Be Still And Know

1 Timothy 2:1 'I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.' Although the number of people who attend church services is constantly shrinking, it is very good to see that prayer isn’t going out of fashion. It’s often assumed that people pray as they get older, however a ComRes opinion poll in 2021 revealed that twice as many people in the 18-34 age group prayed, compared with those aged over 55. But the question is: what do we do when we pray? In our verse today Paul encourages Timothy to have the right focus in his prayers. Our natural condition is to be self- centred, and so it is very easy for us to see prayer in an entirely selfish way. We pray for ourselves, our happiness, our health, our family, our future and so on. All of those things are perfectly proper subjects for prayer but if they become the exclusive focus, something has gone seriously wrong. Paul reminds Timothy that the priority of his prayer life needs to