Learning to Pray in a Way the Pleases Jesus
2 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…
8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;
One great way to learn how to pray and worship Jesus is to pray the prayers that are mentioned in the Bible. If Jesus or Paul said to pray it, you can figure that it’s a good place to start.
The Lord’s Prayer is a common example of this. Jesus was brilliant when He taught His disciples to pray in that way, because it acknowledges God and our need for Him in so many ways.
This passage is also a great guide to pray and praise God.
But let’s look at it backward.
Pray, living holy hands without anger or quarreling.
Oof, can we do it? Can we put off the bickering and snarkiness long enough to lift up our hands in prayer? I bet we can. We can even turn every quarrel or disagreement into a cause for prayer. “God, you see this, and I know you are at work in their life. Help me to see your works!”
We can praise God with great confidence because we know that He
desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
He’s not hiding or trying to get missed. He wants us to discover every truth He has to offer! He’s like the 3 year old kid playing hide-and-seek that really just wants to be caught. He’s not going to hide very well just so He can laugh when we find Him.
This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our savior.
If you read that, wouldn’t you want to review and see what Paul said that in reference to?
He said that they (and today we) want to lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
That sounds hard. That sounds like something that would take a lot of help from everyone around me.
So what do we do to live this life that Paul says is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior?
Pray.
Supplications (asking for stuff), prayers (talking to God), intercessions (asking for stuff on other people’s behalf), and thanksgiving (duh) be made for all people. So not only are we thanking God for what we get and what we have, we thank God for what other people have too.
Not only are we praying for all of these people in the church, but people in high positions — even the kings!
So if you don’t know where to start, start with some kinds and pray for them. Ask God to give things to you and to other people, especially people with power and influence in the world.
Jesus loves to see that. He did for most of His last night before He was killed, and He loves to do that same work in us today.
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