IBS Application for 1 Peter 4:7

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”

This verse is fairly easy to understand, I think. Peter, knowing that the world and the things of the world are going to pass away, decides that it would be wise to inform and advise the dispersed Church of this truth to encourage them and give them a command as to how they ought to live in response to this.

The command in this verse is essentially to live a prayerful life for the Lord. There’s something to be said about a man who prays in such a manner, who thinks about those people and things outside of himself for their sakes. We are to pray that God would carry out His will for us all, so that all might potentially come to know Him and receive His grace. We are to be watchful for His return, as well, for that too is close at hand.

But Peter adds something to this command that I think is quite prudent. He tells them to be “self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” What exactly does he mean by this? I think he means to be intentional in our prayers, not swaying in our convictions, to not be given over to selfish ambition when we pray, and other such things to guard against. Sober-mindedness in particular means that we ought to have our mental, emotional, and spiritual faculties about us whenever we pray. If we lack these things, we can be influenced in a negative way that will inevitably affect how we pray.

Since prayer is literally and simply going before the Lord to speak to Him, we ought to have the utmost reverence for Him, lest we fall into the sin of bold pride, and then get rebuked in some manner or another by the Lord, much in the same way Job got rebuked after being driven to self-righteous thinking by the accusations of his “friends.” I’m not saying that prayer has to be solemn or formal all the time, because I do believe it’s possible to be informal and have joy when we speak to God, but still have a healthy fear of Him. But we cannot approach the throne with any degree of pride within us that makes us feel as though we are in any way equal to Him or (God have mercy on this man) greater than He is.

We all ought to approach the throne of God with great reverence for Him. And we need to do so with a sober mind, lest we abuse the gift of prayer by way of irresponsibility. Prayer *is* a gift that allows us to approach the throne of God humbly and boldly at the same time, at any time, anywhere, no matter what we may be going through. With the end coming soon, we cannot afford to neglect nor abuse this gift.

My application for this IBS will to try to approach the throne of God with greater reverence for who He is than I currently do when I pray. I will seek to pray more often that His will would be done in my life when I pray to Him concerning the things I want, and abandon my (ultimately) idolatrous ideas about who He is, praying not to who I think He is, but who He knows Himself to be.