Holy Hands

Tuesday with Timothy #15

1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.

Paul wills that men pray everywhere and when Paul wills, it isn’t his personal preference, but apostolic authority. The male members of the church are to lead the church in prayer, which ruffles the feathers of those who rebel against the created order. The men of the Lord’s church ought to be thankful to have such a wonderful task such as leading in prayer and it should be looked upon as a privilege to serve the church in such a manner. If we go back for a moment and consider the “all men” argument and that “all” means every person without exception, what does “every where” mean? If we are consistent, it means that Paul wants men to go to every square inch of planet earth and pray. But I digress, the point is that men are to be men of prayer and the worship of God is to be done in prayer.

Men are to lead in the public prayer and it needs to be holy men to lead the people in prayer. Saved men, serving the Lord in His righteousness, are to lead God’s people to the throne of grace. Don't get sidetracked into putting the emphasis on the wrong word. Lifting up holy hands isn’t the point of the passage. The point is that holy men should lead in prayer. In the Old Testament, men prayed and as  they did, they stood and lifted their hands (Isa 1:15; 2 Chronicles 6:12; 1 Kings 8:22; Ex. 9:33), which I believe is a sign of intercessory prayer.They were praying for the congregation. Remember, that chapter two began with the command for the church to pray for others.

The prayer should be in light of the gospel truths that God saves all sorts of men. We should pray that God would save our enemies, not calling down fire from Heaven in wrath. Our prayers for our leaders (1 Tim 2:2)  shouldn’t be imprecatory prayers but that God would save them. These prayers should be done without doubting that possibility. With faith we should pray everywhere, for all men, that God would save them. We should pray everywhere with a gracious heart and not doubt that God hears our prayers. We should pray everywhere with a tender heart, not doubting that God will answer our prayers.