FIRST OF ALL

1 Timothy 2:1 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone.”

C. H. Spurgeon was one of the most popular and successful preachers of Victorian England. His Metropolitan Tabernacle drew thousands each Sunday. Often hundreds would stand outside in the street hoping to catch a bit of the Baptist preacher’s message. One day a group of young seminary students came to visit the church they had heard so much about. When they entered the huge building, they were met by a gray bearded gentleman they took to be the janitor. He offered to lead them on a tour through the facilities and answer any questions they had.

They walked through the sanctuary, stood in the pulpit, and looked down from the balcony. When they had seen just about everything and asked every conceivable question they could come up with, the old gentleman asked a strange question, “Would you like to see what heats this church?” They weren’t really that interested in touring the coal cellar and furnace room. But just to humor their host, they followed. They went down a narrow stairway to an area beneath the pulpit. As the gentleman opened the door, he said, “Behind this door is the secret of this great church. Everything that happens upstairs starts down here. This is where the fire in the pulpit begins.”

The old man, actually Spurgeon himself, opened the door to reveal several dozen people on their knees in fervent prayer. The great preacher would always insist that the secret of any church, big or small, was the prayers of the people. It was Spurgeon who said, “I would rather teach one man to pray than ten men to preach.”

Jesus knew that prayer was first. You need to simply read the Gospels to realize that he prayed often and before every critical juncture in his ministry and life. The early church considered prayer a priority. Nearly every important event in the apostolic church was preceded by prayer meetings. Did Jesus and his apostles know something that we need to know?

What comes first—prayer. The text uses four different terms for prayer. All four are related, but each has a different shade of meaning. We can learn something from each. Together they reveal the nature of prayer and the proper attitude of prayer. The first term is “requests” or “petitions.” This term would have been used for bringing needs or wants before a king or higher authority. The second is “prayers”—the most common term for praying. It simply means asking. These two words remind us that prayer is coming before the King of Heaven and asking. Prayer is not the same as talking to ourselves, thinking positive thoughts, or wishing real hard. It is asking of God.

The next two words in the list, “intercessions” and “thanksgivings” offer insight into the proper attitude of prayer. Intercession refers to asking in behalf of another. Serious prayer is unselfish prayer. The highest form of prayer is going before our God for others. “Thanksgiving” is always involved because unless we are grateful we likely don’t understand whom we are talking to. The very fact that our God offers us an audience before his throne is reason enough for thanksgiving.

Paul, in instructing young Timothy, sets the tone for this early church. Today, our means in every aspect of our life should be the same. First of all, pray. Keep your minds on spiritual things and focused upon the God that makes everything possible. It is where everything begins. It is where everything ends.