#23. Prayer is one of the ways in which the believer is to be salt in this world - prayer purifies and sanctifies

1 Tim 4:4-5 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
Paul is warning Timothy about those who would come among the church, forbidding marriage and teaching abstinence from certain foods was necessary. Paul calls these things the "doctrine of demons". Certainly, such things have been done in some religious organizations as works to earn merit with God but the practical outcomes have shown Paul was correct - these things may look very spiritual on the outside, but as he told the Colossians, they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
For our purposes, though, we want to focus on Paul's counter argument in our text. We are not to reject anything of all that God has made for us richly to enjoy. Rather, we are to receive it with prayer and thanksgiving and according to the Word of Our Lord, it will be sanctified to our use. Christ Himself proclaimed all foods clean when He was on earth - pointing out that they pass through the body and are without effect on the soul.
So our prayers and God's Word serve to sanctify the food we eat with thanksgiving. Surely, though, we can extend the principle here. When we on earth pray to our Father in heaven against the wickedness and sin that is in our own hearts, in the hearts of our neighbors, friends, family members, colleagues, rulers etc. and pray instead that the Kingdom of God would come in all these places, won't that prayer exert a sanctifying influence as God hears and answers? If our food is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer, is it possible that this would not also be true of our family members, our friends, etc.? If our prayers restrain one sin or promote one act of righteousness, they have had a sanctifying, a purifying effect.
Our Savior told us that we are the salt of this world. One way we do that is to live for Christ in the midst of a sinful generation and to exert whatever influence we can in favor of righteousness. But another way is to pray! To pray earnestly for God's glory and His righteousness to come. To pray against sin and all its manifestations in us and around us.
With this in mind, let's take our places at the upcoming prayer meeting and sprinkle purifying salt upon ourselves and our society as we pray together!