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Paul's Prayer for His Readers
Philippians 1.3-11
Good News Translation (GNT)
3 I thank my God for you every time I think of
you;
4 and every time I pray for you all, I pray with
joy
5 because of the way in which you have helped
me in the work of the gospel from the very first
day until now.
6 And so I am sure that God, who began this
good work in you, will carry it on until it is
finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.
7 You are always in my heart! And so it is only
right for me to feel as I do about you. For you
have all shared with me in this privilege that
God has given me, both now that I am in
prison and also while I was free to defend the
gospel and establish it firmly.
8 God is my witness that I tell the truth when I
say that my deep feeling for you all comes
from the heart of Christ Jesus himself.
9 I pray that your love will keep on growing more
and more, together with true knowledge and
perfect judgment,
10 so that you will be able to choose what is best.
Then you will be free from all impurity and
blame on the Day of Christ.
11 Your lives will be filled with the truly good
qualities which only Jesus Christ can produce,
for the glory and praise of God.
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Commentary taken from from the
'word-on-the-web' supplied by the
Scripture Union'
Paul's Prayer for His Readers
Philippians 1.3-11
Imagine you are imprisoned for your faith in Jesus and you are due in court soon (in many parts of the world this is a reality).
How would you feel? If you had the opportunity to write a letter, to whom would you write, what would you put in it and what would your prayer requests be?
These were the things the apostle Paul had to consider when he was imprisoned in Rome around ad 60 and set out to write a letter to a church he dearly loved - the church in Philippi.
Ask God to remind you of old truths and show you new things from his Word.
Love is at the heart of Christianity, so we are not surprised when Paul prays for the Philippians' love - agape in Greek - to 'abound more and more' (v 9).
This sounds simple, but it needs thought.
Contemporary understandings of love are often wrong-headed and Christians may have mistaken notions of what it means to be loving towards others.
Someone might say, for example, that it's wrong to challenge a non-believer to turn to Christ or to urge fellow disciples to press on in holiness.
Rather, so the argument runs, we should 'just love' - which often betrays a desire to please people rather than God.
This is not showing agape love as the New Testament defines it.
Notice how verse 9 ties love closely together with 'knowledge' and 'depth of insight'.
Gospel knowledge and gospel wisdom should shape our practice of love.
For example, a proper knowledge of the gospel will lead us to share it with others; if we truly love non-Christians we will surely speak, since Jesus is their only hope.
Similarly, if we have a clear insight into God's purposes we will urge other Christians to pursue holiness.
This will not be done harshly but graciously and supportively, for we are fellow pilgrims with struggles of our own.
Love, knowledge and wisdom are closely intertwined, informing and enriching each other.
This is a high standard of love.
How can we attain it?
The answer is through - and only through - the power of God (v 6).
Paul 'yearns' (see v 8, ESV) for the Philippians with a deep 'affection'.
Whence is this affection derived?
Only from Christ himself (v 8).
He shows us both the standard and the source of Christian love.
Knowing such agape love is an urgent need in both church and world.
Who will you love today?
Commit to pray regularly for a non-Christian to come to Jesus.
This may happen quickly but may not!
Do we love them sufficiently to keep praying?
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