Pray for the Rest of Mankind

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. 1 TIMOTHY 2:1

Ignatius’s letters are full of prayer. He asks for it in every one of them: prayer for himself, that he might reach his goal; prayer for the church he had left in Syria; prayer for one another. He urges the churches to pray together often. And, most strikingly, he urges them to pray for their enemies and for the whole world outside the church. For a man in chains, surrounded by soldiers and on his way to a public death, this is a remarkable breadth of heart.

Praying for those outside

In the letter to the Ephesians, just before the passage about answering wrath with meekness, Ignatius writes: “And pray ye also without ceasing for the rest of mankind (for there is in them a hope of repentance), that they may find God. Therefore permit them to take lessons at least from your works.”

Notice the reason he gives. There is hope of repentance in them. The world outside the church was not, for Ignatius, a lost cause to be written off. The people who mocked and persecuted Christians might yet find God. So the church must pray for them without ceasing, and live in such a way that, even if they will not listen to Christian words, they can learn from Christian deeds.

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. 1 PETER 2:12

This is the same Ignatius who writes so fiercely about false teachers. Yet even for them he asks prayer. Of the Docetists in Smyrna, whom he would not have the church receive, he says: “only pray ye for them, if haply they may repent. This indeed is difficult, but Jesus Christ, our true life, hath power over it.” He admits that it is hard. He does not pretend that such people will easily change. But he believes that Christ has power even over this, and so he prays.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 PETER 3:9

The church for which he prayed

The prayer that runs through all seven letters is for the church in Syria. Ignatius had been taken from it by force, and he did not know what would become of it. Again and again he asks the churches to remember it. “Pray for the church which is in Syria,” he tells the Ephesians; he asks the Magnesians to remember it so that it might be refreshed “by the dew of your fervent supplication”. To the Romans he writes, with great tenderness, that the church in Syria now “hath God for its shepherd in my stead. Jesus Christ alone shall be its bishop — He and your love.”

That sentence says a great deal about Ignatius. He had pressed obedience to the bishop more than anyone. But when he was taken from his own flock, he did not despair, because he knew who the true Shepherd was. He committed his church to Christ, and asked others to pray.

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. JOHN 10:14

Prayer answered

Then, somewhere between Smyrna and Troas, the news came. The church in Antioch had peace. Ignatius did not doubt why. He told the Philadelphians that it had come “in answer to your prayer and to the tender sympathy which ye have in Christ Jesus.” He told the Smyrnaeans that the church had been reaching a haven “through your prayers”. And he asked each church to send a messenger to Antioch to rejoice with it.

Here is a lesson in how to receive answered prayer. Ignatius did not simply feel relief. He gave thanks, he gave the credit to God and to the prayers of the churches, and he turned the answer into fresh fellowship between the churches. Answered prayer is meant to lead to rejoicing together.

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. ROMANS 12:15

Praying together

Ignatius also urged the churches to pray together, and often. “Do your diligence therefore to meet together more frequently for thanksgiving to God and for His glory,” he told the Ephesians. “For when ye meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are cast down; and his mischief cometh to nought in the concord of your faith.” To the Magnesians he wrote that there should be “one prayer in common, one supplication, one mind, one hope”. And he asked a pointed question: if the prayer of one or two has such power, “how much more that of the bishop and of the whole Church.”

Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. MATTHEW 18:19

He believed that a praying church is a church the devil cannot easily overcome. Where Christians gather in one mind before God, the enemy’s schemes come to nothing. This is not a matter of numbers but of unity; it is the concord of faith that defeats him.

Asking for prayer

Finally, Ignatius was not too proud to ask for prayer himself. Nearly every letter ends with a request. He asks the Romans to “supplicate the Lord for me”, that he might be found a sacrifice to God. He asks the Trallians to pray that he might not be found reprobate. He asks the Philadelphians’ prayer to make him perfect. A bishop, honoured by all the churches of Asia, openly confessed his need of their prayers.

Brethren, pray for us. 1 THESSALONIANS 5:25

There is a lesson here for any Christian, and especially for those who lead. It is humbling to ask for prayer. It means admitting that we are weak and that we need others. Ignatius did it without embarrassment, and it was one of the ways the churches were bound together in love around him.

A wider heart

To read Ignatius on prayer is to be rebuked for the narrowness of our own. Our prayers are often small, bounded by our own needs and those of our family and friends. His reached to churches he had never seen, to a city he had been dragged away from, to enemies of the faith and to the whole of mankind. He was a prisoner, but his prayers were free.

FOR REFLECTION AND ACTION

1. Make a list of three people outside the church whom you will pray for daily this month, trusting that there is in them a hope of repentance.

2. Think of someone who has opposed or hurt you because of your faith. Pray for them by name, as Ignatius asked the Smyrnaeans to pray for the false teachers.

3. Choose a church in a difficult place and commit to praying for it every week, as the churches prayed for Antioch.

4. When God answers a prayer, tell someone who prayed with you, and give thanks together.

5. Ask someone to pray for you this week about a real need, without embarrassment.

A PRAYER

Father in heaven, You are not willing that any should perish, and You have commanded us to pray for all people.

Enlarge my heart to pray for those outside Your church, for those who oppose You, and for the whole of mankind, that they may find You.

Thank You for every prayer You have answered, and for the brothers and sisters who have prayed for me.

Make Your church a praying people, one in mind and heart, so that the schemes of the enemy come to nothing and Your name is glorified. Amen.