How can I pray for you? How you can pray for me!

Introduction



If I was to ask you how I could pray for you, what would you say? What things would be at the front of your thoughts and needs? 

When you pray yourself, what are things you pray for?

I think for most of us it tends be very much the things that we are dealing with in our lives at a particular time. It might be things that those we know are dealing with in their lives too. So, it will often be things like our health, our work, decisions we have to make. We might give thanks and praise to God for the daily blessings we receive, and we might be pleading with him to take away the troubles we are experiencing. 

Pray is a wonderful gift from God. We are given this incredible privilege to be able to come before the Almighty Creator, and know that as a loving Father he welcomes us as his children and hears and answers our prayers. It is an essential part of our relationship with God, a way of staying connected with him. And yet for all the things we might pray for I wonder if we lose sight of one of the most important things we should be praying for?

Do we pray for that connection with God and for his glory through it? 

Now there is so much we could discuss around prayer, but our focus today is going to be on the importance of praying for each other and ourselves in remaining connected to God to his glory. This is one of the challenges we have to reconcile in our lives as believers in Jesus Christ. 

We are saved and secure in Christ because of all that he has done, and yet we are also called to persevere in faith and be active in pursuing our relationship with him. Our situation is not passive, and we need to recognise that our relationship and connection in Christ is something we should be praying for, and living for. 

It is of such importance that it is something we should always keep praying. It is not just for times where we have been neglectful in our relationship with God, or for new believers, but it is for us all, all the time.

It was something that Jesus himself prayed for his disciples, and indeed for us all as we believed in him through their testimony. And it is something we are going to see was a key element of the Apostle Paul’s prayers for the Philippian church. A church that was doing well, and showing faithful love in service to others and spreading the gospel to others.

The prayer we will study today is one that I often share as a closing blessing when I preach as I have come to realise how essential it is in my own life to be reminded of my own need, and I want it to be the consideration and blessing for those brothers and sisters I have shared God’s word with.

So, let’s take time to look at this short prayer, and consider why it is something we all need to pray for each other.

READING Philippians 1: 9-11

Background

In terms of some background, we are considering this prayer Paul has set out in his letter to the church in Philippi. As already mentioned we see that Paul’s prayer for the church is not because of weakness and failing as such. It is definitely a prayer desiring better for the church, but it comes from a desire to see them continue to build on the good position they are already in. We see Paul’s love for the church and his endorsement of them in the opening verses of chapter 1, verses 1 – 8, as we read earlier.

This is a church fellowship active in the preaching and promotion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have served with Paul in his mission, and as we see early on and throughout the letter they have loved him and served his needs as he writes this letter from prison. 

They have not been ashamed of his situation. They have sent one of their dear brothers Epaphroditus to Paul in prison with provision for his needs, and they have provided financial support for the ministry of Paul, and the support of other fellowships of believers. 

There is not really a lot that Paul has to call them out for, with the exception of a couple of women, Euodia and Syntche, to sort out a disagreement that has arisen between them. 

It is a prayer of encouragement, and a prayer of application to see them continue to grow in their good position. 

This is an incredibly important reminder and lesson for us all. There is no resting on their position. It is not saying to them, you seem to have mastered this gospel centred, loving one another part, so let me just pray for some more specific issues for you. Let me pray for matters relating to your finances, your health, your family situations, the decisions your elders have to take about church business and so on. 

Not that we should not be praying for specific issues, we absolutely should. There is no aspect of our lives that should not be captured in our prayers, but as I said in the introduction, Paul’s focus is actually on the matters that hold everything together, and that is our connection and relationship with God through Jesus, to the glory and praise of God. 

That is what drives our relationship with one another, that is what drives how we live our lives, how we witness to others, how we address the challenges in life and the details we pray about, whether that be in praise, thanks, intercession, repentance.

In these two short verses we see quite significant issues addressed. We need to consider these separately to capture why these are things we would truly desire to see transform our own lives, and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

So, let’s take some time to break these verses down and consider the different elements which are being called out.

And it is my prayer

The first thing to recognise is - this is a prayer. 

Paul is seeking blessing and direction from God in the lives of the Philippians. He is not just going to issue a list of instructions to them on Godly living, but is recognising that our development and transformation is the work of God. That is a glorious encouragement for us. 

Whilst, as I have already said, we are not passive and we are to be active in our faith and pursuance of that connection with God, we know that connection comes through his Holy Spirit at work in us. We see that highlighted in verse 11 when Paul references the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

So, it is a reminder for us that our own development and transformation is something we should be praying for, alongside that of our brothers and sisters in Christ. It is recognition that we need God’s power at work in us, no matter what stage of the journey we find ourselves at. No matter how healthy our fellowship is with one another. No matter how strong our witness is. We need it from day one and continuously through our lives as believers.

So, what is Paul praying for in the lives of these believers?

Well the prayer in these two short verses is filled with “whats” and “whys”. What he wants to see in the believers, and why that matters.

The first of the “whats” is found in verse 9,

your love may abound more and more

As believers in Jesus Christ, love must be the most evident characteristic others see in us. Love for God, love for each other, love for our neighbours, love for our enemies and so on. Love is not just a noun, it is a verb. Our love must be active. It is easy to say you love someone, but the evidence of true love is always in our actions.

In writing to the Philippians, we can see that Paul recognises their love for God, their love for each other, and the love of sharing the good news with others. And yet, he prays that they would not just settle there. His prayer is that this love will abound more and more.

The word abound is defined as, a huge amount, overflowing, not limited. Paul is praying that their love for God, their love for each other, their love for their enemies will deepen and keep growing and growing. 

We need to remember that love is not just some sort of warm, fuzzy, sentimental feeling. Love in the biblical context is defined by many things. Loving other people can be difficult. Being loved can also be hard, as love involves truth, discipline and correction. All of which we don’t always want to have to hear or resolve in our own lives. 

But if our primary focus is on loving God more and more, then as that love grows and abounds then the other demands of love for others, and their love for us also grows and becomes something we are desiring to give, and desiring to receive in all in its manifestations. 

God is love, and his love should be evident in the lives of those he loves, and who love him. So how do we expect to see that evident in our own lives and the lives of other brothers and sisters, well 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, helps give us a useful picture -

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong doing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Is that the kind of love you see in your own lives? Is that the kind of love we want in our own lives?

The desire for abounding love is further qualified

with knowledge and all discernment

The more we know God, and know about him the more we will love him. That is the foundational desire for us all as his children. And it is important to understand that in this sense, knowledge is not just about the things we learn, but in a biblical sense it is also about intimacy in terms of relationship. 

No matter how much you think you know about God, how much of the bible you know, how close you think you are to God, there will always be more we can know, and the more deep our relationship with him can develop. We will never reach the limit of God. We can never love him too much. 

That should not be a discouragement, but an encouragement. When we know the wonder and majesty of God in our lives, there is still more wonder to experience. When we marvel at the things we can know about God, there will always be something more marvellous to discover. 

And the most wonderful thing to realise is that God desires our relationship with him to be close and intimate. The Almighty Creator, the glorious and Holy God, does not distance himself, but draws closer and closer to us that we might draw closer and closer to him. 

And so this prayer is desiring to see the Philippians, and indeed all believers, seek more and more knowledge of God, as studying his word becomes our priority, alongside desiring a greater closeness to God as we pray and confess, and praise and worship, and engage him in every aspect of our lives.

The second qualification is that alongside knowledge believers would have discernment. Not just some discernment, but all discernment.

The definition of discernment is the ability to judge people and things well.

Discernment is key to ensure correct knowledge and judgement of how we read our bibles, how we understand the truth about God, how we avoid false teaching and being misled. It is also essential to ensure we trust God over our own feelings, desires, emotions, motivations and so on.

We need to know what is true, not what suits us. We need to understand loving God, and loving others as God directs us, not how we think we should or how we define love. We need to be discerning in every situation, not just selectively. 

That can be a real challenge. It can be convenient to be selective. It can be convenient to define God’s love in ways that suit us. It can be convenient to take God’s truth in the bible out of context to suit us. 

But the “what” of this abounding love with knowledge and discernment is not just desirable for the sake of it. Verse 10 sets out two whys.

The first being that you may approve what is excellent

This simply means that we will have the ability to recognise and treasure the things of God and live our lives for these things. It is not just about knowing what these things are, but being a witness to others in terms of living for what is excellent. We show by our behaviour what we are giving our approval to. 

As believers we cannot be hypocrites. We cannot say we love God and not live like we do. We cannot demand morality in others that we deny in our own lives. 

This does not mean that we will live perfect lives, that is not possible. We will mess up and keep needing to repent, but our desires are to know how God wants us to live and to seek that. It is acknowledging to others that I know the right things to do, but I don’t and can’t always do them. 

I am a believer in Jesus, not because I am perfect, but because he is, and I need him to keep changing me and helping me until that day when he makes me perfect for ever. He is the perfect, excellent one. He is the one we point others to.

The second reason or why is for them to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ

Which as we have just said is what we are living for. We are looking forward to that day when Jesus will call us home, and the final judgement will come on all humanity. We are pure and blameless not in our own efforts, but because we rely on what Jesus has done through his pure and blameless life sacrificed for us. 

Jesus has paid the price we could never pay. We are right before God in him and him alone. 

When we stand in judgement on the final day, we will be found pure and blameless if we have believed in Jesus Christ, and lived our lives loving him, in relationship with him. 

This is Paul’s prayer for the Philippian church that they would persevere and stay in Christ until that last day. It is not something we should take for granted. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us, but we are not to be passive in our lives. 

Our prayer for ourselves and others is that we will not give up and turn away from Christ. We are to actively seek to grow, and change, and know him more and more. We are to seek to be more loving, faithful and obedient servants of him. We are to recognise our need for him every day, and our desire for him is to be a constant in our lives. 

And the final what and why of this prayer is found in verse 11. First the what,

filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ

Fruit is the product of what is sown in us. If you sow apple seeds in the ground you would expect an apple tree to grow apples eventually. You don’t expect bananas. If we are living for Jesus, and he is Lord, then he would sow the seed of righteousness into us, and we would see the fruits of righteousness evident in our lives.

Now righteousness in believers is very simply being in the right standing with God. Again, we can only be in the right standing with God through faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance of sin. 

So what does Paul mean by the fruits of righteousness. You will see it is not a singular fruit, but multiple, because the fruits we should see evident in our lives are reflective of the character of God. They are reflective of the spirit of God being active in the life of a believer. 

As we learn from Galatians 5: 22-23 the fruits of the Spirit, or righteousness, can be recognised as, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And the desire of Paul is to see these in all their fullness in these brothers and sisters. We are to live lives exhibiting these, not just in part, but more fully and completely as we grow and mature. Many of these can only mature through experience, difficulties, testing and trials. They have to be learned to be earned. 

But the wonderful encouragement is that these qualities in us, as with everything else in this prayer, come through Jesus. 

And the final why, for every good thing prayed for in the believers lives, is

to the glory and praise of God

The glory of God is quite a difficult thing to define, but perhaps easier to understand in terms of how it is manifest or evident. In fact the Amplified bible translates the phrase Paul uses – so that God’s glory is revealed and recognised.

Paul prays the “whats” and “whys” of this prayer with the ultimate desire that everyone would see the glory of God revealed and recognised in the lives of these believers in Philippi. God’s glory is revealed in many ways. 

It is revealed in his creation, in his character, in his work, but perhaps most distinctly it is revealed and recognised in the sacrificial death of his son, which brings redemption and forgiveness that transforms wicked sinners into loving, compassionate, forgiving, morally changed people. It transforms people from those who hate and deny God, into those who praise and worship him. 

Our lives in how we behave and what we say, should be evident to others as a reason to praise and worship God. 

Our desire in life should be to live to glorify and praise God in everything we do. 

Conclusion

So considering all that we have covered in this prayer today, is that how you want others to pray for you? Are these the things you desire in your own life? When you look at your own life, when you look at the position of the church today, whether local fellowships or the global position – do you think it is something we need to be praying for?

I think we all have different views on the strengths and weaknesses we see, but if the apostle Paul recognised the need for this prayer for a strong fellowship of believers then I would make the point again, it is a need we all have. It should be a desire that we all have. I certainly know it is a prayer I want you and other brothers and sisters praying for me. I pray it for you. I pray it for myself too. 

If we were to be sincere in our hearts and wanting the requests of this prayer for all our lives to the glory and praise of God, what difference do you think it would make? 

What difference would it make to relationships you have with each other in this fellowship? What difference would it make to how we approach the study of God’s word, and desire to know him more? 

What difference would it make to the confidence and assurance we can have in what the bible teaches, and how we can share that with others? What difference would it make to the decisions we take in how to live lives pleasing to God?

What difference would it make to the lives of those we know who don’t know Jesus? 

I appreciate that is a lot of questions. A lot of things to think about. But whilst we do need to be challenged, there is great encouragement in all of this. We are not left to figure this out for ourselves. We are not left to fix ourselves. We commit ourselves and our transformation into the hands of a loving God. As Paul says in verse 6, of chapter 1,

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 

I have no doubt that if we earnestly seek to see this transformation in our own lives, and support each other in praying for these things, then we will experience a greater relationship with God, each other, and a more effective witness in the world around us.

So, I hope our desire will continue to see our love grow and grow, knowing God more deeply and wonderfully, being full of his character and evident to all, to his glory and praise.