Praying on Behalf of All Men to be Saved and Come to the Full Knowledge of the Truth

I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men (1 Tim. 2:1).

Don’t make any decisions without praying; rather, seek the Lord’s will in prayer and be one with Him to do things according to His leading within.

Prayer is more important than anything else, and prayer is more important than work. If we take the lead to transform all our talking into praying, the church life will be transformed, uplifted, and vitalized!

God wants us to pray on behalf of all men because He as the Savior God desires all men to be save and to come to the full knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). For God’s desire to be accomplished, our prayer is required.

We need to offer God petitions (specific prayers), intercessions (approaching God in a personal manner to intervene in others’ life for their benefit), and thanksgivings (thanking God for all things).

As we pray, we will have the sense from the Lord to pray on behalf of particular people and situations, and the Lord will have a way to operate in them to cause them to grow in life and go on with Him.

Lord Jesus, may we be those who pray first! Remind us to pray. Save us from not praying first. Lord, show us Your desire to save all men and the importance of our prayer for Your desire to be accomplished. Lord, save all men! Lord, bring all men to the full knowledge of the truth!

Praying on Behalf of All Men

The first order of things in the church life is prayer. We need to pay as much attention to prayer as we pay attention to the Spirit and the Word. Prayer has priority over all, including the administration of the church, the shepherding of the saints, and the opening up of God’s economy (1 Tim. 1:4).

We need to turn all information, all gossip, all talk, all newspaper reading, and all things into prayer!

“Recently, my activity was limited for a time so that I could rest and care for my health. When I heard about certain needs, I prayed for them. Perhaps the Lord limited me that He might impress me with the fact that prayer is more important than work. May we all learn the lesson that the way to have a good church life is to pray. This is crucial. If our talking is turned into praying, the church in our locality will be transformed” (Life-study of 1 Timothy, p. 28).

There is a difference between “praying for the president” and “praying on behalf of the president” (1 Tim. 2:1). Paul encourages us to pray on behalf of the people in power and for kings – this means that the president / the prime minister may pray, but he doesn’t pray enough, so we pray on his behalf.

We pray as the prime minister ought to pray. We don’t pray necessarily for his health, for him to be re-elected, etc, but we pray for what he ought to pray but he didn’t. When we pray those prayers, we act as a priest on his behalf. We pray, Lord, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done in this country!

We are the priest and he is the king – and we are one in prayer. If the church is not here praying on behalf of the king and those in authority, nobody will be praying for the situation!

Tertullian once said, While you are persecuting us, we are your priests praying for you, and if we don’t pray for you no one will! In a sense, we are higher than all human power because we are acting as the priests of God praying on behalf of the kings and all those who are in high position.

We don’t pray in a presumptuous way, but we pray one with the Lord on behalf of the president / prime-minister / governors / council men and all people in high positions, praying as they ought to pray!

Petitions, Prayers, Intercessions, and Thanksgivings

We need to pray all kinds of prayers: general prayers for worshiping God and fellowshipping with Him, special prayers for particular needs (petitions), prayers that intervene before God in others’ affairs for their benefit, prayers approaching God in a personal and confiding manner to interfere with others’ affairs and bring them back to God (intercessions), etc.

Also, we need to give thanks to the Lord for all things. Don’t praise men when something good happens – praise and thank God from whom all good things come. If some saints are doing really well, thank the Lord; if the church is going on strongly, thank the Lord!

Also, we need to pray for God’s will to be done and His kingdom to come in countries that are still open to the gospel. We need to pray to restrain the mystery of lawlessness in those countries that are closed and are opposing God’s will.

We need to pray for the overthrowing of the power of darkness domestically in our country and internationally all over the earth. We can clearly see that the world situation is becoming what the Bible describes it as it would be, and the only people that will intercede for the situation is the church!

The church has a unique ministry, the ministry of prayer, to pray on behalf of all men and for all things, that God’s desire would be accomplished on the earth!

Praying for God’s Desire to Save All Men

God’s desire is that none would perish but would be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth (John 3:14-16; 1 Tim. 2:4). For this, we need to pray on behalf of all men that they would be quiet and tranquil in their being and be saved.

There is no place in the Bible saying we should pray for the wars and social struggle to stop; rather, outwardly the things go as they go, but we pray for a situation that will allow us to be quiet and tranquil inwardly that we may be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth.

We should pray on behalf of all men because our Savior God desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth; our prayer is required for the carrying out of God’s desire (1 Tim. 2:4).

Pray for those in war, that they may be quiet and tranquil to know the Lord. The white horse of the gospel is running together with the red horse of war.

Pray for all men to “calm down inwardly”, be quiet before the Lord, and know Him personally. Freedom and peace outwardly may not be what will help people to calm down inwardly and be quiet and tranquil to know God.

When we know God inwardly and come to the full knowledge of the truth, we will have godliness toward God and honor and respect before men – a God-man living.

Why? Because God desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth! On the campus, at home, our neighbors, in the big mansions, in the council houses, in the countryside, in the cities, on the bus, on the tube, while driving on the motorway, at work, at school, on the street, etc all these people need to be prayed for to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth.

God needs us as the church to be the “echo chamber” to echo His will on earth. Our prayer is required for God’s desire to be carried out. And this is good and acceptable in the sight of the Lord, because Christ is our Mediator who even gave Himself as a ransom on behalf of all (1 Tim. 2:5).

Christ always lives to intercede on behalf of all men, and the Spirit prays in us on our behalf; we simply cooperate with Him and become His reproduction on earth to do the same on behalf of all men!

Lord Jesus, open our eyes to see All Men and pray on behalf of all men! We want Your desire to save all men to be fulfilled. Lord, teach us to pray on behalf of the people in high positions and in authority. May Your kingdom come in the UK, in Spain, in France, in Austria, in Germany, in Romania, in Italy, in Portugal, in Ireland, in Scotland, in Sweden, and in all European countries. Lord, Your kingdom come and Your will be done!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Andrew Yu’s speaking in this message and portions in, Life-study of 1 Timothy (msg. 3), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Prayer and the Lord’s Move, week 6 (entitled, A Praying Church in the Unique Stream of the Work of God).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Let us work together with the Lord through prayer, / Praying every time and everywhere. / He will not accomplish His will on His own; / Seek Him ‘till His purpose is made known.
  # Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord, I care not how, / But stir my heart in passion for the world, / Stir me to give, to go, but most to pray.
  # Rescue the perishing, / Care for the dying, / Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; / Weep o’er the erring one, / Lift up the fallen, / Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.
• Pictures source: with permission via, Inspiration Unlimited (Prayer and the Lord’s Move set).