Paul’s Prayer to God
9 And it is my prayer that your love may
abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent,
and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of
righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
(Philippians 1:9-11)
Paul’s Prayer to God Is for the
Philippians Love to Abound More and More
I find it
interesting to note that Paul’s first concern in his prayer to God is for the
Philippians love to abound more and more. You will note that Paul does not
provide an object for love. But when we think about it did he need to? It is entirely likely that Paul left the
object for love unstated because he wanted love for both God and one another to
abound more and more.
Surely, at the
heart of our response to the gospel is love for God. The Apostle John wrote in
1 John 4:19, “We love because he first loved us.” Moreover, we learn that the
great and first commandment given by Jesus himself is, “You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind”
(Matthew 22:37). And so, as Christians, our first priority is that our love for
God may abound more and more.
How can we know
if our love for God is abounding more and more?
Love for God will undoubtedly include spending time with God in prayer.
It will include reading the Bible. But, love for God will be seen chiefly in
obeying his commandments. The Apostle
John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” Your love for God will abound more and more
as you delight in conforming your life to his commandments.
Our love for
God should lead to love for each other.
Jesus went on to say that the second great commandment is like the
first, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).
In this time of
isolation from each other we can ask “Is my love for one another abounding more
and more?” Love for one another is more than words. It includes action. As much
as we can, it involves all the “one another’s” we read about in the Bible.
Paul’s Prayer to God Is for the
Philippians’ Love to Be More Knowledgeable.
Second, Paul’s
prayer to God is for the Philippians love to be more knowledgeable. We have
just ‘celebrated’ Valentine’s day and from a quick look at the cards or movies
of our time it would appear that our culture is very confused about love. The
primary message conveys the idea that love is merely an emotion.
Paul understood
that love is not primarily a feeling or an emotion. True, biblical love has
content. It is grounded in knowledge and all discernment.
Paul’s prayer
for Christians’ love to abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment
means that it produces a practical insight for daily living. Maturing Christians
are those who handle the turbulent rapids of daily living with growing ease.
They apply with increasing accuracy the word of God to every situation they
encounter. You know Christians like that, don’t you? They are the ones you want
to talk to when you discover a problem in your life. You want to get their
input and advice about how to handle a difficulty that you have encountered. But
the interesting thing is that those Christians have only reached that ‘status’ not
because they have had an easy life but rather because they have gone through
the trials and only by the grace of God and His sustaining power have emerged
victorious. They would echo the words of Paul “Praise be to the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so
that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive
from God.” (2 Cor 1:3-4)
Paul’s Prayer to God Is for the
Philippians’ to Be Pure and Blameless on the Day of Christ
Finally, Paul’s
prayer to God is for the Philippians’ to be pure and blameless on the day of
Christ. We cannot grow in knowledge and all discernment if we are not dealing
with sin in our lives. If we are bitter, resentful, lustful, covetous, proud,
angry, and so on, and do not repent of those sins on a regular basis. We may
read Scripture, we may memorize God’s word, we may teach the Bible in Sunday
school or Bible study, but that is not necessarily the same thing as growing in
the knowledge of God and gaining insight into the mind of God. Paul wanted the
Christian believers in Philippi to grow daily in spiritual maturity. Of course,
they would never achieve perfection in this life. But that is the goal. That
must be their aim: to be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, that is, the
day when they see Christ. And all of this is to the glory and praise of
God. This is summarized as being filled
with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.
Summing it up
How can Paul’s
prayer increase our contentment in Christ?
Paul’s prayer for the Philippians is gospel-cantered. His petitions
designed to advance the gospel in the lives of the Philippian Christians.
What do we pray
for especially, at this time? We often pray for health, for personal safety, for
employment, and so on. Now, it is not wrong to pray about these things. But,
dear friends, let us also pray for our love to abound more and more, for our
love to be more knowledgeable, and for us to be pure and blameless for the day
of Christ.
Let us put the
priorities of the gospel at the centre of our prayer lives for ourselves, and
also for others. As we do so I believe that God will increase our contentment,
for our eyes will not be on ourselves and our situation but on others and ultimately
on Him.
Prayer for today
Our Father,
Give us a greater love for you that we orient our lives ever mindful of your word. Let it so increase out love that we might not sin against you. Give us a love one for another especially during these days when we cannot be together. Let us find little ways that we can serve each other. Increase our knowledge of you - let us take time to study your word more and spend more time in contemplation of your great love for us.
We ask these thing in the name of your Son who loved us and gave His life for us.
Amen.
Photo by Jonathan Meyer on Unsplash
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