To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, the honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
– 1 Timothy 1:17
It’s really good to read God’s Word and to pray for things in our lives and to pray for things in others’ lives based on God’s Word, and we do that often in this podcast. But it’s also really good just to praise God according to his Word, just to spend time exalting God, adoring God, worshiping God, seeking God, praising him for who he is based on his Word, which is what we read in 1 Timothy 1:17.
1 Timothy 1:17 Is An Amazing Eruption of Praise and Worship
Paul just erupts to the King of the ages. And keep in mind, he’s just been talking about how Christ Jesus just came into the world to save sinners. Paul says, “Of whom I’m the foremost, Jesus has saved me. He’s been patient with me.” Jesus Christ has displayed his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Like aren’t we all thankful for the patience of God with us, for the saving power of God in our lives? So Paul just erupts and he says, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
This is a vital part of our prayer lives, that we spend time with the Lord just praising him. Just picture woman at the feet of Jesus, just pouring out an offering at his feet, just adoring him and love for him and adoration of him. This is a fundamental part of what prayer is. Prayer is not just asking for things. Prayer is ascribing, glory, and honor, and praise and worship to God. And the beauty is God deserves this, and we are made for this.
1 Timothy 1:17 Encourages Us to Praise God Wholeheartedly
Our hearts find deep pleasure in gazing on the glory of God. That’s why the Psalmist would say in Psalm 27, “One thing I ask, Lord, this is what I seek more than anything else in this world, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord, to dwell in his holy place.” Psalm 84, “Better is one day in the courts of the Lord than a thousand elsewhere. I just want to be with God. Oh, I just want to see God. I want to know God, and I want to worship God.” And so can we just do that in prayer based on 1 Timothy 1:17?
Oh God, you are the King of the ages. You are the God who rules over all time from age to age, and you are constant. You’re the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and you never change. You are unchanging in all of your attributes and all of your perfect. Your power is unchanging, your glory is unchanging. Lord, your love is unchanging. Your worth is unchanging. Your majesty is unchanging. You are the King of the ages, immortal over time, invisible. You are the only God. All the gods of the nations are idols.
Prayer for the Unreached
As we pray for unreached people groups in India and places in the world where hundreds of millions of gods are worshiped, as we pray for unreached people groups in Muslim areas where Jesus, you are not exalted as God and Savior, we say you are the only Savior. You are the only God. We want the nations to know you are the only God. We want to worship you as the only God in our lives. God forgive us for our idolatry, for wanting other things other than you ultimately. God, you are the only God and to you belong, honor and glory forever and ever, for all of eternity, we will praise your name. For all of eternity, we will discover more glory in you because your glory is infinite.
Oh God, we worship you with awe, with reverence, fear, adoration with the love and the affection. We praise you for the privilege of being your children. Lord, we praise you for knowing you, the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God to whom honoring glory forever and ever belongs. We know you as our father and as our friend, and as our comforter, as our helper. Oh God, you are our life. You’re our joy. You’re our peace. You are our everything. We worship you. God, we love you. We want to love you with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength.
Prayer for God-Honoring Lives
God, we pray that you would help us to love and honor, worship and seek you with all of our hearts. And then God, we pray that you would be glorified in our lives today. Help us to live today in a way that points people to you, the King of the ages. Lord, help us to speak today in a way that points people to you as the only God. Help us to live today in everything we do to bring you honor and glory. Oh God, we praise you according to your word in 1 Timothy 1:17. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
