Over the years of writing these posts, I have discussed the importance of prayer on many occasions. However, since it is a foundational element of our spiritual journey, we are going to head that way again. Please do not stop reading because you have heard it all before. We are going to discover an element of our lives that might unknowingly impact the effectiveness of our prayer.
The simple instruction on which this discussion is based is found in the Apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy. When Paul was setting off on a mission trip to Macedonia, he instructed his young partner, Timothy, to care for the church at Ephesus. This was a tough assignment for an inexperienced Pastor. The church was dealing with false teaching. They had attempted to blend their Chirstian belief system with Gnosticism, decadent forms of Judaism, and false asceticism. The letters Paul wrote to Timothy were to provide encouragement and a strong theological base to use in combating the false teachers.
In this context we find a simple, yet profound teaching about prayer. 1 Timothy 2:8, I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing. In these few words, Paul gives us two aspects of our lives that must be in place for our prayers to be effective. These are not patterns to follow in prayer, but heart issues that need to be permanently embedded in who we are.
The first is a positive characteristic to be pursued. He is calling men to lift up holy hands in prayer. This instruction is not a mandate to adopt a particular body posture in prayer. Simply lifting one’s hands as we pray is not impressive to God. The key word is holy. This is a symbolic phrase to help us understand the position of our hearts when we come into God’s presence.
Holiness before God has two aspects. From God’s perspective, I am made perfectly holy when I come in humility and faith to ask forgiveness for my sin and commit my life to Jesus. I am made a new creation, my sin is gone, I am covered by the blood of Jesus. When God looks at me, he sees the holiness of Christ. This is referred to as positional holiness.
The second is experiential holiness. This is the person I know that I am and that others see. Since the sin of Adam is passed on to us, we have a sin nature and are constantly fighting against the attempts of Satan tempt us into sin. We will never reach perfection in this life in how we live out the holiness that God provides, however, he encourages us to imitate Christ. This happens through consistent evaluation. We know when we are falling into temptation. We also can ask God’s Spirit to reveal areas of failure. When these creep into our lives, God does not remove his holiness from us, but asks us to confess our sin so it is not hindering our relationship. When we are free of known sin in our lives through confession and repentance, we can lift up holy hands in prayer.
This reveals the other message Paul has in this verse. It is the same teaching but from the other side. When he says we must come without anger or disputing, he is again dealing with the sin that gets in the way of our communication.
Bottom line, we are called to be men of prayer and the effectiveness of our prayer is determined by the freedom we have from the bondage of sin. Again, this is more for our benefit than for God’s. If I have had an argument with my wife or a friend and know I have mistreated and hurt them, it is difficult to go to them and express my love and care until I have cleared the air by asking for forgiveness. This is the point. Clear the air with God so we can freely express our praise and make our requests known. It is a very practical formula for powerful prayer.