Remembrance in Prayers 2 Timothy 1:3

As Paul the apostle came nearer to his appointment with death, he wrote his final letter to Timothy his “dearly beloved son” whom he blessed with a greeting of “grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” In chapter one and verse three of his letter, Paul shared how he remembered Timothy “without ceasing” in his prayer for him. We read:

I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;

The verse begins, “I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience,...” Paul began with, “I thank God” which is the Greek phrase “echō charis theos” and means “I hold that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech, good will, loving-kindness and favor toward God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who is the one and only true God” “whom I serve” or “minister to as a servant or slave” “from my forefathers” or “those born before or ancestors” “with pure” which is “clean, free from corrupt desire, sin, guilt, every admixture of what is false, sincere, genuine, blameless, innocent and unstained with the guilt of anything” “conscience” or “the soul as distinguishing between what is morally good and bad and prompting to do the former and shun the latter which is commending one and condemning the other”. Paul declared that without any stain of remission from his following statement he kept what he is about to state.

The verse goes on to say, “...that without ceasing I have remembrance of you in my prayers night and day;” Paul continued, “that without ceasing” which means “intermittently and continually” “I have remembrance” or “memory and mention” “of you” which refers to “Timothy” “in my prayers” which were “seeking, asking and entreating God” “night and day” or “during the nighttime and during the daytime”. In other words, Paul continually prayed for Timothy and remembered him throughout the daytime and the nighttime as he interceded for him in prayer.

When we meditate upon Paul's words, let us allow ourselves to be in Paul's position for a while. Is there anyone whom we care for so deeply that they are in our “prayers day and night”? Do we have a “pure conscience” concerning our care for them before our Heavenly Father? There is no doubt Paul had great love and concern for his “dearly beloved son” Timothy, and by allowing ourselves to imagine this depth of love, we too may find those whom we remember in our “prayers night and day” as well. May the Lord Jesus help us to know the depth of this love for others, and may we become continual agents of prayer for them as we do.

Next time we will see how Paul “greatly” desired to see Timothy, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.