Oke, verse 3 today!

Here you can find the text I'm reading:

2 Timothy 1: 3, “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.”

Interesting points:
1. Beginning with this verse, Paul encourages Timothy to remain courageous in the face of hardship, underlining two important points: that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament and that Paul regularly prays for Timothy.

2. By declaring that he has a clear conscience in serving the same God his Jewish ancestors did, Paul underlines that Jesus Christ does not represent a break/deviation from Gods relationship with His people nor His sovereign plan but that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promise! This means that he does not see his faith as a religion separate from Judaism; rather, his viewpoint is that the Messiah promised in the Scriptures has already arrived in the form of Jesus! This reinforces to Timothy that the one, eternal God is the same one they are serving – the one with a covenant with Abraham.

3. As the Jewish day starts in the evening, when Paul states he is praying “night and day”, he is communicating that he prays throughout the day, each day for Timothy (who struggled with his health and insecurity/timidity). What a wonderful reassurance it would be for Timothy to know that his mentor diligently covered him in prayer each day, interceding on his behalf!


Application.
Brothers, Romans 11:24 tells us we are grafted into the olive tree of faith corroborating what we read here. By Christ’s death and resurrection, we believers have been adopted into God’s chosen people – not as Jews but as gentile believers!
The other lesson we can take from this verse is the power of covering each other in prayer every day and several times a day as God lays someone on our heart. We can attest to the faithfulness of God; His empowerment, anointing and power; and the fact He answers our prayers for each other. The church’s intercessory prayer team, a men’s prayer group and our own sincere and earnest prayers have a way of both showing God’s hand at work before our eyes and deepening our faith by demonstrating He is exactly who He says He is!

May we be encouraged in our study of the Old Testament scriptures, in our prayer life and in the reassurance that we are being raised up in prayer each and every day – for we are all deeply loved!