"At all times [we] ought to pray. "
Luke 18:1
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Read It: 1 Timothy 2:1-2
If prayer was top priority in the life of Jesus Christ, guess what ought to .be top priority in the Church He purchased with His blood? You could answer that just by reading today's verse or our text for the day. Paul was writing to Timothy, his son in the faith, who happened to be the pastor of the church in the great city of Ephesus. Paul wanted Timothy to understand how the church works, so he began with the important stuff: prayer. Paul wanted to make sure that as pastor of the church at Ephesus, Timothy understood that prayer gets things going. Paul was saying, "Timothy, before you do anything else, pray. Before you teach anything else, teach your people how to pray." Why? Because if God is not on your side, you are in trouble before you ever leave the starting blocks. Most of us understand this intellectually because we will say a quick, little prayer as we are running out the door in the morning. We say grace before a meal. We open our church services with prayer. They even open sessions of Congress with prayer. But too few of us grasp the full importance of prayer, either for us as individuals or for the life of the church. Paul didn't want Timothy to be misled or misinformed about the place of prayer in the church. As a pastor I really feel the weight of what Paul is saying.
We in the church dare not fool ourselves into thinking that we can make things happen pen without prayer. It doesn't really matter how much the pastor preaches if the church is not a praying church. It doesn't matter how well the choir sings or how nice the church looks. It had better be a praying church. That's why the services at our church start with the call to worship, when we urge God's people to pray and prepare to meet Him. See, that's what you're doing when you come to church. You aren't coming to hear a sermon or a good song. You are coming to meet God. The pastor and the choir are vehicles through which God can speak to you, but they are not substitutes for prayer. Think About It Before anyone else talks to you about God, He wants to talk to you Himself in prayer.
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