What should we pray for those we love? Prayers can take many forms, but Paul shows us what HE prayed for the Philippians; and it can teach us something about what WE should pray for OUR loved ones — as well as what God is trying to work into our lives spiritually.
I) Pray For A Love That Overflows (Phil. 1:7-8)
A) Love overflows as partners in the gospel (7)
The motivation for prayer is love for each other, and that love is first of all a love for each other as partners in the grace that God has given them together through Jesus Christ.
Paul can’t wait to get out of prison so he can start sharing the gospel again! That is awesome and should be an encouragement to us to make sharing the gospel more central in our lives.
B) Love overflows with the affection of Christ Jesus (8)
Paul uses strong language here. He calls God as his witness to testify to the truth of what he is saying. Paul “longs” for the Philippians – the word speaks of an aching desire – he longs to see them again and to be with them again, and he longs for them with the affection of Christ Jesus.
II) Pray For A Knowledge That Discerns (Phil. 1:9-10)
Paul doesn’t simply tell the Philippians that he is praying for them. He tells them what he is praying for them. Do you want to encourage someone? Let them know you are praying for them. Do you want to really encourage someone? Tell them what you are praying.
How do you pray for someone to grow in Christ? Paul gives us four things to pray for in these verses. Let’s take a brief look at each of these.
A) Prayer for growth in love (9a)
The first prayer we should pray for each other is to grow in love. Our motivation for prayer must be out of an overflow of love for each other, and our Christian growth must first of all be growth in love.
But notice that Paul’s prayer is not just for love, but to grow in love, “that your love may abound more and more.” That word abound means “to exceed, to surpass the goal with some left over.” Pray that each other’s love would exceed, would abound, and then pray that it would continue to do so more and more.
B) Prayer for growth in knowledge (9b)
Christian love is not just a warm fuzzy feeling without any basis or support. Christian love is firmly grounded in knowledge of God and his ways. Not just knowledge about Christ, but personal knowledge of Christ.
C) Prayer for growth in discernment (9b-10a)
Knowledge is important but knowing how to apply that knowledge is equally important. And so, we not only pray for love and knowledge, but we also pray for depth of insight.
Christian love is not just based on feelings. It is based on knowledge and discernment: knowing the truth of God’s Word, and then acting on that to choose those things in life which are best so that your life will be a shining example to others.
D) Prayer for growth in holiness (10b)
Paul is saying that we should pray for each other to grow in holiness, that our lives should be pure and transparent, that there should be nothing in our life that would cause another to stumble, that our life will stand up to examination by God at the last day who knows all and sees all.
III) Pray For Fruit That Is Genuine (Phil. 1:11)
As a result of this kind of prayer we see changed lives resulting in praise and glory to God.
A) The fruit that comes through Jesus (11a)
B) The fruit that brings glory and praise to God (11b)
In Closing:
This is a real prayer that Paul really prayed for the Philippians. Parents, can you imagine if you prayed this prayer for your children on a regular basis? Husbands, what if you prayed this for your wives, and wives for your husbands? Grandparents, what if you prayed this for your grandchildren? Church, what if we prayed this for our church?
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