Verse of the Day 7/22

Verse of the Day 7/22

1 Timothy 2:8  I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;   English Standard Version (ESV)

As I read today's verse it brought to mind the lack of emphasis on prayer in many churches today.  It seems that it has been crowded out by other things.  When it becomes so in the church it will likely cross over to our individual lives as well.

In today's verse, Paul indicates that he wants men to pray with raised hands.  Before we focus on the "raised hands" we should consider his advice to Timothy that men should pray.  The posture involved is not the most important thing, it is the attitude, the condition of the heart that it comes from that is most important.

The verse also reminds me of a passage in Isaiah where men were lifting their hands in prayer but they were hands with "blood on them".  They weren't pure, they weren't right before God.  The term "holy" here means unpolluted or unstained by evil,  prayers offered "not with shaking fists" (The Message) but with "holy hands with a pure heart" would be another way to describe it.

Whether corporately or individually the prayers should be offered because God is still listening.

I will never understand how the words of mortal man
Can reach the ears of One so pure
And touch His heart, but they do I'm sure
For God is great, and God is good and He is love

God, our Father, once again I bow my head to pray
You are my Father and my Friend, and You hear every word I say
A pray for forgiveness, a desperate cry for help
Or praise flowing from a thankful heart
Like each time before, I come knowing You're still listening
Still listening  (Still Listening - Steven Curtis Chapman)

 Let us "lift holy hands" in prayer today and this Sunday in church.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

1 Timothy 2:8-10The Message (MSG)

^8-10 Since prayer is at the bottom of all this, what I want mostly is for men to pray—not shaking angry fists at enemies but raising holy hands to God. And I want women to get in there with the men in humility before God, not primping before a mirror or chasing the latest fashions but doing something beautiful for God and becoming beautiful doing it.