I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. [1 Timothy 2.1-4]
As I began my reading today, my first inclination was to write about what I read in the book of James (part of today's reading) in regard to double-mindedness. However, as I read on through the day's reading and came to the passage above in 1 Timothy, I realized where my focus needed to be!
Our first priority should be to pray for people. Jesus said (Matthew 6.33) that we should seek first the Kingdom of God. These two statements are not in conflict but rather are very much the same. When we pray for people, we are in fact seeking God and His Kingdom. Paul told Timothy to pray for people - and people are the commodity of the Kingdom of God! If we are genuinely praying for people, then we are fully and accurately seeking first the Kingdom of God.
The temptation is to become preoccupied with praying for ourselves. But that is why Jesus made His Matthew 6.33 statement - everything we would pray for ourselves is taken care of when we seek and put God's Kingdom first! Not distantly associated with this directive is the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you... In fact, Kingdom principle is putting others first - it starts by praying for them.
Father, help me not lose sight of praying for others as a first priority and then knowing, when I have done so, that You have everything else taken care of!
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