Praying for Everyone: Three Keys from 1 Timothy 2

Introduction

There are days when you pray for yourself, for your loved ones, and then you stop there. The list is already long, the day slips by, and the rest of the world feels too far away. In this Sunday service from May 25, 2025, Mikaël BEYNAT opens up 1 Timothy 2:1-8 and reminds us of something the apostle Paul puts right at the top of his instructions to Timothy: praying for others. Not as a burden, but as a privilege the Lord gives you.

The preacher insists on this: God, who is all-powerful, could have run the history of the world without our prayers. But he chose to work through them to bless others. Every time you intercede, you're doing God's will, and your prayers can have an impact you can't even imagine. Three questions guide the whole message: who should you pray for? Why should you pray? How should you pray?

Outline of the message

1. Who should you pray for? For everyone, without exception

• Paul writes to Timothy, pastor of the church in Ephesus, between AD 62 and 65. These are the first concrete instructions he gives him, and they concern the prayer life of the church.
• "I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks be made for all people." First of all: praying for others should be the church's top priority.
• All Christians are called to be intercessors, not just an elite few. God has placed an extraordinary power in your hands for the good of the world, and the preacher honestly admits that we use it far too rarely.
• "All people": no one should be excluded from the scope of your prayer. God shows no favoritism. He loves the people you struggle to love, the ones who have hurt you, the ones you'd rather not see saved.
• This includes your biological family (parents, spouse, children, uncles, aunts, cousins), your spiritual family (fellow Christians, the persecuted around the world), non-Christians (neighbors, coworkers, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, the Jewish people), Christians who have drifted from the faith, and even your enemies.
• The preacher offers a very practical suggestion: prepare prayer lists and set aside time in your schedule (10 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours), rather than wasting it on empty things.

2. Why should you pray? For a peaceful life and for the salvation of all

• Paul mentions a specific category: "kings and all who are in high position." In Greek, literally, those in a position of authority.
• Here in France, we tend to look down on or even despise anything that resembles authority. Paul, though, calls us to pray for these leaders first, because their decisions affect so many other people.
• First reason to pray: "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life." Paul writes this while he himself is about to be beheaded on the order of Nero, a tyrant who turned Christians into human torches. And yet he calls for prayer for that very emperor.
• Here in France we have the immense privilege of being able to gather freely, while millions of Christians are persecuted in more than 70 countries. That freedom should push us to intercede for our leaders, not just criticize them from the sidelines.
• Second reason: "in all godliness and reverence." Pray that our authorities allow us to worship freely, to share the gospel, and that society stays aligned with the principles of God's word.
• Mikaël BEYNAT names some very concrete, current subjects for intercession: the end-of-life law (including the question of pharmacists' conscience clause and the "obstruction offense" discussed around the bill), gender theory taught to children, children born through IVF or surrogacy without a father or without a mother, the fight against child sexual abuse, drug trafficking, antisemitism, and racism.
• And above all: God "desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth." It's because God desires this that we must pray for everyone. There is one God and one mediator, Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all.

3. How should you pray? Persistence, pleading, thanksgiving, pure hands

• Paul doesn't limit himself to just one type of prayer. He speaks of petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings. In the Greek, the first two terms carry the sense of persistent, repeated prayer. Intercession is a discipline, not a passing thought.
• Intercession implies fervor, ardor, passion. It means pleading with God on behalf of others because they are in danger, the danger of living and dying without Christ. The preacher humbly admits how difficult this is, even for him.
• Prayers of thanksgiving are often forgotten. Yet thanking God for what he does, especially when he answers our prayers for others, matters just as much as asking.
• "In every place." God doesn't listen to you more in a religious setting than at home or anywhere else. Don't limit yourself.
• "Lifting up holy hands": walking in holiness and integrity. If you live in ongoing disobedience, your prayers of intercession won't get through. Wanting to see your loved ones saved should also push you toward personal sanctification.
• "Without wrath": you can't pray well for someone you're angry at. Lay your anger down at the Lord's feet. Starting to pray for and thank God for that person changes your heart toward them.
• "Without disputing": not for your own benefit, but for the true good of the person you're praying for. Prayer can't be used for personal gain or against a brother or sister.

Key takeaways

• Praying for others isn't a burden God places on you: it's a grace, a privilege, the church's first priority.
• "All people" really means everyone: family, church, non-Christians, wandering Christians, authorities, and even your enemies. God shows no favoritism.
• Praying for authorities doesn't mean approving of what they do. It means recognizing that their decisions affect countless lives, and that God can work through them for peace and freedom of worship.
• Intercessory prayer is practiced with persistence, with pleading, with thanksgiving, in every place.
• Three inner requirements: pure hands (holiness), no anger (love), no hidden agenda (right motives).

Personal application

1. Who do you pray for regularly, and more importantly: who never shows up in your prayers? Would you dare write that name down today?
2. Who is the person you find hardest to bring before God: a family member, a coworker, a leader, an enemy? What would happen if you started by thanking God for them before praying for them?
3. Do you have time set aside in your week to intercede, or does praying for others only happen in the leftover scraps of your schedule? What concrete time slot could you block off?
4. Is there any disobedience, anger, or hidden agenda that's capping your intercessory prayers today? What might God be saying to you about that this week?
5. For which specific authorities (in your country, your workplace, your school, your church) are you called to intercede this week, rather than simply criticize?

Verses cited

• 1 Timothy 2:1-8 (WEB)
• 1 Timothy 1:15 (WEB)
• 1 Timothy 5:8 (WEB)
• Matthew 5:44 (WEB)
• Matthew 6:6 (WEB)
• John 15:5 (WEB)
• Romans 13:1-2 (WEB)
• Ezekiel 33:11 (WEB)
• Exodus 20:12 (WEB)

Frequently asked questions

Why does Paul say "first of all" about praying for others?

Because, in the very first concrete instructions he gives Timothy for the life of the church in Ephesus, the apostle wants to set a priority: praying for others. It's the first mark of a healthy church. Without it, Christians fight the good fight of faith without their most powerful weapon. The preacher points to John 15:5: "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Intercession is the means God uses to bless others through you.

Do I really need to pray for leaders I disagree with?

Yes. Paul writes these words under the reign of Nero, who would go on to persecute and execute Christians, and Paul still calls for prayer on his behalf. Praying for a leader isn't the same as approving of what they do. It's asking God that they govern "as well as possible," or at least "as poorly as possible in the least harmful way," so that life stays peaceful, worship stays free, and society doesn't sink into laws that contradict God's word. On the points where real agreement exists (safety, the fight against child sexual abuse, antisemitism, racism), we can also give thanks and ask for God's help.

Where and by whom was this sermon preached?

This message was shared on Sunday, May 25, 2025 during a worship service, by Mikaël BEYNAT, on 1 Timothy 2:1-8. The sermon is structured around three questions (who to pray for, why to pray, how to pray), and closes with communion and a time of corporate intercession, including for church members (Josianne, Hugues who lost his wife, Gérard, Maria, Pierre) and for the French debates around end-of-life legislation. It's a local church message, sober and pastoral, pointed toward the often-forgotten mission of intercession.