September 19, 2025

Today's Reading: 1 Timothy 2:1-6

Daily Lectionary: Nehemiah 2:11-20; 4:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:1-15

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:1-6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Following the teachings of Scripture is not always an easy task. We are encouraged, and even commanded, to pray, think well of, and even give thanks for people we might not necessarily want to. In the book of 1 Timothy, Paul writes that we are to give thanks and pray for our leaders and others who rule over us. At the time of this writing, that would have been the government of the Roman Empire, the very same empire that was actively persecuting Christians. Yet, God still placed the rulers in charge, even if His reasons are unknown to man. Through rulers, good and bad, the Lord provides for His creatures. We are to give thanks to God for the things he accomplishes through them, and to pray that God would guide them away from evil deeds. But we are to pray for them in a different way, as well. We are told in our reading for today that we are to pray for our rulers and for all people because the Lord desires for all people to believe. We pray for the good and the evil, for the people we agree with and the people that we disagree with, for the people we know well and people who are strangers to us, that all may know and call upon the name of our Lord. When we are faced with enemies in this world, we are called to remember that they, too, were created by God and that He desires to be reconciled with them. It is not an easy task to love your enemy or to pray for the one who persecutes you, but it is what we are called to do as ones who have already been reconciled with God. We do all of this only through the grace of Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed for all people.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Teach us the lesson Thou hast taught: To feel for those Thy blood hath bought, That ev'ry word and deed and thought May work a work for Thee. (LSB 852:3)

Rev. Benjamin Heinz, pastor of Athens Lutheran Church in Athens, TN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

Join author R. Reed Lessing helps with this chapter-by-chapter exploration of the Book of Numbers in Hope in the Wilderness. With helpful maps, diagrams, and connections to the rest of the Bible, you’ll be able to understand the beauty of Numbers.