1 Timothy 2:1-7 Pentecost 7
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
July 27, 2025
Prayer is a Gift with a Purpose Paul Urges Us Because God has Given Us the Privilege & Because People Need Our Prayers and God Listens Martin Luther once said, “If I were to say the Lord’s Prayer and really concentrate on each word without my mind wandering, I would consider myself a truly pious man. In fact, if anyone can pray the Lord’s Prayer just once without any distraction, I will give him a horse! Although I suppose the moment he gets to 'Our Father,' he’ll already be thinking about how to get the saddle and bridle too.” Luther’s point was that keeping our attention on what we are praying can be difficult. It can also be difficult to even know what prayer really is and what it’s for because we haven’t paid close attention to what God says about it. But we are going to do that this morning. We’re going to give our undivided attention to the gift of prayer that God has given to us. Prayer can be a tricky thing. On one hand, it’s as simple as talking to God. But there’s also more to it than you might think! Maybe these examples of things I’ve heard will give you an idea. • Someone once shared with me that they felt selfish praying for themselves, so they only prayed for others. • More than one person has admitted that they don’t know how to pray. • Any number of people have been under the false impression that God speaks to us when we pray. • Another was curious about “ganging up on God” when we say prayers together in church. I was never quite certain if he needed to hear the answer again—or he just thought it was funny. Because putting it that way kinda’ is! Maybe you’re even wondering about some of these kinds of things right now. They’re actually related to what’s in front of us today. Let’s get our bearings though before we start talking about prayer. The Apostle Paul wrote to a young pastor, Timothy, to give him direction as he ministered to God’s people. In this portion of his letter, Paul is giving instructions about the public worship of his people. So, this is not about our personal, individual prayers; this is about prayers in church. However, what God says here and from what he says elsewhere in his Word, these are exactly the kind of prayer things he wants his people to be doing in their personal lives of faith. He wants us all to know that we have the invitation, the expectation, the gift to go to God in prayer, and that he has a purpose for it.