I Remember You in My Prayers

I Remember You in My Prayers
Philippians 1:3-11

Recently I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about prayer. I have been doing an in depth study on the Lord’s Prayer which is of course the best place to begin. (I am posting this study on my web page at autumnsaints.com.) Today’s reading is also a good place to begin. Paul is writing to the Philippians. It was due to his ministry that the Philippian church came into being and it is one of the churches that seems to be operating as a church community should operate. He is very pleased with their progress. He is neither scolding nor correcting these believers. Paul prays for them often. He holds them in his heart. This is a good place to begin when we pray. We must hold those we pray for in our hearts. It is very difficult to pray for those we have cut off in disappointment, disagreement, or anger. It is impossible to prayer for those whom we envy or hate. We must even pray heartfelt prayers for our enemies in order to be children of our Father in heaven. The Father has been generous in his love and so must we. That is why we are taught to settle our disagreement before we approach the Lord and to not let the sun set on our anger. The prayers of the Old Testament faithful called down the wrath of God on evildoers. Jesus has taught us to call down the Father’s love. We must truly desire God’s very best even for our enemies.

Paul says that he gives prayers of thanksgiving for the Philippians. Paul certainly knows that these Philippians are not perfect, in fact later in the letter he gives us an illustration of two women who are having trouble settling a dispute. But he is grateful for all the wonderful things he sees in them and he expressed the confidence that God who began a good work will complete what he has started. This brings us to the second aspect of prayer in this passage. We are to believe that God is at work in the lives of those for whom we pray. It may not be obvious to us in what way God is working, but our God is a God who is active in drawing people to himself in love. He is active in bringing conviction of sin and offering redemption to all. He is active in the process of sanctification (making his children Christ-like). He is active preparing us for kingdom life and helping us to do the right things. We must have faith that God is at work even when we do not see it happening in the time or manner that we would like.

Next, Paul prays that their love may grow in knowledge and depth of insight. It is the longing of all of us to grow in the ability to love well. We know that there are times when our love has been weak, selfish or expressed in harmful or indulgent ways. We understand how important love is to an abundant life. We have trouble discerning when love should be “tough” and when love should abound with mercy and grace. Paul prays that this group of believers may learn to love well, with insight and wisdom. What a wonderful prayer that encompasses a desire for a mature and wise love to be at work in all of our relationships. We cannot go wrong is praying this for one another.

While these aspects of prayer are not the whole story, they are certainly a good beginning. Lord, help me to lovingly hold others in my heart with compassion and thanksgiving. May you richly bless them and may your perfect will be worked out in their lives. May we all grow in our ability to love wisely and generously. May I have the faith to know that you are at work you will complete what you have set out to do. Amen.