Title: All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Passage: 1 Timothy 2:1-7.

Transcription

1 Title: All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Passage: 1 Timothy 2:1-7. Number 124, Number 124 No, I m not calling out a hymn number, or the Maccas Order number for your Big Mac and Coke, No. What are you going on about Luke? Good question!! Who s ever dreamed of representing your country on the sporting field? I know I have. To be part of an elite exclusive club of people who have had the honour of representing the nation would be amazing Growing up, back when I was a young lad, my family and I used to listen to the test cricket on the radio as we painted the outside of our weatherboard house. And probably like many young blokes, used to dream of representing Australia on the cricket field, of having the honour of putting on a Baggy Green. Just in case you missed the news, I didn t make it! But I heard about the heroes of the day, Graham Yallop, Rick McCosker, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson no relation by the way even though the last name is spelt the right way - the Chappell brothers, Rod Marsh, these were the cricketing heroes of my early years. You may not care about cricket, but whatever sport there is, there s only a limited few who get to represent the nation on the sporting field. In Cricket, there s only 11 who get to pull on the baggy green and represent the nation on the field. Out of a nation of 24 Million, only 11 get to represent the Nation, it s rather an exclusive bunch isn t it? Since 1877, there s only been 452 players that have had the honour of representing Australia on the cricket pitch over the last 142 years. Of course, the greatest of them all, number 124 Don Bradman. As you may be aware, this exclusive group has been sullied somewhat by the ball tampering scandal that occurred in South Africa, by numbers 415, 426, and 451 Smith, Warner and Bancroft. There s some ground to be made up to get the honour and pride to be restored to this exclusive group.

2 Now apart from being good enough to be selected for the cricket team, There are restrictions on who can even be considered to join the national team. Obviously, you need to be either born here, have a valid passport stating that you re a national, or deemed a resident to qualify unless you have the personal number of Peter Dutton, if you give him a call, that may change things! Without any of that, forget it, you won t qualify, you won t even be considered. The Australian cricket team is then a rather exclusive group to belong to. I d imagine that there d be a fair amount of pride for the person who made the team, honour for the one who gets to put on a baggy green cap. Becoming part of that exclusive group, would come a change of thinking. There d be a need to focus on the team and its goals, a focus on things that are needed to be done for success. All your energy and focus would be put into that to ensure that not only did you stay in the team, but that the team stayed together, and was successful. While exclusive and inward type thinking may be fine for a national sporting team, it s not when comes to the Gospel. I think it s this elitist, inward thinking that led to the recent troubles for the Australian Cricket team. It s the elitist, exclusive, inward thinking that Paul is looking to address in the Ephesian church in this passage today. Now for us here in the modern church in Australia wouldn t have this sort of thinking, would we? Well, more about that later It s been a few weeks since we initially looked at this letter of first Timothy. Paul has written this letter to his young Padawan, Timothy, who he d left behind to defend the church in Ephesus from the dark lords of false teaching. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 2 of September 2018

3 This wasn t some cake walk either, the Gospel was being twisted and warped by these guys who d set their hearts and minds on myths and endless genealogies, majoring on minor and irrelevant things, instead of keeping the main thing the main thing. The result was that they d led the church to drift from the truth of the Gospel and had turned the church into an elite club, a group that focussed on irrelevant myths and genealogies instead of the gospel. This had caused some to drift and made shipwreck of their faith and had also led to squabbles and fighting in the church. The thing about the Gospel being twisted is that the lifestyles of the people, how they conducted themselves both in society generally and as a church, did not reflect Gospel living as it should ve. This is Pauls main thrust in this book. Last time we were together we looked at chapter 1 - Gospel and the False Teachers. Initially we saw God s Servants Advance His Work by Staying True to the Gospel, because it s the Gospel that gets both our head and our heart right. Then in the second part of chapter one, we saw the Transforming Power of the Gospel, where the Power of the Gospel Transforms Unworthy Sinners into Well Pleasing Servants of God. Paul himself was the prime example of this. Today we step into the section; Gospel Shaped Church Life Ch 2 3:13. Here Paul starts to direct and tell the church on how it s to get back on the track. It will be about another 4 weeks before we dip back into this section, where will look at the second part of this chapter. The rest of the book can be broken up like this; Gospel Shaped Ministry Focus Ch 3:14-4:16 Gospel Shaped Community Ch 5:1 6:2a Final Encouragement and Instructions Ch 6:2b-21 So today we start in the section, the Gospel Shaped Church life. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 3 of September 2018

4 1 TIMOTHY GOSPEL LIVING IN A MESSY WORLD. GOSPEL AND THE FALSE TEACHERS CH 1 GOSPEL SHAPED CHURCH LIFE CH 2 3:13. GOSPEL SHAPED MINISTRY FOCUS CH 3:14-4:16 GOSPEL SHAPED COMMUNITY CH 5:1 6:2A FINAL ENCOURAGEMENT AND INSTRUCTIONS CH 6:2B-21 And the first thing in this section that Paul addresses is the exclusive thinking of the church. The problem in the Ephesian Church was thinking that they were the spiritual elite and this teaching was only for themselves, a select group of people and weren t to worry about anyone else. This is what happens when you major of minors, on peripheral things they can quickly, and wrongly, become major things. It s these things that can separate you from everyone else, and become legalistic, drawing a clear distinction between who s on the inside and who s not. It brings an attitude of We re better than everyone else, because we re the only ones who are right. It was this holy huddle type thinking that Paul starts to address today because they d lost sight of the ball, they we re playing down the wrong line. They d forgotten God s mission for the gospel that was to be taken to the ends of the earth. Paul s passion was that the message of the cross, that the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. This passion should be ours too. To get them back on track, to get them watching the ball, Paul encourages the Ephesian Church to look beyond their closed circle outward toward others. He does this by encouraging them to pray for others, to pray that the Gospel would be preached to all kinds of People. Not sure if you noticed on the way through the reading the number of times that the little word ALL comes up. In the ESV, it s 5 times in these 7 verses, as you can see on the screen. If we focussed this list on the All in reference to people, and included other words for classes of people in these verses, as seen in this next slide, All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 4 of September 2018

5 What I think this does is to frame where Paul is going, what Paul is looking to direct the thought of the Ephesian church to. We can see that there are references in verse 1 for All people. In verse 2 for kings and ALL who are in High positions. A reference in verse 4 of God who desires all people to be saved. Verse 5 pointing out that there s one mediator between God and men, or humanity. Verse 6 where it states that Jesus who gave himself for all, and lastly in verse 7 where Paul points out that he is a preacher, apostle and teacher of the Gentiles a large group of nations. The point that Paul is making is this to the Ephesian Church, and by extension us, is that God is not the God of the elite or the few. Rather, God is the God for all kinds of People. There are two groups of people that Paul is looking to highlight. All people, whatever the SOCIAL class, the kings and all those in authority, verse 2 All people, whatever the ETHNIC class, man or humanity, the gentiles, verses 5 and 7. Paul is calling the Ephesian Church to get back on track, by praying for all kinds of people, no matter what group or class that they belong to. This leads us to the main point of this today which is; Big Idea: Christians are to Pray for All Kinds of People, Because Jesus Died for All Kinds of People All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 5 of September 2018

6 1-4. Praying for the Salvation of All kinds of People 5-7. Jesus Died for All Kinds of People 1-4. Praying for the Salvation of All kinds of People. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. It s in the first verse that Paul cuts across this elitist, inward focussed type thinking, with the encouragement to pray. While it s good to pray for ourselves, including those in our church family. Paul gives a breakdown, the detail on what our prayers as a church are to look like, that our prayers aren t to be just for us, they re to go beyond ourselves. There re 5 things I ve noted about prayer in these verses; Priority; Target; Type; Purpose; and Reason for prayer. Firstly, the Priority of Prayer The church in Ephesus had lost its focus, so Paul seeks to correct their focus, to get their eyes back on the ball, with the exhortation; first of all, then, I urge. As we ve already noted, that elitist thinking had come into the church, where it seems that prayer had been narrowed down to the select few who held and followed the same twisted teaching. But Paul reminds, strongly encourages the church to pray for all kinds of people as a matter of first priority. Like when a parent gives a child a list of things to do, yes you can go and play, but first you re to brush your teeth and wash your face, the parent is giving instructions with a priority. Here Paul is giving a priority of things for the church to do, and prayer is at the top of the list. But Paul goes on to give further detail about what this is to look like, the Priority of Prayer has a target, this is the second thing about prayer to note here. Target of Prayer end of verse 1 says here, all people. As we ve already looked at, I don t think it s everyone that was in the published phone book of the day in Ephesus, or more broadly, everyone in the whole World. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 6 of September 2018

7 There s an indication of the target was in Pauls mind at the beginning of verse 2. The target was to be ALL kinds of people no matter what the social standing was, but particularly the leaders, including kings. This would ve made the believers in the Ephesian church squirm a little in their pew at this. Let s remember what the leaders were like in those days. They weren t always in favour of the Christians. It was during this time of Pauls life, during the writing of this letter, that Nero one of the most infamous Roman Emperors ruled. Nero rose to power through the surprising death of opponents. It was in the year 64 that a blaze broke out and quickly spread through Rome. Not sure if he had problem with the Rome local council in his building submission looking for a Development Approval, but there were rumours that this happened to clear some space for an expanded palace. However, Nero being the guy he was, deflected any blame by accusing the Christians in Rome for starting the fire. The result was brutal persecutions being dealt out on the Christians, from being dressed in animal skins to be torn apart by dogs, to Christians being used as torches at Nero s garden parties. He d be that last bloke that you d be wanting to pray for. Now here is Paul encouraging the Christians to be praying for blokes like this. The holy huddle in Ephesus that Paul was addressing here didn t pray for anyone outside what they considered their worthy circle, including those who were in authority over them, or those who were different from them. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 7 of September 2018

8 Paul cuts right across this type of thinking, with the challenge to pray for all kinds of people, including those who are in places of leadership over us. Including those who may be in opposition to us. This s not easy, particularly if you re at the bottom and dealing with all the garbage that s being thrown onto you. Now it s easy for us to connect and pray for those in the same social standing that we re in, but we can find it more of a challenge to pray for those either up the scale or those down the slope. How do you go with that? What is your, what is my attitude to those we consider unworthy, or beneath us? What is our attitude to leadership, to those in authority in government? Not sure if it s our convict past, but sometimes we don t look favourably on those people who are in power over us. We re in the middle of the abortion debate, how do we feel toward those leaders who are pushing for abortion? Are we praying for them? Are we praying for the Jackie Trad s of the world? But what way are we to pray for these people? This leads us to the third thing we can note about prayer, the type of prayer. Type of Prayer back in verse 1, Paul heaps up for emphasis a number of terms, petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. All kinds of prayer there s to be a richness and depth to the prayer, something with meaning not a shallow like a bland bless grandma, the neighbour, the Prime Minister.. In these terms here in verse 1, I think there s a depth to what Paul is encouraging the church at Ephesus, and by extension us, what we re to pray for. So broadly, it s all types, all kinds of prayer that should be given, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving are to be given. What s the difference then? Supplications or petitions are specific requests while prayers are more general. For example, we may pray for Scott Morrison, the current Prime minister, at least for this week, that God would grant Him wisdom for the decisions that he is making. Another one that come to mind is Richard Dawkins. Our brother Steve Barrett before he passed away was praying fervently for his salvation. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 8 of September 2018

9 Intercessions not really clear but possibly a request on behalf of someone else to a higher authority. This maybe something like a request for prayer for rain, as this nation has done in the past, on behalf of the farmers who are in drought. This is something we can do now, irrespective of if the individual farmers know the Lord or not. Finally, there s thanksgiving, which is expressing thankfulness or gratitude for what s been done. There s overlap between these, however one way that you can put them into practice is a pattern that some of you may already use, which is ACTS. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. These sort of patterns or structures can be helpful for teaching us to pray. Praying for other does take some effort, some planning. To pray meaningfully, you do need to know about them, so to do this you need to take an interest in them. This can be easy for people or leaders that you like, or are close to, but what about those remote from you or even those leaders who are up the social ladder form you? The internet is a tool, along with the news services via the newspaper, radio, TV, that can inform you of things to pray for. Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving, each of these. The one I find the most challenging in particular toward those in authority, those who rule over me is thanksgiving. We re encouraged in 1 Thessalonians 5: Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God s will for you in Christ Jesus. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 9 of September 2018

10 It s easy being thankful for the nice things in life, but it s harder when things aren t so easy is it? But here the encouragement is to be thankful, to give specific thanks to God for the people in authority over us, to be specifically thankful. The challenge for me is being thankful for those who cause hardship in my life. At times, I can be content with the hardship in itself knowing that it is working some good in me, but am I thankful, or express any sort of gratitude to God for anyone whose bringing difficulty into my life? It may be hard, but if we look or think hard enough, there are things to give thanks or be grateful for. To be honest, for us here in Australia it should be easy. It could be thankfulness for the peace and order of society that allows normal life to go on, that provided the freedom for us to gather like we have today to worship as a church. Maybe it s something as simple as the provision of public transport services, or welfare benefits, Medicare, there s plenty of things to be grateful for. But Paul goes onto point out some specific things to pray for in regard to those in authority over us, we can add these things to our prayer lists. Purpose of Prayer this is the fourth thing to note about prayer we can see that in the second part of verse 2, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, The purpose for praying for our authorities, the local, state and federal leaders who govern us, is not that we may have a life free from care. That we d be able to sit back, relax and quietly enjoy the good life in the shade, chilling out, with our biggest concern is trying to work out where our next BBQ is to be held, no! What Paul has in mind here is prayer for a calm and ordered society that will enable the expansion of the gospel message to all kinds of people. If you remember on a previous visit to Ephesus, Paul was the centre of a riot that was finally settled by the authorities. And there we other events where there was uproar forcing Paul to leave churches and cities. What Paul was encouraging the church in Ephesus to do was to pray for the harmony and order of society so that the gospel would have unhindered opportunity to be shared and spread to others. But that also the Christians would also have the freedom to live and conduct Gospel shaped living in the communities that they were part of, as verse 2 continues, godly and dignified in every way. It s obviously easier to live a Christian life, in favourable conditions, one that clearly demonstrates that your life that has been changed and shaped by the gospel. This is easier in an ordered and peaceful society than one that isn t. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 10 of September 2018

11 Think of our brothers and sisters in Christ, in Africa in some of those war-torn countries there, or even those caught up in the conflict in Syria. In some of those places its hard enough to survive, and little opportunity to let you light shine clearly as a professing Christian in a neighbourhood, where the bullets are flying and where there s the danger of ISIS. This leads us to the final thing to notice about prayer, the reason of prayer in verses 3 and 4. Reason of Prayer there are three reasons that Paul gives for why we should pray this way. Firstly, this is good. it is just a good thing to do before God to pray for all kinds of people, those that leads us, seeking their welfare, but also the welfare of the nation, for peace and order so that the Gospel may advance in the hearts of the people and the nation at large. Secondly, it s pleasing in the sight of God our Savior. What higher motive for the believer than this, to please God. What greater way to worship, to honour Him! The third reason for prayer is seen in verse 4, that God desires all KINDS of people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. This is the heart of a loving and kind God, that the gospel will go out to all kinds of people. This verse, along with verse 6 has been at the heart of a lot of controversy. Verse 3-4 saying that God wants all people to be saved And verse 6 saying that Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all [people]. In looking at this passage, we need to let these scriptures speak to us in context. We need to take care not to approach this passage, or any scripture for that matter with a pre-set frame work. We re not to try to mould and shape the scriptures to our way of thinking. Rather we need to allow the scriptures speak to us, to mould us and our thinking., This is an important passage, some of you won t care, others do care a lot about it, so please be patient with me for a moment as I briefly address some issues here. We re just going to do a quick walk through the Tulips. Many Christians believe that the Bible teaches a system of theology called Calvinism. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 11 of September 2018

12 I am one of them, and it s one of the distinctives of Grace Bible Churches. Calvinism is a way of trying to explain what the Bible teaches about how people are saved and is named after the 16 th century reformer by the name of John Calvin, and is often explained with the acronym T.U.L.I.P. This stands for Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and the Perseverance of the Saints. Today s passage gives us reason to focus on two of these Unconditional Election and Limited Atonement. Unconditional Election says that it is God, and God alone who chooses people to be saved, and there s nothing that we can do to help in gaining salvation. As it says in Johns gospel You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. John 15:16 CSB Other passages that we can be considered are Romans 8:28-30; 9:6-24; Ephesians 1:3-10. Limited Atonement basically says that Jesus died only for people that He predestined to be saved. It does seem that verses 4 and 6 are saying the opposite to what Unconditional Election, and Limited atonement is saying. If verse 3 and 4 is saying that God wants every single person to be saved, it doesn t sound like Unconditional Election. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 12 of September 2018

13 If God decided before the beginning of the world that only some would be saved, how could it also be true that God wants all people to be saved? Are these verse teaching Universalism, that is that each and every person in the world will be saved and go to heaven? But please notice, that it s clear from 1 Timothy 6:9 that there ll be some who ll be punished eternally. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. There are other verses as well in 1 Tim 3:6; 5:24. If Universalism is true, then the penalty for sin would be paid twice once by Jesus on the cross, and then again by themselves. The other option is that God WANTS everyone to be saved, but He won t save then unless they agree. It s God s wish that everyone would be saved, but not His will that everyone is. This doesn t sound like a Sovereign All knowing, all powerful God. This means that we re the ones who ve got the ultimate say about our salvation. If you argue that, you need to support it with some strong evidence, and also to explain the scriptures that teach of God s election in salvation. The other problem with this is that it undermines grace. Looking at the end of verse 5 and into verse 6; Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all [people]. These verses sound like Jesus died for every single person, and don t sound like limited atonement. The issue with this is that if Jesus died for every single person, and then everyone doesn t end up in heaven, what you re then saying is that Jesus atonement wasn t good enough. You re saying that Jesus wasn t an effective substitute. Revelation 5:9 I think clears up who Jesus died for. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 13 of September 2018

14 And they sang a new song, saying, Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation In reference to Christ, He ransomed people for God FROM every tribe and language and people and nation, NOT all people from all tribes, languages and nations. Just note that All isn t always used to mean every person. One example is in Acts 22:15 where Paul describes in a testimony that he was to be a witness for the Lord Jesus; to all people of what you have seen and heard. It would be unlikely the Paul would be able to witness to each and every person alive at the time. What we need to sort out is who the all people are in this passage here in 1 Timothy 2. Is the all people the whole human race, or just people from different groups? As I ve already outlined in the setting of this passage with Paul dealing with Holy Huddle thinking, that here in this passage I think that Paul is referring to Social grouping and Ethnic groups, in other words, all kinds of people.. With this, I think it make more sense to the passage and what message Paul is looking to convey to the Ephesian church. Paul is encouraging to get out of the insular, inward exclusive thinking, and to pray for all kinds of people, no matter what social class they belong to, the reason is because God desires that all kinds of people to be saved, irrespective of their social class and come to a knowledge of the truth, come to a knowledge of the gospel. As we move into this next point, Paul is pointing out the all kinds of people include other nationalities, other ethnic groups. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 14 of September 2018

15 5-7. Jesus Died for All kinds of People. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. One God, One Mediator. This is an inclusive and exclusive statement. God is exclusive in the sense that there is no other God, I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God [Is 45:5]. This is because the other gods are fake and aren t real, therefore there is truly only one God God is the only God and as a result He is the God of all, the God over all people, over everyone. And this is the sense where He is an inclusive God and wants to be accepted as the God of all people. This does cut across the thinking of some who consider that there are many gods, however the Bible is clear, there is only one true God. But what also jolts the thinking of some is the statement, that there is only one mediator. Some do think that there are multiple ways to God, however the Bible is clear here too. Just as there is only one true God, there is only one way to come to God, and that is through the one mediator, Jesus Christ. A mediator is one who comes in to restore a relationship between two parties who are in conflict. There is only one mediator, one go-between, one way through which you can be made right with God All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 15 of September 2018

16 Acts 4:12 tells us; There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved. Act 4:12 CSB. There s absolutely no other way to God. It s not by any other religion, belief or practice. You cannot come to God because of what your parents believe, or how good they are. You cannot be made right with God because of how good you are, or by trying to keep rules, like the commandments, these ways will NOT get you to heaven. Jesus Christ is the only way to be saved. He s the only one who paid the ransom price for rebels like you and me. It doesn t matter, what social class you come from, it doesn t matter what ethnic class you re from. The answer is the same. It was Jesus Christ who came to step into the gap between all kinds of people and God. We are saved only through Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-13 says; If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, 12 since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is the only way you can be saved, and that is through trusting in Jesus Christ. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 16 of September 2018

17 This s the message, this s the mission that was at the center of Paul s heart. It was one that was given to him when he was saved. He was to take the message of the Gospel to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites [Acts 9:15], to all kinds of people. This would ve been a challenge for Paul, as he was a devout Jew, and what would the devout Jew have to do with Gentiles in his day? Not much. Paul s mission is our mission today, and that s to pray for and to take the Gospel to all kinds of people. Even the awkward people, you know even those New South Welshman of the day, those blues supporters, those gentiles Now we can be standing here comfortably in a middle-class church here in Australia, and think well those people there in Ephesus, they do need to pray for all kinds of people, they do need to spread the gospel to all kinds of People. But are we genuinely praying for the Gospel advancement in the hearts of our government leaders? Are genuinely praying for conditions where the gospel can continue to spread unhindered? Do we have all kind of people on our hearts, to see the gospel spread to them? Is our neighbour on our prayer radar, are they on our prayer list? What about the Muslim s or Hindu s across the street? Not sure if they are in your neighbourhood, but they are definitely in the neighbourhood around here. The gospel does need to go to all people everywhere, and it s a responsibility that s in our hands. Let us keep our eyes on the ball, let us keep the main thing the main thing. May we remember that we re to be active in this area, praying for all kinds of people, because Jesus did die for all kinds of people, including us. Let s Pray. All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 17 of September 2018

18 All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. [1 Timothy 2:1-7 7 September 2018] Main Point: Christians are to Pray for All Kinds of People, Because Jesus Died for All Kinds of People. Please pick a few relevant questions from each section and ensure that most of the time is focussed on application. General Questions: 1. If you were picking a subject to start with for correcting the Ephesian church, what would you pick, and how would you go about it? Why do you think that Paul mentions prayer as a first priority for the church? 2. What are the differences in the types of prayer that Paul covers in verse 1? 3. Why did Paul ask the Ephesian church to pray for the groups of people that he did, and what is the reason that he gives for this? 4. In verse 2, do you think that there is any hesitancy in Australian culture to pray for those in authority? Would there be any other reason(s) for us not to pray for our leaders? 5. What things about verse 5 that presses against the attitudes and opinions of today s society and culture? Would this be the same as Paul s day? Application Questions: 1. In reference to the start of verse 2, who are your leaders in Local, State and Federal areas? 2. For the different types of prayer in verse 1 [Supplications, prayers intercession and thanksgivings], what specific things could you pray for those in Local, State and Federal governments and leadership? 3. Who is your local member and what way could you pray for them? For localized home groups this could be a targeted prayer project for the local member [maybe considering asking them directly for things to pray for]. 4. What, if any, prayer structure / method do you use? Others in the group may have different ones that they may wish to share. [eg Prayer Mate is a good resource to check out]. What way can we encourage each other in this? 5. Do you think that there are any social or ethnic groups that we as a church or even as an individual that we struggle to pray for or reach out to with the Gospel? If there is a hesitancy in these areas, what practical way can we start to get over this? 6. Are there any specific social or ethnic groups in your home group area that can be prayed for? In what way could we specifically pray for them? Is there any specific way that we could start to share the gospel them? 7. Are there any particular Christian groups who are being persecuted that we could partner with in prayer? Check out the Barnabas Fund, Open Doors. Consider either personal or group project of prayers for specific groups. 8. Paul had a heart for the gospel to go out to all kinds of people. Do we, do I have this same heart? If we don t, why don t we, and what can we do about this sort of attitude? All Kinds of Prayer for All Kinds of People. Page 18 of September 2018