Pray For One Another
Some more background to Philippians — different than his other letters. Not writing to address specific problems and questions as with his other letters. Although he writes about their need for unity, seeks reconciliation between church leaders, and encourages them to persevere in the face of hostilities and opposition, these are not the main reasons for this letter. He writes to thank them for their support, inform them about Epaphroditus, and give them an update on his own situation. This letter shows that there was a special and close friendship between Paul the Philippian church — a relationship of mutual love, support, and encouragement. It overflows with joy. Remarkable considering where Paul is writing from. In prison, in Rome, does not know whether he will live or die. And yet, he rejoices with the joy we have in Christ Jesus. This joy should rule our lives, regardless of the circumstances. This is also a very Christ-centered, Christ-focused letter. All Paul’s teachings here are rooted in Christ Jesus. Also, keep in mind — Paul has many years of ministry experience behind him. Weathered many storms. Now, here in prison, in Rome, we find a man whose faith in Christ has not merely survived but aged with grace and wisdom; his theology has been refined and grown in depth. So we find a mature Paul writing to a faithful, maturing, and growing church in Philippi. Much for us to learn for today. Let’s look at his opening — thanksgiving and prayer.
I want you to think about your prayers for others, especially for brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask three questions — How? What? When? How do we pray for them? How do we remember them, think and feel about them when we pray for them? What do we pray for them? When do we pray for them? There is much we can learn from Paul about how and what to pray for one another.
1. Pray with Thanksgiving
“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy …”
Paul thanks God for the people in his life, in this case, the Philippians. He prays for all of them, and he prays always, constantly. Prayer is essential and indispensable for the Christian life, work, and ministry. He prays for all of them, not just for the leaders or for some of his close friends, but for all the believers.
Do we remember one another in our prayers? Do we thank God for each other? Do we pray for all, for everyone in our church family, or do we pray only for some? When was the last time you prayed through our whole church family, for all of us? When was the last time you prayed through our community? Like Paul, we should pray for all, always, and always pray with thanksgiving and joy. Why does Paul pray for all of them with thanksgiving and joy?
2. Pray with Joy
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Pray with joy. The theme of joy begins here and runs through this letter. We will talk more about joy. For now, it is important to understand that this joy is not a mood, an emotion, or a feeling. It is not based on or dependent on our well-being or external circumstances. This joy is the fruit and evidence of our relationship with the Lord. He is the source, the root, and the focus of this joy. This joy is the basic and constant orientation of the Christian life. It is an attitude, a certain mindset we have because of the Holy Spirit. Joy is one of the fruit of the Spirit. And we have joy because we set our minds on Christ. We cannot control our feelings but in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can control our attitudes, our mindsets, how we think. Therefore, we can always pray with joy and rejoice in the Lord. There are three reasons why Paul always prays with thanksgiving and joy, and why we should always pray with thanksgiving and joy.
We always pray with joy because we are all partners in the gospel. The Philippians were Paul’s partners from that first day when Lydia believed until now, even as he is in prison. They supported Paul throughout both materially, emotionally, and spiritually. They endured, persevered. They were faithful and consistent.
In Christ Jesus, we are not only his disciples but we are also makers of disciples. Jesus sends us to be fishers of men. All of us, not just some of us. All of us “are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). All of us are God’s coworkers, partners in his kingdom work. And we are partners together with one another in this gospel work.
Since we are all God’s coworkers, are we giving thanks to God for all our partners in the gospel? Are we praying for one another as partners? What should we pray? Equip for our works of service; give us opportunities and courage to share the gospel; be witnesses, salt, and light. Pray for Alliance workers, missionaries, missions. Praying for the world; churches in other parts of the world. God’s provision so that we can support missions, both locally and overseas.
We always pray with joy because we are confident that God who began a good work in us will bring it to completion, perfection. God created us. He recreated us in Christ Jesus. Through his Holy Spirit God is forming and transforming us into the image, the likeness of his Son, Jesus Christ. He will bring that work to completion so that on that day when our Lord returns, we will be able to stand before Him, perfect, pure, and blameless. We may be at different levels of spiritual maturity, at different places in our walk with God, at different stages in our spiritual growth, but we are all growing because God is working in all of us.
Are we confident, do we believe and trust that God is working in all of us? Or do we focus on their faults? We should pay attention and take notice of where and how God is working in others. We should rejoice with and for them. We should thank and praise God for his work. And when one of us falls, fails, and struggles in living the kingdom life, as we all do, we should not focus on those setbacks. We should not judge and condemn them, ignore or reject them. Instead, we should continue to love, support, encourage and pray for them because we are confident that God will complete the good work he has begun in them.
So, our confidence is not in ourselves, our abilities, our leaders, our culture, or our nation. No, our confidence is in God and his sovereign power. This is God’s work and by his power we participate in his work. This frees us from self-assurance, pride, arrogance, self-dependency, independence from God and others. It also frees us from despondency and discouragement, despair, worry, anxiety.
God is doing His work and He will complete this work in us and through us. This gives us confidence and joy. This enables us to endure and persevere in his kingdom work and in prayer for his work in the world and in one another.
We always pray with joy because we are partners, co-sharers. with one another in God’s grace. Paul continues to explain why he thanks God and prays with joy for the Philippians. “It is right for me to think this way about all of you because I have you in my heart, since all of you are partners (sharers) with me of grace, both in my imprisonment (chains) and in the defense and the confirmation of the gospel.”
It is right for me to think this way about all of you. Here we see that this joy is not a feeling but an attitude, a specific mindset. Although some English versions translate this with “feel this way” the Greek word is the word for thinking, considering carefully, holding a certain view, or having a certain mindset. Paul intentionally cultivates an attitude of joy because he carries them in his heart. He has a sincere and deep love for them. He holds all of them at the center of his very being. He thinks about them, remembers them, thanks God for them, and prays always for them with joy. Are we holding one another in our hearts like Paul?
He has them in his heart because they are partners with him in God’s grace. They have fellowship with him, participate with him in grace. This is the fellowship of the gospel, the band of brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who share the same salvation. But that is not all. They are also partners who participate with Paul in sharing that grace with others. When he defended the gospel against enemies, when he established and confirmed the gospel, when he planted churches and helped to build churches up they supported him, and now when he is in chains for the gospel, they are still supporting him, helping him, partnering with him.
As believers we all share, have fellowship and are partners in God’s grace. We are all saved. No one is more or less saved or has more or less grace than the other. We are all one in Christ. Not just this church, but across the nation, and across the globe we are the one body of Christ. Do we pray for this unity? When there are disagreements, different views, what do we do? Do we pray for and look out for our oneness in Christ, the grace we share, or do we give in easily to the worldly and self-centered concerns that are tearing us apart? Do we rejoice in the fact that we are all saved in Christ Jesus, that we all share in this grace? And are we praying for the salvation of those who do not yet believe?
3. Pray with Love
And then Paul prays for the Philippians with love. “For God is my witness how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” He wants to assure them of his warm and affectionate longing for all of them. And since only God knows what is truly in his heart, he appeals to God as his witness of his love for this church. And this is not just any love, it is the affection of Christ Jesus. The Greek word means inward parts (hearts, liver, lungs) which are used for the innermost seat of human emotions. This is not superficial, merely emotional love. This is love that involves the whole being, body, mind, heart, spirit, and soul. A love that moves the whole inner being. Thus, he says that he loves them in the inner being of Christ Jesus. He loves them with the same love that Christ loves them. So, his love for them comes from and is driven by the passionate and compassionate love of Christ, the love that He demonstrated by giving himself to us.
Do we love one another with this love of Christ? Do we see others through the eyes and heart of Jesus Christ? When we think about others, remember others, pray for others, do we long for them, and pray for them with this love, affection of Christ? This is one way we can pray for ourselves and for one another. We can pray that the Holy Spirit will cultivate this love in us; that He will cultivate the heart and mind, the inner being, the love of Christ for others in us.
It is good that as a church we pray for one another when there are needs, and that we praise God when He answers our prayers. We must pray for protection, health and healing, provision and finances, for jobs and success, for our children and grandchildren, their schooling, grades, sports, friendships, and that they may find godly spouses. We must give thanks and praise God when He answers our prayers. But, when we pray only for our physical, material, emotional, and relational needs, when we pray only when there are crises, conflicts, problems, troubles, suffering, or sickness, we are missing out on so much more.
Can you imagine what will happen when we all, all of us, pray always for all of us, for every single person in our church; when we pray like Paul with thanksgiving, joy, confidence, and love; when we pray for our partnership in the gospel, for God’s work in us, for our spiritual growth; when we pray that the love of Christ will increase more and more in us; when we thank God and pray for our sharing in God’s grace, and sharing God’s grace with others.
Next week we will look at verses 9-11 and learn more about how and what we can pray specifically for one another. But don’t wait. Begin now. I invite all of you to begin to pray always for one another with thanksgiving, joy, confidence, and love. Take our church list and divide it up into 5, 6, or 7 groups according to the days you plan to pray. Then pray every day for the people on that day’s list. Do the same for the people outside our church, for our community, for the people you know, both believers and unbelievers. Where will we find the time? Are we really going to use the excuse of time not to pray for one another, for our church, and our community? For the love of God and his kingdom, make time. Spend less time on our screens, social media. Spend less time pursuing the things of this world. You can also pray while you are doing many things — driving, walking, standing in line, etc.
Let us make prayer our first task and priority. Let us, all of us, pray always that God’s kingdom will come, his will be done in all our lives, in our church, in our community, in our nation, and in our world so that God will be glorified.