'I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboureth.'

'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.'

'I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.'

'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.'

'Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.'

Don't be misled by the so-called sinner's prayer so often quoted today. It generates mainly deluded and nominal 'Christians'. The real thing is the prayer provided by Christ. If this is sincerely prayed, the seeker will surely find the Lord.

The apostle urges four forms of prayer for all groups and classes of unbelievers as the vital foundation of all Gospel witness. Here also is the purpose of prayer for rulers, and the degrees of sympathy and desire that undergirds all intercessory prayer.

'The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.'

'Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.'

Paul's directions to Timothy are not only a tremendous challenge to preachers, but they apply to all believers, conveying the seriousness of our mission and the promises of God that sustain us. Here are the measures to keep alive faith and a good conscience.