told Timothy to be faithful to the word. And as we come to chapter 2, we're going to start off with the first eight verses. And what he's going to tell us to be faithful to here is prayer. He's going to talk to us a lot about prayer. And so we pick up in chapter 2, verse 1, and it says this. First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers, and prayers,

petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. For kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.

The testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am telling the truth, I am not lying, as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. Therefore I want men in every place to lift up holy hands without wrath and dissension. So he starts to talk to us about prayer. Now before we get into what he has to say and the two main points that I have to make this morning,

I spent a lot of time over the past couple of days sort of just thinking over this. This subject of prayer and really kind of thinking through and praying through what does all the scripture have to say about prayer. And it's kind of interesting because honestly it's one of the central themes in all of scripture. Prayer is really something that's seen kind of throughout all of scripture.

At its base level it's just simply communication with God. And it's part of the reason why we were created. We were created for that fellowship. We were created with that communication with God. As a matter of fact, when you look at prayer in the Old Testament, you find that Adam and Eve were always walking with God in the garden. There was a time where God showed up and he walked with them.

And they had that time of communication with God. Indicating that that really is why we were created. Was for fellowship with our Savior. For fellowship with our Creator. And so Adam and Eve had that time where they talked with God all the time. And so of course after the fall throughout the Old Testament, you found that great men and women of God throughout the Old Testament were always men and women of prayer.

They were always interceding for other people. They were laying out requests before God. They were praising God. Kind of like what we saw in Psalm 99. They were pouring out their hearts. And they were simply seeking God's strength and presence in everything that they did. Well it's interesting as you go into the New Testament, if you do a little word search on prayer, just how many times it comes up.

And you find that Jesus had a very strong prayer life. As a matter of fact, throughout the Gospels you read over and over again that Jesus was always escaping, if you will, by himself to go and pray. Before he chose his disciples, it says, he spent all night praying and seeking the Lord before the choosing of the twelve disciples. And then of course throughout his ministry, prayer was a really important thing.

He instructed his disciples on prayer. As a matter of fact, his life in this was so strong that one day his disciples came to him and said, would you teach us how to pray? Because we don't really know what we're doing and we would like for you to teach us. And so he instructed them about prayer. There was a scene where Jesus went into the temple and in a place that was supposed to be a place of prayer,

had been turned into a place of merchandise. And so Jesus drove out all of the merchants and all of the money changers. And when he drove them out, he said, my Father's house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. And so it was really important to him. And then we find that before Jesus went to the cross, that famous prayer where he spent hours pouring out his heart before the Father saying,

if there's any way that this cup could pass from me, then let it be. But if not, your will, not mine, be done. As you look at the disciples, you find that when the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples there in Acts chapter 2, they were gathered in the upper room. And the very thing that they were doing is they were in prayer together. In the book of Acts, you read that they were devoted to prayer.

In other words, it was a distinct and important part of all of their lives. The disciples exampled it. The disciples wrote about it. And if you carry it all the way to the book of Revelation, you find that in Revelation, I think it's chapter 5, in that scene in the throne room, you find that incense is wafting up to the Father. And that incense is the prayers of the saints.

Prayer is truly a theme that runs all the way through Scripture. It's one of the most important things that we can do. It's one of the lifebloods of us. Of what it means to truly be spiritual. And yet, probably one of the most neglected areas of the life of any believer in Jesus Christ. Because our flesh fights against prayer. Our time fights against prayer.

And quite frankly, it's just not very natural for us to sit down and pray. And so we come to another little section where Paul, the apostle, instructs not only a young pastor named Timothy about the importance of prayer, and a church that was on the brink of some issues about the importance of prayer. And he talks to us today about the importance of prayer. So there's two things we'll see in these eight verses.

Number one, we're going to see the heart of prayer. And number two, we're going to see the heart of the Father. And so we start off with this heart of prayer. Notice what it says in verse one.

It kind of gives us a universal call to prayer. I would have you pray for everyone. For all men. He's going to get a little bit more specific about some of the people that would be harder for us to pray for in just a minute. But he tells us that we should be in prayer for everyone that's around us. Because actually, one of the greatest weapons that we have as believers in Jesus Christ is prayer.

So he says, I urge you, first of all, as the most important thing for you to do, that you do four things in regards to prayer. The first word that he mentions in verse one is entreaties, which I bet you never use that word in real life. And I bet the other word that it means you never use in real life, is supplication. I bet you've never been like, I must go make supplication now of my friend, of the things that we need to do.

The idea behind entreaties or supplications is specific requests. When it comes to all people, just make really specific requests. Now, there's an aspect of this I think that's important. I think God always knows what we need. And we can just say, Lord, you know the need, so meet the need. But there is something powerful on our part to know specific things that are going on in the lives of people,

and to be able to pray for those specific things. Lord, I know that in general this person needs prayer, but I want to pray specifically for this in their life. And so he tells us, first of all, that entreaties or specific requests be made. The second word that he uses is prayer, entreaties and prayer, which just means general prayer in general, general communication with God.

The third thing he says is, I ask that petitions be made. That word petition also means prayer. Intercession. Again, probably a word you don't use real often. But the idea is to go before God on behalf of another. To go before God on behalf of another. I told a story a week or two ago. I don't remember where I told it because I tell a lot of stories to a lot of people

at a lot of different times. But I came across a very interesting little article on this site called God Behind Bars. And it told the story of this prisoner. This prisoner who was living there. Living the prison life and had no desire for God whatsoever. Finds himself showing up at a little prison church service, if you will. And while he's there, next thing he knows, he's getting up and he's going forward to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

And then within a week, he's surrounded by 200 inmates who also knew Jesus as he's getting baptized there in the prison. Only what this young man didn't realize is that three months before that, a group of about 15 prisoners that had come to faith in Christ that knew him, committed that they would pray for him every day. That they would pray every day for his salvation. You see, they interceded for him.

They went before God on behalf of him. They said, Lord, we're bringing this man to you so that we can see something take place in his life. That's intercession. That's going before God on behalf of someone else. And then, of course, the last thing that he mentions, which is the thing we often leave out the most, is Thanksgiving. I loved what Believer's Bible Commentary said about this.

It said, Thanksgiving describes prayer in which we rehearse the grace and the kindness of our Lord. And we pour out our hearts in gratitude to him. We rehearse the grace and the kindness of our Lord and we pour out our hearts in gratitude for him. Only we do this on behalf of all men. Now, as I was thinking about this, I thought, you know what? It's been a little while since I've done it.

And I know that it's a little bit of a basic thing. But there's one thing that the Lord keeps impressing upon me right now is there's no such thing as too basic. Because I keep coming across people that don't know very much in the faith. And how dare I assume that they know the basics? Like, I need to make sure that people know the basics. And so I want to give you something, because I got to thinking about this.

I got to thinking about the fact that there's a really good pattern for prayer. Because usually we all ask the same question, right? Like, one of the hardest things about prayer is, what do I say? How do I start? Like, you're talking to me. Like, you're talking to the infinite creator of the heavens and the earth who I can't see face to face. So how do I get to a place where I talk to him?

What does prayer actually look like? Well, there's a wonderful acronym that is not at all new to me. It's been around forever. And the acronym is ACTS. And so I just want to go through this really quickly. These are, I think, the four most important aspects of prayer that kind of incorporate also what Paul has to say here. The first letter of ACTS, the A, stands for adoration.

Adoration is just simply praise to God. Praising God for who he is. Praising God for the power that he has, the might that he has, the greatness of who he is. And I know the question that comes up sometimes. Well, how do I know what to praise God for? How do I know how to praise God, especially if you're newer to the faith? Well, I think one of the greatest things that you can do is start to get to know the book of Psalms.

You may have noticed that in Psalm 99, there was a great deal of time spent praising God. Lord, we exalt your name for the greatness of your power. Well, if you get into the book of Psalms and you start reading through Psalms, David, the psalmist, was amazing at praising God, at adoring God for who he is. So you start getting into the Psalms and start plagiarizing the Psalms as you praise God for who he is.

Don't I have to get original? Why would you need to? There's no need to try to get original with God, right? Just start praising him for exactly what the Bible says that he is. But that time of adoration is so important. Because it changes our perspective of everything that we're praying for, right? And I've used this example before. Clearly, you can see my hand and you can see that TV, right?

And you're probably thinking, that dude has really small hands. I do, I have very small hands. And standing here, I can see that TV completely well because that TV is much bigger than my hand, right? But if I put my hand right here, even though that TV is ten times bigger than my hand, all I can see is my hand. Why? Because my perspective is off. My perspective has my hand so close to my face that I can't see how big the TV is.

So what do I do? Well, I put it back in perspective. That's what praise does for us. You see, when I begin to adore God for who he is, when I begin to praise God for who he is, when I get into the Psalms and I say, oh my gosh, this is who you are, this is the greatness of who you are, it puts everything back in perspective. And now my problem that was right here in front of me is now put next to God and how big he is.

And I say, ah, now that's doable because my problem is now in perspective with the great problem solver. And so I take time to adore God for who he is. The C of Acts is confession. Now, this is an important part of prayer. You do not need to go, and we're going to talk about this again in a minute, you don't need to go confess your sins to anyone else unless a relationship needs restored.

Your confession takes place between you and God. When sin is in your life, you need to go and confess it to the Lord. As a matter of fact, we are told that God's arm is not short, that it cannot save, nor his arm weak, that it cannot help. Your sin has separated you from God. The thing that will hold back your prayers, the thing that will always cause issues in your life is if you have sin in your heart.

That begins, first of all, with someone who's praying. God has never been born again. If you're not born again, there's only one prayer God really hears from you, and that's, I repent. Please forgive me. And God hears that prayer loud and clear, and he is ready to move forward. But until that happens, there's always something separating you from God. As believers in Jesus Christ, nothing can now keep us from the love of God because we belong to him.

However, we can cut off the fellowship, right? I always use the example of my phone. I think you can drop phones in anything now and nothing happens. We talked about this the other day. Somebody dropped their phone on the ground, and they acted like it was no big deal. And I remember dropping my phone on the ground at one point in time, and I was just like, no!

Right? Because you knew the minute it hit the ground, well, that phone's done. Right? So I was drinking a cup of tea one time, and I had a cold, and I had some sweet, hot tea with honey and lemon that was just making me feel so much better. And I'm scrolling something on my phone, and my phone slips out of my hand into the cup of tea with hot tea and lemon.

And I'm like, well, that's not good. We'll pull it out. That thing is toast. Do I still have a phone plan? Yes. Does my phone work? No, because I just cut off its ability to communicate. Right? That's what sin does for us. Sin cuts that off. And so we need to go to God, and we need to confess. And we need to tell him everything that's going on. And listen, I always tell people, we tend to confess retail, or we tend to sin retail and confess wholesale.

Right? Like, we sin in all these little ways in our lives, and then we go to God, and we're like, dear God, I sinned. Nope. Get specific. Right? Ryan, I don't want to say that to God. He watched you do it. You may as well tell him. You may as well just get it out. And I'm here to tell you right now, I can tell you this by experience. Confession to God lifts the weight off of you like nothing else in the world does.

And so number two is confession. The T of Acts is thanksgiving. Thanksgiving. Again, we talked about that. It is simply prayer where we rehearse the grace of God. We rehearse the grace and kindness of God. And then we pour out our hearts in gratitude to him. Now, I have a challenge for you when it comes to thanksgiving. I went to a pastor's conference this weekend up in Johnson County.

And there was a group of about 30 of us pastors that sat around a table together. And we just talked for a day and a half. Literally, that's all we did. My wife's like, so what did you learn? I'm like, and we just, we literally just talked. She goes, for that many hours? I'm like, we're pastors. We're really good at that, okay? Like, we just talked. And we talked about issues and things we're going through and all these kinds of things.

And on Friday night, the guy that headed it up, Sandy Adams, he said, okay, here's what I want you to do. I want everybody, because, you know, you talk about the heart of ministry, right? He said, here's what I want everyone to do. I want everybody to tell a story of a changed life in your church. I just want to hear stories of grace tonight. I want to hear stories about how God's grace has changed people tonight.

And we spent two and a half hours going around the table of people sharing stories of changed lives in their church. And a whole group of men sat and laughed together and cried together and prayed together as we heard these stories of changed lives. And when it was all said and done, we took communion and we praised God together. And I'm here to tell you right now, we praised God from a place.

That I don't know that many of us always praise God from. Because we were praising God from a place of being thankful for what God has done in the life of people. Because we were like, man, I know some things are hard, but God is so good. Because it's amazing how God changes lives. So I have a challenge for you. Because sometimes when we sit and think about this, we go, Lord, where do I even begin to say thank you for all that you've done in my life?

I have a challenge for you. I want you this week to sit down. And I want you to write out your testimony. I want you to write out what God has done in your life. The story of your own changed life. Now, if you're one of those people that's like, nobody ever needs to hear that. Tear it up, throw it away, burn it, whatever you need to do and you're done. If you're not one of those people, give it to me because I'd love to read it.

Because I want to hear stories of what God has done in the lives of people. Because it does my heart so good. I don't want to hear what Calvary Chapel has done for you. I don't want to hear what I've done for you. I want to hear what God has done for you. Because that's what it means to be thankful. Because I'm here to tell you right now, as you begin to look at your own story and what God has done,

and if time would allow you and you would be willing to share and be shared with about the stories of what God has done, I promise you, your praise to God would absolutely change. Because you would be so thankful to know that He is the God who changes lives. And He started with yours. Amen? And so we take this time to do these four things. And so when you sit down to pray, start off just by praising God for who He is.

And then you confess your sins to the Lord. And then you thank God for what He's done. And then finally you get to the S and that's supplication. Remember, specific requests to God. Whether those be for you or the people that are around you. Whether you say, Lord, this is what I have need of in my own life. Or Lord, I'm going on behalf of so and so to you because I want to see you do work in their life.

But if you will follow that pattern, and it doesn't have to be some legalistic, oh shoot, I forgot the A. No, it doesn't have to be some legalistic thing. That's just hopefully a helpful pattern so that when you sit down to pray and you go, I don't know where to start. Oh yeah, I'll start here. Because your prayer life is one of the most important things in your life.

Amen? So, he says, first of all then, I urge that entreaties and prayers and petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. And then he gets specific. For kings and all who are in authority. That we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in godliness and dignity. He says, you know what? Not just for all men, but get really specific. Pray for people that are in charge.

Now, all depending on who's in charge depends on how easy of a statement that is for you, right? Like if you love the person in charge, and I don't care what, it says kings in all authorities. I don't care if that's the president of the United States or the guy that tells you what to do at work. You're supposed to pray for all of those people. You're supposed to pray for them.

Whether you like them or not. Whether you agree with them or not. Whether they're saved or not. Whether they're tyrants or not. Let's all remember that when Paul wrote to Timothy to pray for kings in all authorities, who the king was at that point in time? Do you know who the king was at that point in time? His name was Caesar Nero. Who would become one of the great persecutors of the church.

That's who was king at that point in time. And so when he tells him, pray for kings in all authorities, you can't say, he doesn't understand. He understands, okay? That's all that there is to it. You have to start praying for the people you agree with and the people that you don't agree with. As a matter of fact, the authorities that you disagree with and dislike and find the most tyrannical are the ones you need to pray for the most.

The ones that seem to wield their authority in the worst possible way are the ones who need the absolute most prayer. He says, pray for all those people that are in charge. Pray for the authorities. Good, bad, or otherwise. Why? So that you may lead a peaceful and quiet life. What does he mean by that? Well, I think it means two things. Number one, as we pray for those people in charge, it's so that I can lead a peaceful life.

Remember, persecution is beginning to be on the rise in the Roman kingdom at this point in time. Bear in mind that the Caesar was God. And he was the one they were supposed to pray to. Paul says, don't pray to them. Pray for them. So he says, pray for them because you want to lead a peaceful and quiet life. And if God changes their hearts, then peace and quiet is what's going to come from it.

And I think that's a really big part of it. A good government brings peace and quiet lives, peaceful and quiet lives, to those who are a part of the nation. But do you know what I think the other reason is? It's because when you really can give things to the Lord in prayer and trust that I now trust God, and God's going to have to be the one that changes them, not me, you tend to be pretty peaceful at that point in time, right?

Because all of a sudden you go, that's not my battle anymore. That's not my problem anymore. You know, if you didn't agree with the last president, you eventually had to go, Lord, you're going to have to take care of them. And then pretty soon you can lead a peaceful and quiet life, whether you agree with them or not. If you don't like the current president, you just have to say, Lord, you're going to have to be the one that takes care of them.

And then you can lead a peaceful and quiet life. Because now you no longer have to be the person who thinks they have to change everything. You can just be at peace knowing that God is ultimately in control. And it brings peace and quiet into your life. And brothers and sisters, in the political climate that we live in today, I think one of the greatest things we can do is to start praying for our leaders

and then trust that God's going to be the one that does the work. And you relax and let God be God. Because what did we learn in Daniel? Remember what we learned in Daniel with Nebuchadnezzar? That God is the one who puts some in authority and sets others down. And until we know that, there will be no true peace in our lives. He says, pray. Pray for those who are in authority.

Kings and all those who are in authority. And then he goes on to tell us about the heart of God. So that was the heart of prayer. Now he goes on to tell us about the heart of God. Notice what he says in verse 3. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. This tells us that God's heart is for prayer. Because when we are praying for all men, and we are praying for all kings and authorities,

we know that this is good and acceptable to God. Right? Remember what we said in the book of Revelation? In the book of Revelation it says that there was a bowl of incense, burning incense, and those were the prayers of the saints. And when God smells the incense of the prayers of the saints, He is greatly pleased with it. And so that we can know, we know that the heart of God is that He is pleased with our prayers.

He's pleased because first of all we're trusting Him with everything that's going on in our lives. But He's pleased because He created you for the purpose of knowing Him. He created you for the purpose of communicating with Him. He created you for the purpose of relationship with Him. Right? I have two beautiful little girls. They're not really little girls anymore,

but one of my favorite things is when they come talk to me. When they spend time with me. You know, they're both kind of at that age now where it's like, man, dad's not quite, he's not the cool guy I thought he was when I was five years old. But hey, we'll still hang with him anyway every now and then. And I'm here to tell you right now, when they come and they want to talk to me,

when I get a text from my daughter, I am well pleased. Because I'm like, she wants to talk to me. And that does everything in the world for me. Imagine how God feels. He created you. And when you communicate with Him, it is well pleasing to Him. It's sweet incense to Him. Right? But not only is it well pleasing because it's a sweet incense for Him, but because He knows it's ultimately what's best for us.

He says this is good and pleasing to God. And He uses a word at the end of that verse. He says this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. And that segues us into something about the heart of God for man. Notice what he says. Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. What is God's heart towards a sinful world?

How does God feel about the sinful world all around us? You know what we think God's heart is sometimes? We think God's heart is to destroy all of the people around us. Especially the ones who have walked in sins that we think are the ugliest. We're like, oh Lord, I know that you want to save the commons. And sinners. But you know those homosexuals, I'm sure you want them destroyed.

Right? All those transgender people, I'm sure that you want them destroyed. Right? That's not what it says. It says that God's heart is that all men would be saved. It's His desire. Does that mean all men will be saved? No, because we still have free will. We have choices to make. But I think this is a really good window into the heart of God. Because the window into the heart of God is that God is a God who desires men to be saved.

Who desires humanity to be saved. Every now and then you hear a sermon. And that sermon just gets lodged in your brain. And the point that the pastor made, he did such a fantastic job of making that it gets lodged in your brain. And I have one of those sermons that's lodged in my brain from about 17 years ago. And it was preached by a guy named Xavier Reese.

It's Raul Reese's brother. And the sermon that he preached was, Judgment, God's strange work. And I remember sitting back and thinking, okay, where is he going to go with this? What does he mean by judgment, God's strange work? And he pointed out that throughout Scripture, mercy is always God's default. Like mercy is what God is always wanting to show to people.

Judgment is His last move. Judgment is His last option. Judgment is the last thing that He wants to do. As a matter of fact, go with me a place in Scripture. I think I had him put it up on the board here. Go to Ezekiel chapter 18. All the way in the Old Testament. Whew, look at me, I got there in one turn. Ezekiel chapter, I don't even have a bookmark there.

I feel really good about that. Jesus is good. And I want you to start in verse 22. I think I put 23, but I actually want you to start in verse 22. Ezekiel 18, 22. I'll get a drink of water while you guys turn. Notice what it says in 22. Oh, what the, hey, start in 21. But if the wicked man turns from the Lord, the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed

and observes all my statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him because of his righteousness which he practiced. He will live. Verse 23 is what I want you to really take note of. Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord,

rather than that he should turn from his ways and live? Look down to verse 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, declares the Lord God. Therefore, repent and live. What is God's heart for the world that is around us? What is God's heart for the United States of America that seems to slowly but surely be becoming a pagan nation as opposed to a Christian nation?

What is God's heart for Europe? Where I just talked to a young lady that was visiting from Europe the other day, a young lady that was an exchange student that went to school here, and I said, have you found a good church over there? And she said, Brian, there are no good churches over there. They're all just a bunch of cathedrals and museums. Nobody teaches the word over there.

What is God's heart for Europe? What is God's heart for Asia that seems to be so turned against God and turned towards all of the weird teachings that are out there today? What is God's heart for Russia? What is God's heart for South America? What is God's heart for our world? Is that all men would come to salvation? Because He is looking for anyone who's willing to repent,

anyone who is willing to abandon their sins and follow Him, because God's desire is that all should come to repentance, that all should come to salvation. If we were to turn to the book of Joel, we would find that in the book of Joel it says, let's turn and repent, because who knows? Who knows if God won't leave a blessing instead of judgment? In John 3, verse 17, I think I had them put that up there.

John 3, verse 17 follows one of the most famous verses in all of the Bible. Of course, John 3, verse 16, right? Banner man verse. John 3, verse 16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have eternal life. And then in 17 it says, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through Him might be saved. See, that's God's heart for people. You see, that should change the way that you pray for all men. It should change the way that you pray for all people. You should stop praying for the destruction of the people that you disagree with, and you should start praying for the salvation of the people that you disagree with.

You should stop praying for the destruction of the people who you think live a lifestyle that is heinous in the eyes of God, and start praying for the people who you know live a lifestyle that is heinous in the eyes of God. You should stop praying for the destruction of the guy that you're in an argument with, and start praying for the salvation of the guy that you're in an argument with. And here's where it's gonna get crazy. You should stop praying for the destruction of the people that are politically opposed to you, and start praying for the salvation of the people that are politically opposed to you.

Who knows if God won't change both of your hearts? Right? This is good and pleasing. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God that you should pray for all men, including kings and authorities. It's good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires that none should perish, but that all should come to everlasting life. And then he goes on from there to say this.

Ooh, let's go back. I was still in Ezekiel. Back to 1 Timothy. Verse five. For there is one God, and there is one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He reminds us that this God who desires all men to be saved also says there's only one way. There's only one way. For there's only one God. There's not many gods. And there's only one way to that God,

and that's through Jesus Christ. He says there's only one mediator between God and man. A mediator means a go-between. It's interesting. If you were to go back to the book of Job, remember in Job, Job's going, he's going through all of the crazy things that he's going through. His life is just being destroyed by all the things going on around him. And remember what Job says.

If there was only one who could stand in the gap between me and God, if there was only one who could mediate between me and God right now, well, Jesus is the answer to Job's prayer because he is the one who mediates between man and God. He's our go-between. He's our go-between. He's our advocate to the Father. And there's only one mediator between God and man.

That means something. First of all, that means that there are not many ways to God. And we need to know that. You hear this a lot right now. People say, you know, aren't we all really just saying the same thing? I remember sitting around in the shop one time when I was working groundskeeping, and every job I've ever had, God's given me the opportunity to declare the gospel to everybody I've worked with

before I left. And this was one of those moments. I'm sitting around with a group of guys in a shop, and we're talking about God. It's amazing how you're not supposed to talk about religion and politics at work, and what's everybody talk about at work? Religion and politics. And we're talking about God, and I'm telling them what the Bible says, and another guy's saying what he thinks,

and my buddy Lou pipes up and says, aren't we all just really talking about the same thing? Aren't we all just really talking about the same God? We just have some different ways to look at it. And I'm not an overly bold human being, but in that moment I said, no, we're not. See, the God of the Bible says there's only one way to him, and that's through Jesus.

There's not lots of ways. You can't go through some other religion and get to God. The only thing that you can get to through some other religion is death. There's only one way to God, and that's through Jesus. But we're also reminded of something. We are reminded that we don't, we don't have to go through some other intermediary to get to God. Now listen, I'm just going to call this out

the way it is right now. You can't pray to a saint. You can't pray to Mary. You don't need to confess your sins to the priest. You don't need the Pope, right? Because there's one mediator between God and man. I had a conversation with a Catholic guy one time, and he was telling me all of his arguments, and I said, what do you do with that verse, one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ?

And he goes, that's a really good question. And the debate stopped. Because the Bible's incredibly clear on this. There's one way, and it's through Jesus. But listen, there's one way, and Jesus created it. Because the fact that Jesus was born as a man, lived that perfect life, died that perfect death, rose again, declaring to be God, means that we have a way

to God. Hebrews describes it like this. We can now come to him in a new and living way through the veil of his flesh because of Jesus Christ. Because now we can go directly to the Father. Do you know that at any point in time you want to, you can go and talk directly to God. You can go straight to him and say, Father, this is what I have going on. No one else has to do that for you.

You have direct access to God, and it's because of Jesus Christ. That's why it says that it is God. That's why it says that it is God. That it is good and pleasing to God when we come to him. Because Jesus died to give us that opportunity. There's one mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. And I want you to notice what it says about Jesus Christ,

who gave himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. Jesus Christ, the mediator, gave himself as a ransom, a payment to purchase us off of the slave market. He purchased us for himself. And listen, it says, and the testimony came at the proper time. What does that mean? It means he came at exactly the right time. Jesus showed up on time.

I think one of the coolest things to do, and we've done this before, I'm not gonna do it right now, we've done this before, is to look at how Jesus showed up at exactly the right time. And if he showed up the right time the first time, he's gonna show up at the right time the second time. He showed up at just the right time. And then Paul says, and for this, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I'm telling the truth, as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Paul says, this is the entire reason why I was an apostle to the Gentiles, why I was an apostle to the people nobody else wanted to go to. None of my other Jewish brothers wanted to go, but God sent me. Now, sidebar real quick, this shows how big of a sense of humor God has, right? Like, we all know that God's a man of faith, and we all know that God's a man of faith, and we all know that God's a man of faith, and he makes us do funny things, because he just gets a kick out of things sometimes, I think, right?

Now, Paul was a devoutly Jewish man before he was saved. Do you know how Jewish people viewed the Gentiles? They called them Gentile dogs. They viewed them as the ones who would stoke the fires of hell. They would cross a street so that they would not come near them. They would pull their coat closer to themselves so that they would not be defiled by them. And that is who Paul would have been

before he came to know Jesus. And then Paul comes to know Jesus, and Jesus says, okay, you're going to get a real kick out of this, okay? I want you to go and be the apostle to the Gentiles. You tell me God doesn't have a little bit of a sense of humor. Do you know what my philosophy was when I was in high school? Friends don't let friends stay in Ark City.

That was my philosophy in high school. I was like, I am getting out of this town. I'm never coming back to this town. I will leave Ark City. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. And then pretty soon it was like, I kind of want to be back in Ark City. And God's like, it's funny, isn't it? Isn't it great what I do with people?

I just make them do things they never thought they would ever do before. Because that's what God's grace does to us. It changes us. Paul says, this is why I'm an apostle to the Gentiles so that I can tell them all about the one way to God whose desire is that all men would be saved. Therefore, let's wrap this thing up. Therefore, I want men in every place to pray.

Therefore, I want men in every place to pray. Lifting up holy hands without wrath and dissension. He says, I want men in every place to lift up holy hands in prayer. I want to point out the fact that there's two Greek words for men used in this. One is a general term speaking of all of humanity. And then there's this one that speaks of men. You know what that tells us, men?

We are to take the lead in prayer. That's our job. Is we are supposed to take the lead in prayer. You know what does not happen in most churches? You know what does not happen in most Christian homes? Men are not the ones that take the lead in prayer. As a matter of fact, I will about guarantee that most Christian homes, if prayer is going to take place, it starts with the wife.

The wife says, honey, shouldn't we be praying together? It just feels like that's the right thing for us to do. And dudes, she's right. It should happen that way in your home. It should happen that way in the church. Men, it's time to take the lead in prayer. Oh, but you know, I just, I have my own personal faith. We'll start making it public because that's what God tells you to do.

The word says right here, men, lift up holy hands and pray. Well, I don't, you don't really know what to say. I'm afraid I'm going to say something stupid. You are going to say something stupid, okay? Everybody says something stupid when they pray. We all told stories about the dumbest things that we've said from the pulpit. And if I've said things that stupid from the pulpit,

you can guarantee I've said them in prayer, right? Well, I don't, you don't know what to say. I just gave you a template to use. Men, take the lead in prayer. He says, I want men everywhere, in every place to pray. And then he gives us this interesting position. He says, lifting up holy hands. Now listen, there is nothing legalistic about this to say that every time you pray,

you have to lift your hands to the sky. You should let the spirit lead. But I'm here to tell you right now, I've been in places in my life where I've had to lift my hands to the sky. I've been in places in my life where I've had to lift my hands to the sky. where the only thing I know to do is just to throw my hands up and say, Lord, you've got to take this, and just throw my hands up in prayer,

because that's all I know how to do, because it's the best way that I can physically show, Lord, I surrender. You've got to take this. The very first time on that old dirt road on the way home from Prairie View Christian Camp, when I really gave my life to Jesus, my hands were lifted to the Lord in prayer. And I said, I give up. I'm screwing everything up. You've got to take it.

And so sometimes we lift up those holy hands in prayer. Sometimes we pray on our knees. Sometimes we pray walking. When it's first thing in the morning, I have to pray walking around with my eyes open. Otherwise, I pray in the Spirit, and it's called sleeping, right? Sometimes I pray when I run. But no matter what, you've got to pray. Lifting holy hands without wrath and dissension.

There's another aspect of that aspect of holy, or another thought of that aspect of holy with holy hands, and that's the fact that you have to be holy. That confession is so important. To be holy in the way that you pray, and without wrath and dissension. One of the other translations says, without anger and division. In other words, your prayers should not be angry,

i.e., stop praying for the destruction of the people around you. Quit being angry when you pray. Lord, would you just destroy them, right? Every time I drive, especially in Kansas City anymore, I'm like, Lord, would you cause them all to fall off the road so that I can have a way through? Without wrath and dissension. Brothers and sisters, God has given us a beautiful gift,

and this gift is prayer. And it's what he has always wanted for us, and it's good and pleasing to the Lord. So take time to lift up holy hands, and pray for all men, including those in authority. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I just thank you for the time that we've had in your word here, this morning. And Lord, I just ask that you would minister to our hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit, everything that was from you this morning. Lord, as we go out from here, I pray that your word would continue to do its work,

and that we would become men and women of prayer, that we would be known as men and women of prayer. And Lord, that our hearts would be drawn near to you. Father, we just thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.

There's love for us.

Treasure.

He should give his only son to make a wretch his treasure.

Which bar the chosen one.

His son's to glory.

Ashamed, I hear my sin. Jesus Christ.

Lord God, we just thank you for the day, Lord. And just thank you for what you've done for us, Lord. I thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives, Lord. And as we leave here today, Lord, I pray that you would move us to become a people of prayer. Lord, who come to you on our knees, Lord God.

And I just ask that you just continue to work in our lives, Lord God. And bless us. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you.