“I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today I was continuing in my Bible study. I was in the New Testament and after finishing 2 Thessalonians I started 1 Timothy. What struck me was 1 Timothy 2:2 which highlights “making intercession for ALL PEOPLE”. Recently praying and encouraging others has been on my heart so coming across this passage further reinforced my responsibility to lift others up in prayer.

I am not writing this because I am perfect in that area but rather going through the process of making it a priority in my prayer life to consider others more. I do question why most can carry on with lists concerning themselves but when it comes to others we slack. 

Paul in his letter to Timothy states that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” We are so focused on our assignments, calling, purpose, desires etc that we often forget that there are unbelievers who need to come to the knowledge of Christ (Matthew 5:44). Not only so, but our brethren (the Body of Christ) need to be lifted up in prayer. They also have needs, a purpose, a destiny and are called. Ephesians 6:18 emphasises praying for believers by instructing ““And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬.

You may ask yourself “I don’t know their needs in detail so what can I pray for on their behalf?” You can start here…

1. For the unbelievers it is simple. They need Christ whether they know it or not. So pray that they come to the knowledge of Christ, experience Him in a supernatural way and that they may be set free. A passage to stand on can be the one introduced in today’s post – 1 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭4‬. 
2. For the believer you can pray all or some of the following especially if you don’t know their needs: 

• That they may fearlessly make known the Gospel (Ephesians 6:19)
• Growth and maturity in faith (Ephesians 1:16-23)
• Strength (Isaiah 40:31)
• Provision and resources to fulfil their God given purpose (Psalms 145:16-17)
• Life (John 10:10)
• Abundant joy (Psalms 16:11) 
• Peace (John 14:27)
• Protection (Psalms 91:4)

To end I want to encourage you to set aside a day or some time to pray for others. In fact, in all honesty this should be a daily habit. You can also do some further study on one who cared for others by reading a story in Acts chapter 10. It is a story of a man named Cornelius who cared for people so much that his prayers went up as a memorial offering to God.