{"id":1662,"date":"2019-01-25T20:00:21","date_gmt":"2019-01-26T03:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=1662"},"modified":"2019-01-20T17:06:12","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T00:06:12","slug":"1_timothy2a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1_timothy2a\/","title":{"rendered":"Devote Yourself to Prayer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\ufeff<\/span>

1 Timothy 2:1-7\u00a0 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is 1 Timothy 2:1-7.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 2:1-3 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–
\n2\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
\n3\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>This is good, and pleases God our Savior,\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-3: \u00a0It is good and pleasing to God when we devote ourselves to prayer. In fact, when you read Paul’s letters, a running theme is his devotion to prayer (see for example Ephesians 6:18-20; Colossians 4:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; and Philemon 1:4-6).\u00a0 These verses are a reminder that we ought to devote ourselves to prayer, praying often and praying for everyone we meet or think about, including our leaders.<\/p>\n

Paul was ambitious and incredibly hard working, but he depended so much on prayer — his own prayer life and the prayers of his supporters. \u00a0\u00a0Just as prayer and intimacy with God were the power source of Paul’s ministry, prayer and intimacy with God need to be the power source of our lives as well. \u00a0<\/strong>As Pastor Yang of Torch Covenant Church says, “No prayer, no power.\u00a0 Little prayer, little power.\u00a0 Much prayer, much power!”<\/p>\n

With that in mind,\u00a0pray often.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Also, get ready to join us for our first mid-week prayer meeting at\u00a06:30pm-7:45pm\u00a0Wednesday, September 20\u00a0at THRIVE Centre!<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 Timothy 2:4 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n4\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 4: \u00a0“How could a loving God send anyone to hell?” is a common question critics of Christianity will sometimes ask.\u00a0 But as we see in verse 4,\u00a0God’s desire is that everyone be saved.\u00a0 God does not delight in sending anyone to hell.\u00a0 Rather, hell is the place people choose when they reject God and His provision for their sin, God’s Son Jesus Christ. \u00a0<\/strong>
\nSo it’s not so much that God sends people to hell, and more so that people reject God by refusing His offer of forgiveness and heaven through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In so doing, the only place left for them to go is a place without God, which is the definition of hell.\u00a0 In this way, people who reject God choose hell for themselves.<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 2:5-7 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
\n6\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.
\n7\u00a0<\/span><\/sup>And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle–I am telling the truth, I am not lying–and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-7: Because God wants all people to be saved, He sent Jesus Christ as a ransom for\u00a0all people\u00a0<\/em>(v6).\u00a0 The same provision, the same offer of forgiveness and the same opportunity to receive Jesus are given to everyone.\u00a0 The question is: what will you do with the offer God has given you?<\/p>\n

Because God gives us the freedom to choose, God will not force you to receive His Son Jesus.\u00a0 He waits for us to make that choice.\u00a0 But verse 5 makes clear\u00a0there is only one mediator who can reconcile us to God, the God-man Jesus Christ.\u00a0 No one else can do what Jesus does.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, may we as a church be devoted to prayer, for prayer is good, pleases You, and empowers us.\u00a0 Thank You for being a loving, gracious and compassionate God who wants all people to be saved.\u00a0 Thank You for making a way through Your Son Jesus so that all of us have that opportunity to be saved.\u00a0 Help us, like Paul, to be true, faithful and effective messengers of Your gospel to those around us.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\ufeff<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today’s passage is 1 Timothy 2:1-7.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 2:1-3 (NIV)\u00a0
\n1\u00a0I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone–\u00a0
\n2\u00a0for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.\u00a0
\n3\u00a0This is good, and pleases God our Savior,\u00a0<\/p>\n

On verses 1-3: \u00a0It is good and pleasing to God when we devote ourselves to prayer. In fact, when you read Paul’s letters, a running theme is his devotion to prayer (see for example Ephesians 6:18-20; Colossians 4:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2; and Philemon 1:4-6).\u00a0 These verses are a reminder that we ought to devote ourselves to prayer, praying often and praying for everyone we meet or think about, including our leaders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1662"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1665,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662\/revisions\/1665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}