Honor widows who are truly widows.
– 1 Timothy 5:3
There’s a lot we could talk about here in 1 Timothy 5. Paul spends a lot of time in this chapter on this command to honor widows. I just want you to let that soak in today.
1 Timothy 5:3 Teaches Us God Honors Widows
Well, first, for those of you who are widows, know that God loves you deeply. God honors you and cherishes you. Psalm 68 says Father to the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. This is how God defines himself in that verse, as a protector of widows. This is who he is. Oh, I just hope you hear this right now. Whether your spouse has died recently or a long time ago, God is your protector. He is your provider. The Lord desires to give you everything you need amidst the pain, heartache, and so many other emotions. I’m thinking of my own mom here. Just for every widow, hear God saying he honors you. He calls his church to be a picture of his honor for you.
For us as the church, this is a command from our God to honor widows. We are to be intentional. To love widows, care for widows. To be a picture of his love to widows. I think about a precious woman in our church family who, I won’t go into details here, but just recently lost her husband in a tragic, unexpected way, and we as the church want to be a picture of God’s honor for her. For all of us in the body of Christ to be intentional along these lines, I preached on this just recently in our church family from James 1, that this is religion that is pure and undefiled before God, our father, to visit orphans and widows in their affliction. That word visit doesn’t just mean to say hello, it means to care for and look after as our own family.
1 Timothy 5:3 Teaches Us the Church is to Honor Widows
That’s the picture in James 1, and I just want to encourage us to live this out as the body of Christ. I’ve seen the fruit of this when I think about my amazing mom, when I see I hope what our family is around her, but also the family of God, the body of Christ. I’m so thankful for the church. We pray, God help us as your people to reflect your love, your honor, and your care for widows.
We pray specifically today that you would use us today to be an encouragement to a widow and not just today as a one-off, but God, we pray that as your church, you would help us to be a reflection of your character to those who are widows among us with honor for them. God, we pray right now for widows we know, God, we pray for their strength, for their joy, for their peace, and for their hope in you.
Lord, we pray for your provision over them in every way they need. God, we pray that you would help them as you honor them, that you would protect them just as you say you will in Psalm 68. God, show yourself as the protector of widows in your holy habitation. We intercede for your blessing on widows around us, and we pray that you would help us to be a picture of your blessing.
Prayer for the Katang People
God, as we pray for this, and we think about unreached people, about the Katang people in Laos who’ve never heard the good news of your grace in your mercy, and we think about widows among the Katang people who are going through grief with no knowledge of the gospel. God, we pray for the spread of the gospel to the Katang people, that they might have hope in grieving. Specifically for widows, God, we pray today for widows among the Katang people that they would know you honor them, you love them, and you sent your son to die on a cross so that they could have hope and eternal life in you.
God, we pray as we think about thousands of people groups, billions of people around the world who go through grief and loss in this world without the gospel, God, we pray that the gospel would spread to them, and we pray that you would use our lives to get the gospel to them, that they might know, specifically widows, that you are their protector in your holy habitation, that you have sent your son Jesus to die for them. Oh God, we pray all of this in Jesus’ name according to 1 Timothy 5:3. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
